What's Sirius There For?

[ellejir]

No: HPFGUIDX 83820

entropymail wrote:
> Sirius is gone after three books, and I'm still at a loss as to
> what he was ever doing there in the first place.  I used to think
> that Harry would end up living with Sirius, but now that he's dead,
> I think there's not much chance of that happening.
>  
> So, this begs the question: what the heck was he there for in 
> the first place? 
> 

If your hypothesis is that Sirius was a worthless character because 
he died before the end of the series, I disagree with that (I *think* 
that is what you are saying anyways, sorry if I am misinterpreting 
your words.)  His character was tremendously important in PoA. The 
whole of the third book was built around the mystery of Sirius Black, 
and personally, I loved the fact that the presumed crazed murderer 
turned out to be the good guy in the end.  
In GoF, Sirius had a more background role, but he was established as 
a father-figure/confidant for Harry.  I agree that Mr. Weasley and DD 
are father-figures for Harry too, but, realistically, Mr. Weasley has 
7 other *natural-born* children for whom he is a father-figure, how 
is Harry supposed to feel as though his relationship with Mr. Weasley 
is anything special?  Dumbledore is very fatherly to Harry at times--
but generally quite distant, usually only showing up for the end of 
the book chat with Harry.  Significantly, Harry does not feel 
comfortable discussing alot of things with DD, perhaps because he is 
in awe of him.  Sirius was the grown-up that Harry turned to for 
advice and support in GoF.  This special relationship, unfortunately, 
is what set Sirius up for *death* in OoP, IMO.
I believe that the death of Sirius will be a very significant part of 
the series.  Sirius *was* special to Harry and his loss has already 
changed Harry (witness his intense feelings of isolation and guilt at 
the end of OoP.) I think that Pippin is on the right track with the 
theory that Harry is above-all trying to re-create for himself a 
family.  The death of Sirius is a symbol of Harry losing his family 
all over again--now at an age when he can feel the pain of the loss. 

Elle (who feels that some of the most memorable characters don't make 
it to the end of the book alive in some cases--Ruth May in "The 
Poisonwood Bible", Beth in "Little Women" and Digby in "Beau Gest" to 
name a few)