A Case of Sirius Neglect? (was Re: Sirius - who is right?)

[Phyllis]

No: HPFGUIDX 74674

Pippin wrote:

> IIRC, we never see Dumbledore and Sirius interact in OOP, so 
> how can we draw conclusions about how Dumbledore behaved 
> toward Sirius?

and darkkitten added:

> I don't remember them interacting directly either, though I could be
> wrong. I based mine on what Dumbledore says about Sirius to Harry
> after Sirius's death, and on what we know about Sirius's situation
> at Grimmauld Place from Harry.

Now me:

While it is true that we don't witness Dumbledore and Sirius 
interacting in OoP, I base my conclusions on how Dumbledore behaved 
toward Sirius on various statements made through OoP by Sirius and 
others.  For example, Sirius in Ch. 5: "There's not much I can do for 
the Order of the Phoenix...or so Dumbledore feels."; Molly in Ch. 
5: "Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why 
Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and – "; Molly in Ch. 
6: "'Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius 
to go with you, and I must say I – ' ' – think he's quite right,' 
said Sirius through clenched teeth."  And, most telling of all IMO, 
is as darkkitten says, Dumbledore's own words in Ch. 37: "Sirius was 
much too old and clever to have allowed such feeble taunts to hurt 
him."  Well, whether or not we agree that Snape's taunts 
were "feeble," they *did* hurt Sirius – to the point where Sirius was 
prepared to duel with Snape over such "feeble taunts."  I really 
think Dumbledore completely underestimated the impact of keeping 
Sirius as a psudo-prisoner in his parents' home while one of his arch-
rivals (Snape) was not only allowed to play a key role in the 
activities of the Order, but was also permitted to flaunt his 
position and freedom over Sirius.

I said:

> It strikes me that, with respect to both Harry and Sirius, 
> Dumbledore makes it clear that their survival is more important 
> to him (Dumbledore) than their mental health. 

and Pippin answered:

> Well, yes. It's possible to recover from emotional wounds, if not 
> as well or as quickly as Dumbledore hoped. It's not possible to 
> recover from being *dead.* 

and darkkitten added:

> But the Order has time to do more than worry about sheer survival;
> there are long dinner discussions, sessions spent cleaning the scary
> Black house of its magical denizens, and in general quite a bit of 
> waiting. This is the time that could be spent trying to look after
> one another, IMO.

Me again:

Exactly.  I wasn't trying to say that survival should take a back 
seat to mental health – obviously, if you're dead, your mental health 
is fairly irrelevant (unless, I suppose, if you decide to become a 
ghost!).  The point I was trying to make was that IMO, caring for 
one's mental health should be just as important as ensuring one's 
survival – that survival shouldn't preclude caring about someone's 
state of mind.  I don't think the two need to be exclusive.  If it's 
too dangerous to send a member of the Order or one of Harry's friends 
to Privet Dr., then Dumbledore could have gone himself (since he 
doesn't need an Invisibility Cloak to become invisible) or he could 
have sent some form of communication himself (since as even Harry 
notes, Dumbledore surely knows other ways of communicating besides 
owls).  And if Dumbledore's concern is Voldemort thinking that he and 
Harry are close, surely just one visit or communication from 
Dumbledore wouldn't have given that away.  I don't see the teas with 
Mrs. Figg as helping Harry out at all, since at that time, he didn't 
know she was connected to the magical world and she presumably 
therefore couldn't help Harry sort through his feelings about the 
graveyard.

I said:

> And to top it all off, Dumbledore allows Harry's two best friends 
> - Ron and Hermione - to spend the summer at the headquarters 
> of the Order while Harry is locked up without communication at 
> Privet Drive. Talk about rubbing it in!

and Pippin responded:

> Sirius, Ron and Hermione were communicating with Harry. 
> Vernon complains about all the owls. They just weren't allowed 
> to give him any news about the top secret Order of the Phoenix. 
> You know, if you have a security clearance from our Muggle 
> government, you're not allowed to discuss stuff with your friends 
> and family, much less write it down and mail it. 

Me again:

They were communicating with him, but their communications were more 
aggravating than helpful since they offered tantalizing hints of all 
of the information and events that Harry was missing out on.  While I 
acknowledge that the communications couldn't go into detail for 
security reasons, I still maintain that it would have been more fair 
to Harry to not have his friends arrive at Grimmauld Place until 
Harry could get there himself.

~Phyllis