Harry's weak spot (was:Re: Choices)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 86665

Marianne:
<snip>  Harry spent a fair amount of time in the same location as
Sirius. Yet, there is no canon that they ever talked in depth about
Lily and James, that Harry ever took the opportunity to even seek out
some time with Sirius to discuss them or ask questions.  It strikes a
dissonant note with me. It just doesn't seem logical that that would
happen.  
<snip> 
 
Laura:
I can think of some very plausible reasons why Harry didn't seek 
Sirius out on this topic during the summer in OoP.  First, Harry had 
more urgent information to collect and process.  Second, the 
atmosphere of tension at GP didn't really lend itself to that sort of 
intimacy-James was already a point of contention between Molly and 
Sirius.  Third, both Harry and Sirius were deeply preoccupied by 
problems of their own and just wanted to take comfort in each other's 
company.  Fourth, it's really hard for me to imagine a 15 year old 
boy sitting an adult down and asking the kinds of questions Harry 
would have had to ask Sirius.  The HP characters tend to be pretty 
reserved on the best of days (with notable lapses, of course). <snip>
 Sirius and Remus drop an occasional morsel of information 
about their school days during Harry's stay at GP and Harry gets to 
chew over those.  It doesn't seem to occur to him to ask for more 
right then.  
 
Harry's reluctance to ask outright about James and Lily is shown by 
the fact that he only does it in a state of emotional upset.  After 
seeing Pensieve II, he's so distraught that he can't think straight 
until he gets some answers about what he saw.  Not that getting the 
answers makes him feel all that much better.

Carol:
Just a word or two to supplement Laura's response, which I agree with.
Harry has been taught not to ask questions by the Dursleys, especially
Uncle Vernon. This lesson has, unfortunately, been reinforced by
Dumbledore and probably by Snape as well. I seem to recall that on
several occasions, he represses the impulse to ask a question. Add to
that the embarrassment of an adolescent addressing an adult he likes
and admires but barely knows, an adult who also happens to have both a
violent and an arrogant streak, and Harry's reticence is entirely
understandable. 

Carol