[HPforGrownups] Re: Interview w/ JKR [Sirius]

[Kelly Grosskreutz]

No: HPFGUIDX 72571



> <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.>>
>
If anything, I'd fall in the nebulous death camp, but that was only in
retrospect.  When I first read it, I was more in shock that she actually
killed off Sirius Black.  That shock quickly turned to anger at Harry,
Dumbledore, and Snape for all having some blame in this death.  I woke up
the next morning still furious over it all.  A few days later, I was out
driving when I began to feel really depressed.  I couldn't figure out why
for the longest time, as everything was just fine, but then I realized the
only reason I had for feeling that way was because Sirius was dead.  So I
guess I did mourn his loss, but in a different way than crying.

For the record, I like Sirius quite a bit, although he is not my favorite
character (that distinction would go to Snape).  However, I did not feel one
bit of relief that it was Sirius instead of Snape.  What I have bigger
problems with is when authors kill off a character, the character's death
seems fitting for that person, and then the authors later on choose to
resurrect that character simply because it happens to be a favorite of the
readers.  Again, I do have some problems with there not being a body, since
that is just asking to open a whole slew of "Is he really dead?" threads,
but I can understand why it was done in this way and have accepted it.
However, simply because there was not a body, this is one death that I would
not mind if the character came back from.

> 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'?>>
>
In a way, I can understand.  I have read series where my favorite character
was either killed or not always featured/present.  It is harder to read when
you know you won't be seeing that character.  On the other hand, I still
read and enjoy these books because I've already invested a lot of time into
them and therefore have come to like other characters and want to see what
happens next in the story.  As I said, I liked Sirius quite a bit, but I
also like Harry, Ron, Hermione, Snape, Lupin, Dumbledore, need I continue
naming names?  Every character in this series could die but Harry, and I'd
still read it to see how his final confrontation with Voldemort turned out.
Heck, I'd probably still read it if every character, including Harry, died
but Neville, and it was down to him to take on Voldemort.

Yes, this series will not be the same without Sirius.  Harry's world will
not be the same now that he has known Sirius and lost him.  I'm sure we will
all cope somehow, though.  It's just too bad we'll have to wait so long to
see how Harry does cope with this loss.

I read this saying in a book somewhere, and I think it's appropriate to
write here:  It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at
all.  Harry did love Sirius.  Love is not rational or logical.  It doesn't
care how long you've known the person, or whether that person would truly
make a good parental figure.  It just happens.  I agree with those who say
that the important thing about this is that Harry did love Sirius, for
whatever reason, and that his death hurts Harry deeply.

Kelly Grosskreutz
http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova