Interview w/ JKR [Sirius]

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 72545

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dublinaaireland" 
<fashionmenu at h...> wrote:
> <lots of serious snipping>
> 
> No, lots of people didn't.  Either they were not Sirius fans, or 
they 
> were simply happy that the death wasn't their favorite character 
or  
> the death itself was portrayed as so nebulous - unknown curse, no 
> body, veil thing, etc. - that it didn't really hit them right away.
> So, no, you are not alone in not being terribly affected by this 
> death.
> 
> <Dublina> Youre right in the fact that Sirius isnt my fav. 
character 
> but still the death of Cedric Diggory was more *traumatic* for me.>>
> 
> I was devastated for days, but that's because Sirius was my 
favorite 
> character.  So, the final two books have lost a lot of their 
> potential allure for me.
> 
> <Dublina> Are you for real?  It is probably getting to THE best 
bit - 
> how could one character do this to your demise your 'potential 
> allure'?>>

I'll read the books because I want to find out what happens, but I 
won't have the same emotional reaction to anything. 


> Interesting reaction, as that left me cold. I found the entire end 
of 
> the book from the Harry/Dumbledore discussion onward as very 
> unsatisfying.  
> 
> <Dublina> Yes, very unsatisfying that Dumbledore who is 
*supposedly* 
> a great wizard, keeps getting it wrong ie. how many times has LV 
> tried to kill HP?  How many times has LV gotten past so many 
> *protectors*??  Either Dumbledore is losing the plot (pardon the 
pun) 
> and needs to be 'put out to pastures new' or he's done the time 
> turner thingy and knows that HP has to deal with all this (ahem) 
> problems to toughen him up for what's to be the *final showdown*.>>
> 
> I felt that Harry was pretty much left out there on 
> his own. There was no evidence of any adult coming forward to offer 
> him any support at all.  
> 
> <Dublina> Dont know what book you were reading but just in case, it 
> was called the *Order of the Phoneix* and the members of said Order 
> had actually turned up on the train station giving their *2 knuts 
> worth* to the Dursleys...>>
> 
> Simply having a bunch of oddly dressed wizards at the train station 
> to threaten Vernon about Harry's well being was completely 
> unsatisfactory to me. 
> 
> <Dublina> I thought the Dursleys were fearful/intimidated re. magic 
> and odd looking people that might get the neighbours talking??>>
>  
> Did any of them say, "Gee, Harry we know you're going through a bad 
> time. Let us know if we can help you, if you want to talk, if you 
> need a shoulder to cry on..." 
> 
> <Dublina> What was the speech that Dumbledore gave HP at the end??  
> Also, didnt Harry turn round and look at all of them and I quote
> "Harry nodded. He somehow could not find words to tell them what it 
> meant to him, to see them all ranged there, on his side"
> 
> Plus your dealing with a teenager and they are just slightly 
horrible 
> to begin with, I may be 30 but I can still remember back that far!>>
> 
> 
> Oh, big deal. They'll show up if they haven't heard from Harry 
every 
> 3 days.  Well, that should let them sleep at night. Just as long as 
> they don't have to deal with Harry as an emotional human being. 
> 
> <Dublina> Didnt Harry trash Dumbledores office while DD just looked 
> on?  I would call that an emotional outburst, no?>>

Yes, but I don't think Dumbledore dealt with Harry.  He let Harry go 
off, but also sent him conflicting messages.  He claimed he was 
mostly at fault for Sirius' death, which is not really fair to 
himself as the actions of a lot of people affected that.  But, right 
after that he starts talking about Sirius' blindness regarding 
Kreacher which Harry interprets as blaming Sirius.  Granted, Harry is 
highly emotional at this point, and maybe what Dumbledore is doing is 
pressing buttons to in essence make Harry explode so he can get some 
of his anger out of the way, which then opens the door to 
Dumbledore's explanation of the prophecy.  And that leaves Harry with 
feelings of grief, with feelings (not yet completely acknowledged) of 
guilt, and with feelings of isolation.  

> Harry doesn't know how to ask adults for help for his own emotional 
> well-being. 
> 
> <Dublina> Well would you trust adults after you've been looked in a 
> cupboard under the stairs for how long??  I surely wouldnt!>>

No, I wouldn't. I'm not blaming Harry's reactions.  I think the 
adults, who at this point know very well what sort of upbringing he 
had, should make more of an effort to reach out to him.  I'm probably 
bringing my own baggage to this scenario as I lost my mother to 
illness when I was 13.  I had trouble seeking out help in my own 
family, but, since I didn't do so overtly, everyone assumed I was 
dealing with it. And I wasn't.  So, no, it's not always easy at that 
age to admit you need someone to lean on.  But, it helps if the offer 
is there.

> And these wand-waving idiots are not offering him anything that he 
> needs as a young adult who has just suffered a grievous loss. 
> 
> <Dublina> Grievous loss?  What about watching a mate die (GOF) and 
> also his parents dying??  Sirus is *not* all that!  No disrespect 
for 
> all the Sirius fans, I don't want to start a TBay...>>

Harry didn't have the same emotional attachment to Cedric as he does 
to Sirius. I'm not saying this is necessarily a logical attachment or 
that Sirius was an ideal parental model. I'm saying that Harry views 
Sirius as very important. As Voldemort knew, as Dumbledore came to 
know (and mentioned to Harry) Sirius was the one person Harry would 
go to any lengths to rescue. Harry wanted Dumbledore to kill him at 
the end of OoP and one of the benefits of that for Harry would be to 
see Sirius again.  So, yes, for Harry, this is a grievous loss.
 
> The lack of empathy from the adults in Harry's life makes me want 
to 
> scream.
> 
> <Dublina> Yes, to this I agree with, there is no empathy and I 
think 
> that's the whole problem, I get the feeling that they (people who 
do 
> love him) treat him with kid gloves where he actually needs a hug.  
I 
> think he should have been nurtured from the first day on Dursleys 
> doorstep.  I know that the Dursleys were exceptionally evil to such 
a 
> small child but something should of been done to fix the problem.  
If 
> Arabella was around and the *cats* were keeping an eye on him, it 
> should of been reported that there was abuse and it should of been 
> rectified!
> 
> And I also feel - was mentioned in another post - that people talk 
of 
> Harry as 'my Harry' and that's what it comes down to. We want to 
hold 
> him as our own and look after him and treat him as our child the 
way 
> we would treat our own children; the way HP deserves to be 
treated.  

And it worries me that Harry will feel increasingly isolated, or will 
want to draw away from his friends because he may see them as 
becoming targets of the DEs simply by virtue of the fact that they 
*are* Harry's friends.

> It really brings out (sorry, guys) the mother instinct in us all 
and 
> its lovely to care for such a character and I thank JK for that!>>
> 
> Dublina - but my fav has always been and will always be, Neville!

Marianne