Sirius - who is right?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 73685

Fides:

 >>For example, Dumbledore's reaction to Harry's complaint 
about Snape's taunting of Sirius is pretty much "he's a big boy - 
he  wouldn't let it bother him" but all the evidence we have from 
Harry's  observations suggests the comments are bothering 
Sirius an awful lot.<<

Dumbledore doesn't quite say that Sirius was too mature to be 
hurt. He says that "Sirius was much too old and clever to *allow* 
such feeble taunts to hurt him." (emphasis mine). The stress 
here is on choice, as usual. Dumbledore's opinion is that Sirius 
could have decided not to let Snape's taunts get to him, not that 
Sirius actually did make that choice.

>> Where is the kindness to Sirius that we are told Sirius should 
have  shown to Kreacher?<<

Sirius is not magically enslaved. The essential difference is that 
Sirius *chose* to put himself under Dumbledore's orders. 
Having done that, he should have obeyed those orders or else 
resigned from the Order. Sirius could have left Grimmauld Place 
at any time and returned to his tropical hideout. Perhaps 
Dumbledore was hoping that he would. 

It's all very well to argue that Dumbledore should adopt a more 
solicitous (some would say "interfering") management style, but 
would Sirius, or Harry, ever even *want* to work for him in that 
case? 

If Dumbledore  were the type of  person who would order Sirius 
to   forget about trying to help the Order and just look after 
himself, he would never have won Sirius's allegiance in the first 
place. 

Pippin