Sirius: Much Ado About Nothing

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 73453

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, A Featheringstonehaugh 
<featheringstonehaugh at y...> wrote:
> Sorry.  I know this is heresy, but....am I the only reader who 
> does not like Sirius?  

No, there are plenty of others.

I find him rude, dismissive, self-centered, 
> petulant, egotistical and irresponsible. He lives in the past and 
> seems to prefer Harry there too, as a James substitute.  On more 
> than one occasion goads Harry to be more like James, even though to 
> do so could not only imperil the boy but does him a disservice for 
> not seeing him as his own person. 

The only example I can recall where we see Sirius telling Harry that 
he's not as much like James as Sirius thought was when Sirius 
suggested coming up for a Hogsmeade weekend.  That visit would not 
have imperiled Harry, it would have imperiled Sirius. He did 
encourage the continuation of the DA lessons, which, it seems to me, 
were more of a help that not, to the kids.

 Some guardian!  I don't see him 
> as a father figure at all - he's a case of seriously arrested 
> development and although this is probably the result of years in 
> Azkaban, it is not an excuse to jeopardize Harry's security and 
> future.

I really find it odd that people can make all sorts of excuses or 
have loads of sympathy for adult Snape, no matter what his behavior, 
because he had a rotten childhood.  I'm by no means belittling how 
this can affect an adult.  But, for Sirius to suffer 12 years of 
mental torture and physical deprivation and emotional isolation, then 
another two years in fuguitive mode, and now to end up in what is 
essentially a second prison, somehow is seen as inconsequential. 
These experiences are also traumatizing, and I, for one, don't think 
he's had a chance to recover.  I believe, too, that JKR's 
descriptions of him in OoP were meant to illustrate a person slipping 
into depression, speaking as a lay person, not a mental health expert.


 He seems to give little thought to the consequences of his 
> actions and has an incredibly inflated view of his potential value 
> to the Order; so much so that he would willingly risk the security 
> of the Order just to leave headquarters.  

How is leaving Headquarters risking the security of the Order?  No 
one can find Headquarters because of Dumbldore's acting as Secret 
Keeper. If anything, Sirius puts himself at risk when leaving, not 
the Order.  And, as someone pointed out in another thread, wouldn't 
the neighboring Muggles have found it odd to see a bunch of people on 
brooms land outside the building, *before* anyone thought to use the 
Putter-Outer? Seems like a slight security breach there.

And, for the Dept. of Mysteries scene, is it stated that Sirius 
insisted on going? Or are we led to believe that from the previous 
discussions on how he's not supposed to leave 12 Grimmauld Place? 
There were 10 DEs in the Death Room with Harry and Neville, and only 
5 people from the Order showed up, including Sirius.  It is quite 
possible that, in this case, Sirius was asked to come along, as the  
number of people avaiable to rescue Harry and Co. was so few.


> Yes, I know, he talks about his concern for Harry and gives him 
> gifts.  Great. But frankly, I don't see that talk translated into 
> action.  

In GoF, Sirius tells Harry to go to Dumbledore if his scar keeps 
hurting.  He tells him time and again to be careful, as there is 
obviously someone trying to harm him.  He chastises Harry for 
wandering around the Castle grounds at night with Krum and insists 
that Harry promise that he won't do that again.  Sirius is not in a 
position where he can be "present" but I think he's  trying to exert 
as much influence as possible to direct Harry toward safer courses of 
action.

The very first message Sirius sends to Harry in OoP tells him to stay 
at the Dursleys house. The idea of going to the Harry's hearing may 
on the one hand be considered reckless. But, on the other, if Harry 
is supposed to go in essentially alone, the thought of having someone 
who cares about him present I think can be seen as a simple gesture 
of support. 


Harry's affection for him is understandable but misplaced.  
> Harry doesn't know Sirius well enough to have formed a real bond 
> with him; rather he is so hungry for a parental figure to call his 
own 
> that he projects all the attributes he longs for in a  father onto 
the 
> "next best thing" - his Dad's best friend.

However, that is a moot point.  Harry did invest a lot of emotion in 
his relationship with Sirius. Misplaced or not, Harry had and 
continues to have strong feelings for Sirius. I do think that one of 
the tragedies of this story is that the two of them never had the 
chance to truly discover each other.

 And Sirius' death will only 
> add to the undeserved aura of greatness he so passionately seemed 
to 
> want for himself.

Huh?  A passionately wanted aura of greatness? Where did that come 
from?

> Molly sees through him and I think Dumbledore, Lupin and Snape do 
too.  
> But out of respect for who and  what he once was, as well as the 
> terrible life he's had, he and his antisocial arrogance are 
tolerated, 
> but he's marginalized. 

Indeed he is marginalized. Imprisoned in a house teeming with bad 
memories, with no real job to do to help the Order, trapped because 
both because the DEs know about Padfoot and the MoM is still hunting 
for him, the man is in limbo.  His antisocialness may be considered 
arrogant by some, but others would see it as a sign of deeper 
problems.

 Had he lived, I think we'd have seen more of his 
> true nature emerge from the fantasy personality that has developed 
in 
> Harry's imagination and I suspect he'd not have remained the 
> sympathetic character he obviously is for so many. 
> 
> AF

Well, we'll never know, will we?  I think you and I will have to 
agree to disagree.  I've never once seen a discussion about a 
character lead to one side or the other saying, "You know, you're 
right.  Now I no longer dislike (Fill in the Blank), I think he's a 
great guy."

I find that my initial reactions to a character pretty much dictate 
how I feel about them going forward.  I've disliked Snape from that 
very first scene in Potions class where he makes his "our newest 
celebrity" comment to Harry.  And, though I can empathize that he 
also has suffered in his life, it still doesn't make me like him.  
Whereas, once I realized the truth about Sirius in PoA, he became a 
very sympathetic character for me, and has remained so, despite his 
faults. 

Marianne