Sirius - who is right?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 73794

I said:
> > 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.<<

Marina:
> If that's what Dumledore thinks, then he really has lost sight of 
the human element.  People don't choose what they feel.  <

I should certainly hope that at nearly forty, Sirius could decide 
that Snape's insults were nothing to get worked up over. Insults 
are like wine, they affect one only if taken.

Marina:
>Yeah, Sirius  could "choose" to be unbothered by his situation 
(of which Snape's insults were only a small part) -- just like Molly 
could "choose" not to care about the welfare of her children or 
Snape  could "choose" not to hold grudges.  All it takes is a 
complete  personality transplant.<

Ah, but now you're agreeing with Dumbledore, and me. <g> 
Snape's insults were only a small part of what was bothering 
Sirius; far too small to have goaded him into risking his life.



> Sure, Sirius could've said "Screw you all, I'm going to Tahiti."  It
 certainly would've been better for *him.*  Personally, though, I > 
think the fact that he didn't do this is grounds for admiring him, 
 not condemning him.  If Dumbledore wanted Sirius to quit and 
go  away, he should've said so, instead of ordering him into an 
intolerable situation which Sirius, nevertheless, struggled to 
 tolerate for a year before he hit the breaking point.  <

How do we know that Dumbledore didn't do just that? We're not 
privy to Dumbledore's conversations with Sirius. 


> I think that if Dumbledore had given Sirius something useful to 
do, a bit of freedom and a chance to communicate with Harry, 
then, yes,  both Sirius and Harry would've been absolutely thrilled 
to work for  him.<

Alas, Sirius and Harry could not safely communicate, for the 
same reason that Dumbledore and Harry could not. The secret 
means of communication wouldn't stay secret for long if Harry 
used them, not with Harry's mind accessible to Voldemort.

As for the bit of freedom, everybody seems to think Sirius could 
have just gone for a stroll in the I-cloak.  Maybe it would have 
been safe for Sirius to leave the house after a while, if he hadn't 
let himself be seen on the platform. But after that, the Dementors 
knew he was in London, and they are not to be fooled by 
invisibility cloaks or disguises. 

I said:
> > 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.<<
 
> But that's exactly what Dumbledore did order Sirius to do.  To 
sit around and do nothing, while Harry was in danger and the 
rest of the Order were out risking their lives.  And the rationale 
behind it?  To preserve Sirius' physical safety.  "We don't need 
you, we just need  your house.  If you insist on sticking around, 
do some dusting or  something. But hey, look at the bright side, 
at least you're *safe*!"<

Sirius offered the house. There is no suggestion that 
Dumbledore ordered him to do so. Sirius  was asked, not 
ordered,  to secure the house and to befriend Kreacher. But 
Sirius didn't want something *useful* to do. He wanted 
something *dangerous* to do. 

Sirius couldn't be allowed to put himself in harm's way  because 
he couldn't be trusted not to take risks, and , as I've said, Harry 
would have run off to rescue him. There was nothing that would 
have changed that, even if Dumbledore had told Harry everything 
from the beginning. I am not condemning Sirius for being the 
way he was, I am only challenging the idea that there was 
something Dumbledore could have done about it that wouldn't 
have endangered Harry or the Order.

Pippin