Some Sirius Black Questions.

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

No: HPFGUIDX 36215

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "nyarth_meow" <rshuson80 at y...> wrote:
> Apologies if this has been covered before, but I was wondering if I'm 
> the only person who thinks Black isn't quite all that he appears? 
> OK, all I have is gut-feeling and no real evidence, but I'm 
> interested to know if anyone else has the same?

****Takes deep breath**** 

Ok, first of all, these and other Sirius issues were hammered out
about a month ago: go back and see what you can find during February.

But because there are only 38,000 posts for the average newbie to sort
through and because the Sirius FAQ isn't up yet, I'll give you a brief
summary on what you've asked. 
> 
>  I just can't help thinking he's too good to be true, and that Harry 
> trusts him *way* too readily.  Within the space of an hour, he goes 
> from Sirius Black, evil parent-killing traitor, to Sirius Black, can 
> I move in with you please? 
> In that space of time, IMHO, Black might have proved his innocence, 
> but he doesn't give a very good account of himself.  He breaks Ron's 
> leg without remorse, is all set to kill a man in cold blood, and pays 
> *very* little attention initially to Harry in his obsession with 
> Wormtail.   And why did he slash holes in the Fat Lady?  If nothing 
> else, he's not very stable. 

No remorse for breaking Ron's leg: He does tell Ron to sit back down
and not move so he doesn't further hurt his leg (p.339, Scholastic
edition). It's also possible that he wasn't aware or fully aware that
Ron's leg was broken until he got to the Shack--Sirius was a dog at
the time and not as bright as a human.

Sirius wouldn't have seen killing Pettigrew as a cold-blooded act but
rather as justice for Pettigrew's betrayal 12 years earlier that
resulted in the deaths of James and Lily and 12 muggles. Lupin is just
as willing to kill him, too.

He probably pays more attention to the Rat than to Harry because that
Rat is Sirius's key to freedom--Harry isn't.

He slashed holes in the Fat Lady's portrait because she wouldn't let
him in to where he knew Pettigrew was. Having lost everything 12 years
ago and finally having the chance to get some of it back (his freedom,
at least) he wasn't terribly patient with protocols such as passwords.
Notice that the Fat Lady was merely terrified, not harmed. He let her
get out of the way before he hacked his way through.

As for his emotional stability, most folks agree that he's a volatile
person to begin with, or at the least he's suffering from
post-traumatic stress syndrome. Notice, however, that in GoF he's a
perfectly sane, logical person.

> I know Azkaban is not considered good for your mental health, but 
> there's another pre-Azkaban event that raises questions;
> 
> Did Black really intend to kill Snape when he played that prank on 
> him?  He set him up so he'd come face to face with a werewolf.  
> Surely he knew this could easily result in serious injury or death?  
> This is a step beyond the usual schoolboy prank even if they did hate 
> each other.  

This prank is central to the Snape vs. Sirius arguments a month ago.
(Search the archives for the word "prank" and you'll get a lapful of
posts.) People basically came down on one of two sides: Give Sirius a
break (he was only a teenager, and teenagers do dumb things) or Sirius
went way too far and that's not acceptable.

Dumbledore told Harry at the end of "Philosopher's 
> Stone" that his father saved Snape's life, so he clearly believed 
> the "prank" could have resulted in his death.  How did Black escape 
> expulsion?  An attempt on the life of another student strikes me as 
> about as serious as it gets, however unpleasant that student might 
> be.  

We don't know how Dumbledore reacted to the incident, whether there
were punishments doled out or what. Many surmise that Sirius got away
with it, and that's one of the reasons Snape hates him.

Did Snape do something truly awful to provoke it, or was Black 
> just not thinking of the consequences?

Again, we don't know. Snape and Sirius probably had issues long before
the Prank, but whether Sirius was reacting to a specific incident or
whether he just took advantage of a prime opportunity to mess with
Snape's head (as he probably saw it at the time), we don't know.
> 
> Oh yeah, and I know he can stay inconspicuous by being a dog, but how 
> do you hide a hippogriff?

You fly it down to the tropics and hide it in the lush undergrowth. 
Or so it would seem.
> 
> -Nyarth  (Is more of a cat person ^_^)

--Dicentra, also a cat person who's nevertheless very attached to her
dog star