Lilly, James and Sirius

[innermurk]

No: HPFGUIDX 74381

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, B Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
> Godfather and Guardian are not the same thing. In the UK, Godfather 
is 
> an honourary position, with little or no responsibility. A Guardian 
has 
> defined legal duties and must be identified in appropriate legal 
> documents. Otherwise the child generally goes to the next of kin - 
> which is what happened to Harry. Remember, at this time Sirius had 
not 
> had the confrontation with Pettigrew and could have claimed Harry 
if 
> that had been the Potters wish. He did not. Nor, apparently, did he 
> raise any objections to Dumbledores decision to send Harry to the 
> Dursleys.


I innermurk reply:

Ah but he DID protest. Hagrid tells us this in POA (US pb pg 206) "an 
then he [Black] says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, 
I'll look after him -' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore an' 
I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' 
uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in..."

I'd say objections and arguments were raised. But he was wasting 
time, so he probably thought he'd let Harry go, find Pettigrew, 
settle the whole Secret Keeper issue, and then get Harry.


> Snip
> Lily agreed (willingly? we don't know) with James to switch to 
Peter 
> because Sirius assumed that Voldy would  come after him. Strange 
logic. 
> Yes, Voldemort would come after Sirius, he would still come after 
> Sirius unless he placed an ad in the paper declaring he had no 
> knowledge of the Potters whereabouts. Voldy was after information, 
not 
> assassination. If Sirius could not resist V as Secret Keeper, then 
he 
> wouldn't be able to resist telling Voldie who was the  new Secret 
> Keeper. Sirius would then disappear and Pettigrew would be next in 
line 
> with no warning. But this didn't happen. Because Pettigrew was a 
> traitor. In suggesting Pettigrew as alternative Secret Keeper all 
that 
> Sirius achieved was his own survival, when otherwise he would have 
died 
> along with his friends. I agree, this was not his intention, but it 
was 
> the end result.
> 
> What it boils down to is that it is likely that Sirius recognised 
this 
> and ever since had been driven by two emotions - revenge against 
> Pettigrew and survivors guilt. 

I innermurk would like to point out:

People who make heroic plans rarely plan on failure. Black and the 
Potter's purpose in switching Secret Keepers has always been (in my 
mind) a confusion issue. They needed to stay hidden from Voldemort. 
But I am very sure they weren't planning on hiding forever. They were 
in the Order of the Phoenix. It's sole purpose was to defeat and 
bring down the Dark Lord. They had thrice defied him. They probably 
thought that he would waste his time and energy tracking Sirius down, 
and they could work on that defeat in the meantime. Sirius, even if 
caught, would then buy them precious time to bring about their plans. 

In this line of thinking Sirius was acting heroically and honorably. 
He might die, and his friends would be safe. I highly doubt that he 
thought Peter would ever be suspect, and that his life would be safe. 
In fact he tells us as much in POA in the SS. Saying (US pb pg 359)"I 
thought it was the perfect plan...a bluff...Voldemort would be sure 
to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless 
thing like you..." Besides, Lupin was close to the Potters too. Who 
says Pettigrew would be the very next suspect?


> This is the prime rationale for the way 
> he treated Harry. Through his actions his friends had died and he 
> hadn't. He was seeking absolution and forgiveness.
> Nobility had little to do with it.
> 

I innermurk conclude:

While I do not argue that his actions have been mostly of revenge, 
absolution, and forgiveness. And that he feels guilty for his 
friend's deaths. I do not agree that he did not act honorably, or 
nobley at the time.

It would take a very brave and yes noble person to agree to take the 
full focus and wrath of Voldemort upon his own head. Bluff or not. 
Whomever the Potters true secret keeper was, everyone would be sure 
to suspect Sirius. All he had to do was act in a manner that 
suggested he *was* the SK, and then that time that they were trying 
to buy, would be theirs.

No matter his actions now....his actions then were honorable, noble, 
brave, and maybe a little foolhardy. But he did it for his friends. 
And he succeeded in his part. Peter is the one who betrayed everyone, 
Black included.

Innermurk