Why did Harry get such a liking of Sirius to start with ?

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 74602

"sarcasticmuppet" wrote:

> I think Harry's mindset in PoA wasn't so much "I love Sirius" as it 
> was "After watching Ron's rat turn into a dead guy and finding out 
> Lupin is a werewolf I realize that Sirius is really innocent and I 
> have to keep him from getting kissed by the dementors so maybe in 
> the future I can get away from my evil extended family and live 
> with him."

I don't quite see it that way. When Sirius tells Harry that he can 
come and live with him if he wants to, it's not just relief Harry is 
feeling, it's more like happiness, and it doesn't make too much sense 
to me. Yes the Dursleys are awful, but look at what Sirius is 
offering him  : holidays all alone with a half-mad man who spent 12 
years in Azkaban, can turn into a big black sinister dog, and looks 
like a walking nightmare (even Snape must look like a model next to 
Sirius at that time). Not my definition of paradise. So why should 
Harry be so happy ?
And as for the Dementors : his concern is more than just "I must save 
him so I can get away from the Dursleys". He truly loves that guy. 
He's even more worried about Sirius being killed than Hermione ! I 
know the Dementors are after Sirius, not Hermione, but if horrible 
baddies were after one of my best friends, a teacher I hate and the 
scary old friend of my parents' I've just met, I would be much more 
concerned about my own friend.

> I don't think love kicked in until GoF, when Harry had a 
> decent correspondance with Sirius and realized how much Sirius 
> cares about him.

Except that they have a correspondance precisely because Harry 
chooses to. He's the one who chooses to turn to Sirius instead of 
*anyone else*. Again, I don't see why. If I had to choose between my 
best friends, the Headmaster who's always listened to me and who is 
so wise, that old friend of my parents' who was such a good teacher 
and a good help last year, and the old friend of my parents' who just 
spent 12 years in prison and is on the run again and showed signs of 
not being completely right in his head, I don't think I would choose 
the last one...

Not to mention that their correspondance is pretty sporadic and quite 
bland. Sirius doesn't go much further than the much-
expected : "Ooohh, be careful, stay out of troubles, and let the 
adults take care of everything".

But he *does* come back from hiding to help protect Harry, I grant 
you that. Though usually Harry doesn't care much about what others do 
for him, unless they are called Sirius or Hagrid...

Del