[HPforGrownups] Sirius, Squeamishness

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 34329

In a message dated 30/01/02 15:30:45 GMT Standard Time, 
jdumas at kingwoodcable.com writes:


> Edblanning at aol.com wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Over generalisation on Hagrid's part and misdirection on JKR's, I think. I
> > get your sister's point, because at that point of the story, of course,
> > Hagrid thinks that Sirius *did* go bad. We know, of course that he didn't.
> > (Well, not properly, but I still haven't really forgiven him for trying to
> > kill Snape!)
> 

<snip>

> I'm not sure Sirius was serious about killing Snape. I think he was just
> hoping that Remus would bite him, and turn Snape into a werewolf
> himself. I don't know what the initial intention was. Sirius seems to be
> a loose canon at times, but I'm not sure he'd actually try to kill a
> fellow classmate. Obviously there is disdain between the two. Sirius
> also didn't mind letting Snape's head bob up against the ceiling in PoA,
> but I'm not sure he would have gone through with letting Remus *kill*
> him. But that might just be wishful thinking on my part.
> 
> -Katze
> 
> 

OK, I know it may not have been his intention to get him killed, but 
honestly....!
Someone else pointed out a few days ago that trying to get a fellow student 
bitten by a werewolf and condemned to a life as an outcast was not much 
better, perhaps even worse.

I'm sorry, but I have a problem with Sirius. I don't doubt his loyalty, but I 
don't like the  thoughtless nature of his impetuosity or the fact that he 
can't even acknowledge the fact that he made a mistake on this occasion. One 
of the attractive things about Lupin is that he realises that some of the 
things they got up to were immature and dangerous and has the grace to admit 
it. Sirius just takes the view, 'OK, so I lured another teenager into a 
situation where he nearly got killed, but that's OK since he was always 
trying to get us into trouble.'
And it was *James* who went after Snape. The implication is that Sirius 
wasn't around, at least in any significant way.

In mitigation, I suppose just keeping your sanity in Azkaban is enough: 
perhaps expecting him to have developed some maturity is too much, although 
as Dicentra, notes, he does seem to have developed a bit of a split 
personality by GoF, mature regarding Harry, immature regarding Snape.

>Dicentra... wonders where Sirius was between PoA and GoF.

Somewhere hot, until Dumbledore finds him the cave, but not sorting out  
unresolved psychological issues from his past.
I think what Dumbledore needs most of all on his team is a therapist! If he 
can get *that* ill-assorted bunch with all their unresolved tensions sorted 
out, then Voldemort should be a cinch!
Seriously though, the interaction between that lot is one of the things I'm 
looking forward to most in the next book.

Mahoney:
>- nasty, ill-tempered, probable-ex-DE Snape

 Probable??

Cindy:

>Wormtail?  He's one of the few characters who we know doesn't like to 
>kill people or see people killed, although he did what he had to do 
>when he blasted all those Muggles on the street.  That assessment is 
>based on Wormtail's reluctance to curse/kill someone in GoF, and his 
>unwillingness to look Harry in the eye in the graveyard.

But wasn't it Wormtail who unhesitatingly killed Cedric, or am I misreading 
this?
He is certainly reluctant to use Harry at the opening of GoF, but, as 
Dumbledore has explained he is now in Harry's debt, Harry having saved his 
life.
He certainly wasn't too squeamish to cut off his own hand - yuk! - Quite a 
feat with a dagger, I thought, especially since he seems not to have been 
using his dominant hand. ( In PoA He points with the middle finger of his 
right hand, which has the index finger missing, and cuts that hand off in the 
graveyard.)

Eloise (frustrated at having had to rewrite large chunks of this as AOL 
suddenly decided to shut down!)




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