[HPforGrownups] Sirius Black-What a Guy!

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 44262

At 07:03 PM 9/20/2002 +0000, bugaloo37 wrote:

>Come on you Sirius fans- it's
>time to stand up and be counted!

I'm here!  I'm definitely a Sirius fan.  I have to admit, though, that I'm 
afraid of what JKR has in store for him.  I liked Mad-eye Moody too and 
look what he turned out to be!  Sure, he wasn't the real Mad-eye, but we 
didn't know that till the end of the book, did we?  However, from what I've 
seen of Serius, I do like him a lot, for all the reasons bugaloo37 mentions.

bugaloo37's reasons:
>He is passionately loyal-in fact, he
>is passionate about everything.  There is no half-heartedness in
>Sirius. Look at how wracked with guilt he was over James and Lily.

Yes, to the point where he would even say he killed them, since he felt so 
responsible for their deaths.

>I
>will admit this particular quality can get you in hot water sometimes-
>  it lets you act without thinking things out first-but there are
>always drawbacks to living on the edge.

Maybe, but do we have any indications that Sirius was like that?  I'm not 
sure being passionate about things is the same as living on the edge.  I 
also don't think that it necessarily causes one to act without 
thinking.  Sirius has had a long time to sit and think about things in 
Azkaban and he's pretty sure who was responsible for leading Voldemort to 
the Potters.  He wants revenge, more than revenge actually.  He wants the 
culprit punished, even if he has to mete out the punishment himself.  I 
think Sirius, on top of his loyalty and passion, has a deep sense of justice.

bugaloo37 goes on:
>Second, Sirius shows
>wonderful care and concern for Harry, his best friend's child.  IMO,
>this is more than just a moral obligation he is fulfilling, I think
>it goes deeper than that.  I think that Sirius genuinely loves Harry -
>perhaps because he sees James in him.

Again, I agree that Sirius offer to take Harry in is based more on moral 
obligation.  There is a genuine warmth in that offer.  It may be because he 
sees James in Harry, but I think it's more than that.  I think he not only 
loves Harry, but likes him and respects him as well.  I guess what I'm 
trying to say is that while Sirius might see James in Harry, he can also 
recognize Harry as a good person in his own right.  His desire, not just to 
take Harry in, but to create a family life with him, is something I found 
very touching.

More from bugaloo37:
>Third, he was able to admit to
>his mistaken ideas concerning Remus Lupin.  I found the scene between
>Remus and Sirius in the Shrieking Shack in PoA very touching indeed

Again, I agree.  It takes a particular type of person to admit 
mistakes.  It also shows, I think, that Sirius does not really act without 
thinking.  Passionate and loyal though he is, he is willing to listen and 
rethink his position.  How different that is from Snape, who wants to just 
go ahead with the sentence put on Sirius without listening to a thing.  Who 
was in a more likely position to be calm and willing to listen? Certainly 
not Sirius.  Yet, he is the one who did just that.

bugaloo37 again:
>  <snip>  What else can I say?  The man was strong enough to withstand
>Azakaban (even though it did weaken him somewhat).  What kind of
>strength of character does that take?

Incredible strength of character.  I find this even more admirable, because 
Sirius could have spent his years there building up resentment and hatred, 
but he didn't really.  If he had, I think it would have been harder to stop 
and listen to what Lupin had to say.  It would have been harder to stop 
from killing Pettigrew.  Instead, he sat in Azkaban, trying to stay sane 
and feeling horribly guilty for the deaths of his best friends.  It's odd, 
too, because it's clear he could have escaped sooner, using the same 
strategy he ultimately did use.  Why wait all those years?  Particularly if 
he knew he wasn't guilty of the crime?  It's as if he felt he deserved to 
be there for his role, unwitting though it was, in the Potter's deaths.  It 
wasn't until he saw that Pettigrew was alive and well and at Hogwarts that 
he escaped.  His sense of justice took over.  Pettigrew needed to be 
punished -- and Harry needed to be protected.

Carol Bainbridge
(kaityf at jorsm.com)

http://www.lcag.org