Dumbledore, Leader of Men (and Women) (was: Chapter Discussions: Chapter 4)

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 83974

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" <jwcpgh at y...> wrote:
> 
> Laura again:
> I don't know exactly how the godparent thing works but doesn't such 
> a designation carry some moral, if not legal, weight?  Sirius is the 
> person Harry's parents chose to act in their stead if they were 
> unable to care for Harry themselves.  The implication I get from 
> canon is that this allows Sirius to become Harry's substitute parent 
> in a legal sense.  Sirius's permission for Harry to go to Hogsmeade 
> is sufficient for DD and McGonagall despite the lack of such 
> permission from the Dursleys.  And when Harry and Sirius talk about 
> Harry coming to live with Sirius in the tunnel of the Shrieking 
> Shack, there doesn't seem to be any question that Harry could do it-
> any legal question, that is.  At that point we don't know about the 
> protection problem and apparently neither does Sirius.  By OoP he 
> must have found out because he puts Harry off when Harry asks if he 
> can come and live at GP.
>

Oh, dear.
Can we inject a bit of realism in here please?
Just  what sort of surrogate parent would Sirius be?

He's spent 12 years in Azkaban and is a wanted criminal  on the run.
He has no experience of dealing or coping with  children.
He has no idea of their needs, emotional  or physical.
He is rash, disruptive, argumentative, compulsive, naive and has totally 
unrealistic expectations of Harry.
He is not to be trusted.

Just because Harry has fantasies of leaving the Dursleys does not make
Sirius an ideal replacement. Harry is not to be trusted either, especially
when he knows almost nothing of the true situation. What makes you think
that any of the powers that be would allow Harry and Sirius to make their 
own arrangements (after the Shrieking Shack)? Might as well paint a
target on Harry's back. Do you really think that the WW courts would
kiss and make up with Sirius, even if Pettigrew did tell the truth? He'd be
staight back into Azkaban for being an unregistered Animagus. If he
got off that charge, where would he and Harry go? Grimmauld Place without 
DD's protection? What a thought!

Molly has her feet on the ground, she recognises just how dangerous
Sirius would be as a guardian - you might as well hand Harry over to
the Malfoys. Sirius does not listen, he does not think, he only feels.
Molly also  realises the unthinking admiration Harry has for Sirius, he
sees him as a  glamorous figure to be admired and emulated - a very
dangerous mindset. Molly is not smart, she can't challenge Sirius on an
intellectual or logical level; all she can do is snipe  and hope that Harry
will  see reason. It doesn't work, which raises her levels of concern to 
where she just sounds carping. But anyone with an ounce of  common
sense must realise that Sirius is bad for Harry.

He is Harry's Achilles heel; Harry can be got at through Sirius. Voldy soon
realised this when he started probing Harry's mind. I've posted on this
before and I believe that DD and a few other thinking wizards were vastly
relieved when Sirius took his final curtain. Maybe they helped him on his way,
a poignant memory is preferable to an active danger.

 
> The real sadness of the situation is that Harry needed both Sirius 
> and Molly-a father figure and a mother figure.  Molly might have 
> made an effort to combine forces with Sirius instead of competing 
> with him.  Given Molly's age, parenting experience and general life 
> experience, I put most of the blame for their antagonism with her.  
> 
Can't agree. Sirius is not interested in joining forces, only in being
sole mentor. Molly's parenting experience tells her that Sirius would
be a disaster waiting to happen. Sirius would soon be manipulating
Harry emotionally into being his (Sirius') surrogate. Harry would be dead
in three weeks.


> Harry, being Sirius's godson, was a lot closer to 
> being his son than he was to being Molly's.  Sirius clearly expected 
> to start his duties as godfather as soon as he was cleared of the 
> charges that had put him in Azkaban.  

Not so.
A godfather has no familial link to his godson. It is that of a religious
guide *only*. Usually  it  is not even that, just a walk-on part in a 
mainly social event, reserved for friends of the parents.

Harry is no-ones son except Lily and James'; but he does need a
responsible guardian - and Sirius is not it.

Kneasy