WB trademark titles & OoP thoughts

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 45673

Laura Bainham wrote:
> Something else that's had me thinking is whether the "old crowd" knew
> of Sirius' innocence by the night of the third task. Why would
> Dumbledore send Sirius to alert them otherwise? Does this mean his 
> name may be cleared if there are people to say he's helping in the
> fight against LV?
> 
> Laura~ (who's also new, and watches Newsround every weekday with her
> fingers crossed)

Hi, Laura, welcome to the lists. This question ties quite nicely with 
my latest musing (that I will post when I finish developing it, 
sometime soon, I hope) about Sirius. Since it is not strictly what I'm 
working on, I think I'll give you my view.

There are two pieces of can(n)on in this case: the part you've already 
pointed out of *Sirius* being sent to collect the rest of the old gang, 
and all those letters that Sirius and Dumbledore exchange between the 
end of PoA and the end of GoF. Where does this take us? Well, for one 
thing, we can safely extrapolate that Dumbledore mantains frecuent 
contact with his associates and allies, to keep them informed of what 
going on in bigger or smaller detail. There might be reasons for 
Dumbledore comunicating exclusively with Sirius, I know (Harry figures 
prominently in most of the ones I can think), but it really makes sense 
(even if you don't buy MAGIC DISHWASHER) that Dumbledore keeps his 
friends close.

So, if Dumbledore *does* indeed exchange letters with most of the old 
gang, they would have probably advised them that Sirius can be trusted 
(notice that there is no reason for Sirius to be inocent to be trusted: 
Hagrid was trusted, even though he was considered guilty for many 
years, and Snape is trusted even though he *is* guilty). Whatever their 
feelings are, the members of Dumbledore's old gang have to trust *him*, 
not any of his allies of choice.

It is probable, however, that Dumbledore might have started a campaign 
to clean Sirius' image, at least between his own allies, since trust is 
going to be important. I wouldn't be too awed, either, if it turns out 
that most of them know Sirius is an animagus. It is this form that 
makes him a good envoy to contact them, since most wizards and muggles 
will ignore it (except to get out of the way of a dog the size of a 
bear, that is).

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf