Sirius' Temper

[c_voth312]

No: HPFGUIDX 44369

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Carol Bainbridge <kaityf at j...> wrote:
> 
> Well, in my view as I suggested before, I think he wants justice 
for the 
> Potters.  I don't think he's out to clear his name or any other 
such thing 
> that would make any difference to *his* future.  Then end, then, 
for him is 
> justice.
>

But that's not justice, that's vengeance.  And I think Sirius is 
confusing the two, which is what I mean when I say his passions get 
ahead of his reason.
 
> But he won't be in the same position.  His position had been in 
prison 
> paying for a crime he did not commit, feeling horribly guilty for 
his 
> responsibility in the deaths of the Potters.  He wasn't out to 
clear his 
> name, so that's beside the point.  No, if he killed Peter, he would 
be, as 
> he himself said, committing the crime he was imprisoned for, and 
more to 
> the point for him, he would be meting out justice for the Potters.  
He 
> would be making Peter pay for turning over his good friends to 
> Voldemort.  Vigilante justice?  Probably.  But as some others have 
pointed 
> out, the man has spent 12 years in a joyless place with prison 
guards who 
> suck out your happiness and long to suck out your soul as well.  
He's been 
> there feeling responsible for the deaths of his best friends.  All 
of a 
> sudden he sees the little creep who was really responsible is alive 
and 
> well and living like the rat he is.  How wise should we expect him 
to 
> be?  How much faith should we expect a guy whose been railroaded 
into 
> Azkaban to put into the WW justice system.  Nah, I think under the 
> circumstances, Sirius is behaving quite well.  I haven't seen any 
real 
> evidence of his passions getting in the way of his reason under any 
other 
> circumstances.  I think he reasons things out quite well, as we see 
in GoF.

I'm not saying he doesn't have justifiable reason for being 
irrational, just that he is.  What if Peter knew something about 
Voldemort's potential for returning?  What if another former DE 
starts gunning for Harry--who will protect him then?  Doesn't Harry 
(as Lupin points out to him) have the right to know what really 
happened the night his parents died? And most importantly, could he 
really undo the mistakes of his past with a suicide mission of this 
nature?  That's the problem with eye-for-an-eye, you end up blinded.

I'm willing to concede, though, that this could be an isolated 
incident based in extreme psychological duress.  I'm waiting to see 
what happens between Sirius and Snape before passing final judgement--
now THAT'S a powder keg just waiting to go off...

~Christi