[HPforGrownups]Sirius quite capable was: Re: Dumbledore, Leader of Men (and Women) (was: Chapter Discussions: Chapter 4)

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 84110

Laura wrote:
> 
> > I don't know where you get the idea that Sirius is incapable of 
> > working with other people.  Canon doesn't support it-he works 
just 
> > fine with everyone else in the Order except Snape.  Molly's 
> > parenting experience isn't relevant-she shouldn't be the one 
making 
> > the decision.  Do the wishes of Harry's parents count for 
> > nothing?

Tonks replied:
> I wholeheartedly agree with you. Just because canon has not 
revealed that Sirius has any experince with children does not mean 
that it is fact. James and Lily, from what I take from the books, 
were fairly level headed. Albeit, James and Sirius's bond was formed 
very young; however, I highly doubt that either James or Lily would 
have chosen Sirius to be Harry's Godfather were he not completely 
capable of the job. At the time of Sirius's appointment to the post 
of Godfather, it would appear that Lily and James knew their lives 
were in danager. They thrice thwarted Voldy. I would assume, as Harry 
has managed to do this four times, that it took a period of time for 
this to happen.
> 
> For a long time, there has been a lot of Sirius bashing here and in 
other forums and discussions of the book. I realise that it may seem 
as though Sirius may not have been up to the task of caring for Harry 
given his situation, but I stand firm in the thought that James and 
Lily would NOT have asked him to be such an important role in Baby 
Harry's life when the *knew* their time may be short were it not that 
Sirius was quite capable of the job.
> 
> I think people are looking at Sirius from the 'now perspective' 
versus the 'then'. Sirius had not seen Harry since the night Lily and 
James died.   He had not seen Harry blossom from a baby to a young 
man. He was obviously shocked by Harry's likeness to his father, not 
only in looks, but in all areas. People seem to forget that Sirius, 
although sometimes his actions imperfect, had been taken from Harry's 
life when he, too, was still young-- at least in Wizard terms- at 
that same time, he had also lost his best mate and most trusted 
friend. So, Sirius returning to see Harry, a vision of young James, 
may have clouded his judgements a little.
> 
<some snippage>

I wonder if part of the reason that Molly thinks that Sirius confuses 
Harry with James might not have something to do with how Sirius is 
trying to relate to teenaged Harry.  Sirius wasn't there to raise 
Harry and see him grow up as his own person.  Instead, since they're 
connecting at a much later age, perhaps Sirius draws from his 
experiences with teenage James, whether consciously or not, because 
that seems like a logical frame-of-reference to him. And, since in 
some ways Harry is like James, that image is reinforced for Sirius.  
When Harry doesn't act like James, Sirius feels a certain 
dissonance.  I think this relationship had a boat-load of interesting 
directions to which it could have sailed.  Unfortunately, JKR had 
other ideas.

Marianne