Apologies - Wands for life?

lupinesque aiz24 at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 18 21:59:29 UTC 2002


No: HPFGUIDX 36645

We apologize for the preceding apology.  Oops, mixing up my fandoms 
again.

Cindy, on a rampage, claimed:

>Sirius never apologizes to Snape, Ron or Lupin. 

I had a good rant going, but you've since recalled the very moving 
apology to Lupin ("Forgive me" is way tougher to say than "I 
apologize," "I'm sorry," or "I screwed up").  I think he's made it 
quite clear enough that he is apologizing to Ron, also.  He's very 
concerned about his leg, asks after him when he ought to be getting 
the hell away from the tower (one of my favorite Sirius moments), and 
a week later gives him an owl "as it's my fault he no longer has a 
rat."  Snape, no, I don't think we're going to see an apology to Snape 
anytime soon.

I agree with J that the apology between Sirius and Remus is necessary. 
 However understandable their suspicions were (especially Remus's, 
since Sirius was caught red-handed, for crying out loud), they 
suspected each other of the most horrible crimes.  I can't imagine 
them going forward without asking each other's forgiveness.  The 
discomfort I feel with that scene is not that the apologies were 
unnecessary, but that they were so cursory.

BTW, I wouldn't call Lupin's "I'm sorry about your broomstick" an 
apology (nor, of course, is one called for).  "Sorry" means two 
things, and when used as an expression of condolence it isn't an 
apology at all.

David wrote:

>We don't know for sure 
> what passed between Lupin and Dumbledore on the morning he left, but 
> there is an awkwardness about Lupin insisting on taking his own bags 
> that suggests they still haven't really cleared the air.

I agree--I find that scene painful.  It doesn't tell us whether anyone 
apologized to anyone else.  I figure as I read it that Lupin 
apologized abjectly to Dumbledore earlier that morning; this doesn't 
clear the air to the point of normalizing relations, however.  
"Normal" would mean allowing Dumbledore to see him out; "just told 
Dumbledore I'd lied to him for years, and damn it, didn't even get to 
say it clean, Sirius had already told him" requires Lupin to carefully 
refuse to impose on him any further.  I would've felt the same way.  
But I know it's astonishing to hear that I relate to Lupin.

> Am I the only person who dislikes the expression 'suck it up'?

No.

Leon wrote:

> No, the wand chooses the wizard, and it's for life.

How do we know it's for life?  The only person we know to possess the 
same wand for many years is Voldemort, and we don't know that the 
Fawkes wand was his first; he could have bought it shortly before 
killing Lily and James.  Not *too* shortly, IMO--I think Ollivander's 
a thoroughgoing good guy and wouldn't have sold it to him once he'd 
risen to power.  But it could easily be thirty years after he began at 
Hogwarts.

Amy Z
still Miss Use of Muggle Artifacts, thank you very much, until the 
2002 pageant* <adjusts crown>

*The MUMA Pageant is held on Perkins's birthday every year

-------------------------------------------------------------
   "What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia.  Her lips tightened
 as they always did if he dared to ask a question.
   "Your new school uniform," she said.
   Harry looked in the bowl again.
   "Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."
                           -HP and the Philosopher's Stone 
-------------------------------------------------------------





More information about the HPforGrownups archive