Sirius and Bravery WAS Re: Secret Keeper

[kiricat2001 <Zarleycat@aol.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51719

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak <pipdowns at e...>" 
<pipdowns at e...> wrote:

> I think my private problem with the 'Sirius was afraid he'd crack 
> under torture' theory is I have this vision.
> 
> The vision goes something like [teeny tiny FF]: Sirius is captured. 
> Sirius is tortured. 'Reveal the Secret!' goes Voldemort. 'Urgh, 
> arghh, I can't! It's Pettigrew! He's the Secret Keeper!"
> 
> And then Voldemort goes after poor snivelling little Peter, who 
> Sirius is apparently expecting to be a *lot* braver than he was...
> 
> > Julia:
> > I don't think it was that he was afraid of the torture itself - I 
> > think Sirius knew that Voldemort would automatically assume he 
was 
> > the Secret Keeper and come after him regardless.  If he wasn't 
> > actually the Secret Keeper, then no matter what Voldemort did,  
> > he  couldn't spill the beans.

Pip!squeak:
> No, just the beans about exactly *who* the Secret Keeper was. I 
> think it would have been an awful lot more sensible [and braver] if 
> Sirius had said 'Look, Voldemort's going to assume I'm the Secret 
> Keeper and come after me. My advice is to pick a Secret Keeper and 
> not tell me who it is. Then however much he tortures me, I won't be 
> able to tell him a thing.'

Select a secret Secret Keeper? In hindsight that would have been a 
good idea. Did that thought occur to anyone? If so, was it rejected 
out of hand? Unknown...


> Sirius? Brave? 
> Sirius is not actually fight-to-the-death brave. Sirius is 
downright 
> *sneaky*. 

Of course he's sneaky! Any prankster worth his salt has to have a 
healthy dose of sneakiness in his makeup.  However, I do have to take 
issue with your assessment of Sirius' bravery, at least for the two 
instances you mention.


Sirius's preferred mode of action is to get someone *else* 
> to do the dirty work. In the Prank, he uses Lupin to attack Snape. 
> In the Secret Keeper he uses Pettigrew. 

I'm not sure why the Prank is evidence of lack of bravery on Sirius' 
part, unless you see the Prank from Snape's point of view.  In that 
case, you believe that Sirius' intent was to kill Snape, so of course 
it proves he has no guts because he didn't kill Snape outright, but 
rather wanted to use Remus as the weapon. 

 However, if you don't subscribe to the "Snape must die" 
interpretation, then you can look at this from the basis of what 
Lupin said in the Shack scene.  He said Snape was very interested in 
where Lupin went every month.  What better way to set Snape up to get 
him off their collective Marauder backs, and to scare the pants off 
him, than by telling him exactly what he wanted to know, and letting 
him see for himself. Much more effective than simply saying, "Sev, 
Lupin's a werewolf and he goes to the Shrieking Shack for his 
transformations. Go away."  

And as for the Secret Keeper deal, well, again the event can be 
interpreted in different ways. Sirius knew that the DEs would come 
after him.  He was going to be in for a bad time no matter who was 
the Secret Keeper. He may have believed he could stay at least one 
step ahead of those who would torture him for information. The longer 
the DEs looked for him on the mistaken assumption that he was the 
Potters' Secret Keeper, the more time could be bought for the good 
guys.  I, of course, am making the assupmtion that Voldemort was 
driven in large part by wanting the deaths of the Potters, so would 
devote more than a little energy and manpower looking for the person 
most likely to be the SK.  Setting oneself up as a decoy against the 
Death Eaters strikes me as requiring a certain amount of courage.

 
> Sirius's Gryffindor bravery is much more like Neville's. He has the 
> courage of endurance; the courage to survive 12 years in Azkaban 
> with his sanity intact. The courage not to give up when it seems 
> hopeless.
> 
> But physical, let's fight the guy who knows all the curses, keep 
the 
> Secret under torture bravery? 
> 
> No. Canon actually suggests he doesn't have that at all.

Canon, as is so often the case with JKR, leaves itself open to 
several interpretations!

Marianne