[HPforGrownups] An introduction, Sirius Black, the four houses

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 59641

Hi Melanie:

>When he is arrested, he is allegedly laughing. At least, that's what Fudge 
>and Stan Shunpike say. Sirius doesn't say anything about this in the Shack 
>(and when I asked him about it, he gave me That Look again).
>
>I have often wondered why Sirius would laugh about something like that.  I 
>remember when I first read POA and found out that Sirius was in fact good 
>and did not murder all those people or betray James and Lily I immediatly 
>called my best friend, Kathy explain my astonishment about this.  The first 
>thing that came out of my mouth was "But why was he sitting there lying as 
>he sat there in front of all those dead people?"  Kathy responded by 
>telling me that maybe for a short time Sirius really did go psycho and 
>unstable.  She said if all that had happened to you in one night how would 
>you react?  The truth is I still do not know the answer to that 
>question....I've never seen my best friend get killed, my god son taken 
>away, and one of my friends murder 13 people and then blame me more it..so 
>truth bet told I cannot tell you how I would act.  However, this isn't 
>about me it's about Sirius..and to be honest, I hadn't really about why 
>Sirius laughed again until I found myself reading a except about it on the 
>website.
>
>And I think that perhaps the mystery was possibly solved, at least for me.
>
Why was he laughing?  Hysteria.  Irony.  There are a lot of people who 
respond in emotionally inappropriate ways to strong or unfamiliar emotions 
because of strange things that have happened to them growing up, or social 
conditioning - the few guys who always laugh when an airplane does something 
odd like blowing a tire on landing or hitting a severe air pocket in flight, 
the people who get mad in the face of strong grief - and probably Sirius is 
just one of those.  I first of all doubt the solidity of Fudge and Stan 
Shunpike as witnesses, the one because of motives, the other because of 
ignorance; and secondly, I sincerely doubt that he was laughing with glee, 
happiness or triumph if he was laughing.  I'll bet it was the hysterical 
laughter that in another person might have been a precursor to tears had 
time and circumstances allowed.  I've *seen* that laughter, believe it or 
not, when my stepdad got a call to go clean up after a small plane wreck 
where his best friend had been the pilot, and my stepdad had urged him not 
to go because the weather was a little dicey that day.

>snip<

>He isn't affected by the dementors as badly as other prisoners; he believes 
>it is because he knew he was innocentan unhappy thought that the dementors 
>couldn't suck away from him. He also can still turn into Padfoot, whose 
>emotions are simpler than a human's, and the dementors think he is losing 
>his mind like everyone else, so they leave him alone. Relatively speaking.
>
>Now do not ask me why, but I can see Sirius being the type of person who 
>could laugh at the dementors, make jokes with guards, we all know that he 
>enjoyed reading the newspaper.  In the books people were amazed by how 
>little it affected him..however, I Think that he was very much effected by 
>everything that happened to him...however, he is not the type of person who 
>would want people to think that they had gotten the best of him (that they 
>scared him or what not).  That is why I think he laughed as Peter turned 
>into scabbers and went away, it was the only reaction he could give that 
>wouldn't make Peter think for one minute that he was scared, or hurt.  If 
>he had done that Peter would have won...Sirius is not a very loosing type 
>of person I do not think he would ever let Peter win.
>
This I completely agree with.  It would be going on the offensive to put the 
point out contact *out there* rather than in close to his true emotions.
>
>I am wondering what you guys think the reason the house is devided into 
>four distinct places, each with defining characteristics and traits *mind 
>you that most of the characters can be easily divided into more than one 
>house* I am inclined to think that in the end the most important clue to 
>what is going to happen in the books is the four houses.  I believe that 
>the houses will each have to come together to defeat Voldemort once and for 
>all.  However, obviously I am open to people who disagree with me.  What do 
>you guys all think?
>
Hm.  There *does* seem to be an odd division between the houses, more than a 
spirit of friendly rivalry necessary for games - the fact, as I've observed 
earlier, that they don't really seem to know the way to each others' common 
rooms, at least not as junior classmen.  But I'm not really sure that the 
division runs *that* deep.  I dunno.  It's an interesting theory, but I 
don't see it as being the total Ultimate Solution

Cheers,
Felinia

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