Voldemort's Naming Conventions (Lucius); Sirius in GoF

[Hillman, Lee]

No: HPFGUIDX 36390

Hi, everyone!

Boggles observed:
> 
> I read it as paternalistic.  The other Death Eaters are treated as 
> employees, or worse, servants.  Lucius is treated as the 
> son-surrogate, the heir apparent to Voldemort's role.  He is the one 
> to whom much is given, and for whom much is forgiven - but from whom 
> much will be expected.  What were we saying about Draco earlier?
>

And Rita concurred:
> Yes, and forgives Lucius for more disloyalty than he punished Avery 
> for. It seems very clear to me that Lucius is Voldy's 'teacher's 
> pet'. At first, I thought that it was a social class thing: Lord 
> Voldemort is still working-class Tom Riddle from the Muggle orphanage 
> in his heart, still impressed by the upper classes, and tremendously 
> impressed with himself that he associates with a toff. But when I 
> started working on time-lines and Malfoy family history and 
> genealogy, it seemed to me that ages and circumstances are right for 
> Lucius to be Riddle/Voldemort's godson; Lucius's extreme evilness 
> could be due to Riddle/Voldemort having been a major influence on his 
> upbringing.


And I too must agree. I picked up on the father/son relationship implicit
there, and as I've said before, while I don't think their relationship was
ever formalized ("Uncle" Tom), I do believe Voldemort capitalized on a
paternal attitude with Lucius, to strengthen their bond and feel more secure
in relying on Lucius. I get the sense that Lucius is one of the chief
lieutenants, and Voldemort seems to feel that his loyalty is not in
question, despite his actions. Again, that reinforces my idea that recanting
and saying he'd been under Imperius or somehow compelled to work for
Voldemort was a contingency plan they had for a while--Voldemort doesn't
seem too surprised that his "slippery" friend came out of the unrest with
nary a scratch on his solid-gold reputation. 

Unlike Rita, I don't think it's his influence on Lucius's
childhood--directly--that makes their relationship so close (if indeed, it's
really that close). They do have to have been close enough that he'd entrust
Lucius with his real name and school things--or alternatively, if Lucius
knew that Voldemort was Riddle, he went hunting for Tom's school things--and
forgive him for so much so easily. I think the hold Voldemort has over
Lucius is brought out of the link he offers to Lucius's own father--but my
backstory is long and has been documented on this list before.

Hm. I just flashed on something else up there: that perhaps, Lucius is not
really that close to Voldemort, that Voldemort didn't actually tell him who
he really is, but that Lucius discovered it or figured it out and went
looking for Riddle's stuff at some point. If it was after Voldemort fell,
perhaps he really was looking for a way to bring him back? 

But in any case, I also think that Lucius has a few twists planned for his
master--an ace or two up his sleeve. I don't think he's naive enough to
believe that Voldemort will really treat any of his servants well in the
end, so I think Lucius is plotting his own method of being indispensible to
make sure he survives and gets out of the Death Eaters precisely what he
wants--if he can do.

Though I also think you may not be too far off the track, Rita, in your
initial reaction. I think that Voldemort does have practical reasons for
associating with the Malfoys because of their money and status. And in my
timeline, where Lucius's father was Riddle's school chum, he may well have
been attracted to the friendship because it gave him a leg up in society.
Even now: there is no doubt in my mind that Lucius is the wealthy gentleman
who now owns Riddle house "for tax purposes." I think the new, improved
Voldemort (with patented Harry!blood, no less) will be far less concerned
about these matters of social strata.


And now, to more Sirius matters.

Debbie said:
> I think it is the sane logical Sirius that appears in GoF, more than 
> any other, that has raised questions in many minds, at least mine, 
> about Sirius.  <snip> In GoF he seems so calm, so 
> thoughtful, so methodical, in fact the antithesis of the spontaneous, 
> uncontrolled person he was portrayed as in most of PoA.  Surely 
> someone who was as wild as Sirius appeared to be at Hogwarts, who 
> rode around on a (possibly Muggle) motorcycle, and who spent 12 
> years -- virtually his entire adulthood -- at Azkaban could not have 
> had the life experiences to display the maturity he shows in GoF.  
> 

Well, I think the key here is that while I believe the GoF Sirius to be
closer to the "real" Sirius, in that he is rational, perhaps still
impulsive, but a little sadder, and a lot wiser, than in his childhood, I
also think that we haven't seen the last of the volatile, loose canon
Sirius. And yes, I think both have elements rooted in his "true"
personality, but that we haven't actually seen the "real" Sirius yet.


WILL THE REAL SIRIUS BLACK PLEASE STAND UP?
I think that Sirius is displaying excellent coping skills in GoF. He has had
a little time to recuperate over the summer, and he's getting back on an
even keel, able to live day-to-day, but toward a positive result, rather
than existing in survival mode for so long.

When he makes the decision to come back to the country, I think he also
makes the decision that he MUST be a responsible and protective force
supporting Harry. By making that conscious decision, he can summon the
willpower he needs to keep his head on straight. Harry needs him; therefore,
he can cope with his own problems while he concentrates on Harry's. 

I think also that Sirius tries to keep from Harry how traumatized Azkaban
has made him, but that the difficulties associated with his imprisonment and
(let's face it) torture at the hands of the Dementors cannot fail but have
further repercussions we haven't seen yet.

Much as I like the character, if I were Dumbledore, even if he'd been
cleared at the end of PoA, I would not have felt easy about letting Harry
live with him. He cannot possibly be healed yet--but human beings have an
uncanny ability to suppress their own demons in favour of more pressing
matters--for limited periods of time.

It's all part of a coping mechanism, if you ask me. I think part of why
Dumbledore sent him to Lupin's to "lay low" was to be somewhere where Sirius
could get some time to be relatively safe, where he can start working
through some of the damage that the Dementors caused, and where someone else
whom Dumbledore trusts can keep a watch over him.

It's one of the more tragic elements of the books, IMO, that even if Sirius
lives and is cleared, I believe it will not be safe for Harry to stay with
him until he no longer needs Sirius in quite the same way. At some levels,
yes, Sirius fulfilling the father role, whether at a distance or close up,
is all Harry really needs--and will never outgrow--but I don't think he'll
ever get to live with Sirius until he's grown up, and may be looking to
strike out on his own, anyway.

Well, that's rambling. Suffice to say, I do perceive that Sirius isn't done
healing yet, and I think a loss of control may occur at a pivotal moment in
the future. Whether it will be to the ultimate benefit or cost of Our Side,
I shall not venture to say. I think, from the perspective of good plot
development, he may well do something that jeopardizes the short-term goals
of the Old Crowd, but that in the end, as with letting Peter live, it may
work out to be for the best.

But I can easily reconcile his GoF persona with his PoA one by saying that
elements of both are the "real" Sirius, but neither is actually him. In the
earlier book he is in the grip of his madness, while in the second book he
is almost over-compensating for it.

Gwen