Some Sirius Black Questions.

[jklb66]

No: HPFGUIDX 36374

Serenadust wrote:
>I also don't understand the idea that Sirius is supposed to be a 
>terrible person because Ron's leg was broken in the process of being 
>dragged down to the Shrieking Shack.  He was dragging him down there 
>in desperate anticipation of Harry following them.  The only reason 
>Ron's leg broke is that he had hooked it around a root to resist 
>being dragged away, not because Black was really trying to hurt him.

Susanne wrote:
> And why, exactly did Black want Harry to follow, anyhow?
> As a witness? To explain his innocence to Harry?
>I guess nobody besides Lupin would have believed him, if
>they hadn't seen Scabbers transform into Pettigrew.
> Maybe he should have planned on more witnesses?
> Would he have been able to persuade Dumbledore to listen and
> watch, if he had tried?

My impression of the scene was that Sirius dragged Ron to the 
Shreiking Shack only because Ron had Scabbers/Peter in his pocket.  
He was "grateful" to Harry (and Hermione) for following Ron, not 
because he wanted them there, but because he didn't want them back at 
the castle getting help.  He wanted to kill Peter, pure and simple.  
Killing Peter would avenge James and Lily, avenge his own false 
imprisonment, and protect Harry.  Getting Harry to believe him and 
getting his own name cleared were all secondary in importance.  We 
can see this in the Shreiking Shack scene-- it is Lupin who has to 
keep restraining Sirius from killing Peter "until we get a few things 
straighted out."  Lupin convinces Sirius that Harry and Ron deserve 
to know the truth BEFORE the rat gets torn to pieces; Sirius would be 
just as happy to kill the rat first and explain later.  So, no, he 
didn't want more witnesses; witnesses might interfere with the murder 
he had waited 12 years to commit.  Unfortunately, he ended up without 
witnesses or a dead rat. :(

Further canon evidence that clearing his own name was secondary in 
importance: Sirius's knowledge of his own innocence kept him sane in 
Azkaban for 12 years, but he was unable to escape. I don't have my 
copy of PoA, but there is a quote, something like, "Knowing that I 
was innocent, I stayed sane and kept my powers, but without a wand, I 
had no hope of fighting off the demenotrs."  It is only when he 
learns that Peter is at Hogwarts, and thus a significant danger to 
Harry, that he gains the inner fire he needs to escape.  Again, I'm 
quoting inaccurately from memory-- "But knowing that he was at 
Hogwarts, perfectly poised to strike if any hint should reach him 
that Voldemort was rising again, it lit a fire in my mind and gave me 
the strength I needed to escape."  He wanted to escape in order to 
kill Peter and thereby protect Harry; the desire to clear his own 
name wasn't part of the equation.

-Jennifer
"'Well, hello, Peter,' said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats 
frequently erupted into old school friends around him. 'Long time no 
see.'"