Sirius Black, Godfather

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 32555

Hi --

heathernmoore wrote:

 > It would seem to me that Sirius can't possibly be Harry's legal
 > guardian as of the 1990s, no matter what the Potters' original
 > intentions were.

Sirius himself says he is Harry's guardian. Actually he doesn't say that 
he *is,* but he does say that the Potters appointed him as Harry's 
guardian in the event something should happen to them. We have Sirius 
telling Harry that he is his godfather. Then, in the very next breath, 
he says, "Well....your parents appointed me your guardian ...If anything 
happened to them."

 > the Dursleys have during this time been responsible for Harry's
 > medical care and education. (In fact, it always seemed odd to me that
 > the Dursleys didn't simply put the infant up for adoption or at least
 > seek a legal injunction for kidnapping or such to keep Harry away
 > from Hogwarts.) Surely they couldn't have had Harry schooled without
 > being his legal guardians.

They may have had some sort of muggle proceeding where they had 
themselves appointed his legal guardians. They would have had to attest 
that after due diligence & searching, no will or other legal document 
granting legal custody of the Potters' issue to any other adult could be 
located, blah, blah, blah. I don't imagine though that as far as the 
wizarding world is concerned, the muggle proceeding would have any legal 
effect. I imagine as far as the wizarding world is concerned, Sirius 
Black is still Harry's godfather unless Dumbledore or someone in the 
Ministry to steps to annul the Potters' will.

If there is a magical component to
 > guardianship, surely Dumbledore would have severed it at the time
 > that everyone believed Sirius was an unreformed Death Eater, spy,
 > betrayer, and mass murderer.

Possibly. But since he placed Harry with the Dursleys, he may not have 
gone to the trouble.

Reg wrote:

> I would tend to disagree with this. Godfather is a very specific
> undertaking that an adult friend or relation makes at a baptism
> service that they will be accountable for the religious upbringing of
> a child until they come to confirmation, normally as a teenager. A
> Godmother (if there is one) is not necessarily related to any
> Godfathers or other Godmothers.

Yes, it *can* be the above.  It can *also* be a more general secular 
term used interchangeably with guardian.  In the past discussions on 
this topic, our British members have agreed that JKR might well have 
used the term godfather in a non-religious sense.

> The role of legal guardian is something rather different, in that
> Sirius clearly takes this responsibility and his friendship of the
> Potters very seriously, to the point of risking a horrible un-death
> to fulfil his obligations.

Yes, but see above.  Sirius tells the readers & Harry that he *is* 
Harry's *guardian.*  He says this in the very next breath after 
mentioning that he is Harry's godfather.  This says quite strongly to me 
that the two functions are one & the same.

> For Sirius to have legal Guardian status, effectively adopting Harry,
> James and Lily surely would have had to have signed something
> specific to that effect.

Yes, in the muggle world.  Presumably they did so in the wizarding world 
as well.  Sirius says that they appointed him Harry's guardian in the 
event of their deaths.  Adoption is a separate legal concept from legal 
guardianship though, just fyi.

Penny