[HPforGrownups]Sirius quite capable was: Re: Dumbledore, Leader of Men (and Wom

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 84081

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, 
nymphadoraotonks at a... wrote:
>> Let us not forget that Harry has never really had a parental 
figure- except, I would say Dumbledore. No one has ever shown 
him the unconditional love at all times as Sirius has. Many 
children would be lucky for that.<<

 Molly does show unconditional love for Harry. She demonstrates 
it in the Hospital Wing in GoF. As has been pointed out, Molly 
has a problem disbelieving what she reads. OOP shows that 
she hasn't gotten over it--she still accepts Lockhart as an 
authority. 

Despite all that, she never, for one moment, doubted that Harry 
was telling the truth about Voldemort's return, even though things 
would have been far easier for herself and her family if she'd 
accepted  the Prophet's  version instead. 

Her love, like Sirius's, is something of a mixed blessing, not 
least because you can't turn love on and off like a faucet. Molly 
can't turn off her concern for Harry just because Sirius broke out 
of jail, and Sirius shouldn't expect her to. She's not telling Sirius 
to give up Harry, she's only reminding him to be responsible, 
and what would be the point of her asking him, if she didn't think 
he could do it? 

As far as Molly's concerned, the advice Sirius was giving Harry in 
GoF is still good: he should remember that things outside the 
walls of Hogwarts are not his responsibility and nor is it within 
his power to influence them. If Sirius had stayed on that 
message, there's a good chance he'd still be alive.

For all her faults, it's Molly who paved the way for Harry's 
salvation in OOP. Sirius did offer Harry unconditional love, but I'm 
not sure Harry could have recognized  it if Molly hadn't given him 
hers first, at a time when Sirius was in no position to do so.


And much as I adore Dumbledore, his love for Harry is not 
unconditional. As he sorrowfully tells Harry, he has larger calls to 
answer.

 "Yet this inconstancy is such As you too shall adore:-- I could not 
love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honour more."

Pippin