Sirius' Temper

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 44314

I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't see Sirius as having a 
temper "problem."   Again, it may just be semantics with me, but I just 
don't see a problem.  I'm not suggesting that Sirius doesn't get angry, 
just contending that the anger isn't inappropriate.  How much evidence do 
we have of real anger?  As far as I remember, we only know for sure about 
his behavior in the Shrieking Shack.  I refuse to count the picture 
slashing incident because I did not get information about that first 
hand.  I'm not arguing that he did not slash the picture, just his state of 
mind and emotion as he was doing it.  I think we take Peeves' word for it 
that Black has a nasty temper.  (He's the one who says so after the 
slashing of the painting.)  But Peeves is hardly a trustworthy witness.

As for the Shrieking Shack, Sirius is certainly angry there, but is that 
anger really that much out of control?  It seems to me that his anger is 
quite focused and not out of control at all.  In that scene I give my vote 
for lack of control to Snape.  He lets his hatred of Black control his 
behavior and refuses to listen to anyone.  He'd rather let a possibly 
innocent man die than listen to a word anyone has to say.  I wouldn't go so 
far as to say Snape has an anger problem; he's generally too cool for that, 
but he still lets his emotions carry him away.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about Sirius' temper, but I'm going 
to put final judgment on hold until I see some other evidence of his temper 
"problem."

As Richelle Votaw pointed out, Harry caused Aunt Marge's wine glass to 
break when she speaks rudely of the Potters.  The text doesn't actually say 
that Harry did it, but I think from the context, it's pretty clear that he 
did.  There is other evidence of Harry's anger at insults directed at his 
parents as others have pointed out.  But I don't think anyone is accusing 
Harry of having a temper problem.  Of course, we see enough of Harry to 
know that he doesn't have a problem with anger, but does get angry at the 
insults thrown out about his parents.  We have not seen enough of Sirius to 
know whether his anger is really a problem or not.


Carol Bainbridge
(kaityf at jorsm.com)

http://www.lcag.org