Sirius reservations

[B Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 79913

Ah! In her hedonistic retreat Laura stirs from her sybaritic repose, 
surrounded by Sirius look-a-likes who peel grapes, cater to her every 
need and prostrate themselves before her imperious caprices.


Laura:

Okay, Kneasy, my friend, the gloves are coming off. <grins, while
flexing fingers menacingly>

I can't tell you how all adult females feel about Sirius, nor can I
theorize with any validity about how adult males feel about him.

Kneasy:
Me either. I  gave up trying to fathom how the female grading system 
for male desirability works when I found out Frank Sinatra used to 
cause mayhem back in the Forties.

Laura:

(Although why on earth any adult male would rather identify with
Snape than Sirius is beyond me.)

Kneasy:
Most males quite like the idea of being thought, not evil, but a 
masterful villain (think some of the old James Mason films). Add 
mysterious and it definitely attracts. Sure, edit out the physical 
(greasy hair and yellow teeth) by all means, but the *character* has 
potential for serious fantasies. Sirius on the other hand has nothing 
going for him, so far as most  males are  concerned. He's rash, bad 
tempered, petulant and gives an impression of weakness. He *might* dote 
on Harry, but no-one male would want to be labeled with that lot. I'm 
told females like him because  of his vulnerability. Tell me, how long 
would it take before that became predictable and irritating?

Laura:

I think the implication is that the Dementors were confused by
sensing something other than a human being in Sirius's cell. Since
they feed off humans, they would have no interest in animals in
general.

Although people retain their personalities and feelings when they are
in animagus form (or so we think), the simple fact of the switch in
form may be enough to confuse the Dementors, which no one ever
claimed were intelligent. I would also think that being an animagus
would allow you to experience the emotions and perspectives of the
animal you become, while retaining your own awareness of self.


Kneasy:
I made a post (79893) responding to Geoff regarding animal/Dementor 
reactions. Oddly enough it strengthened my case (surprise!). After 
Shrieking Shack, Sirius, (as a dog) is yelping and whining at the 
approach of the Dementors. It was so traumatic it apparently caused him 
to revert to human shape. Why wasn't he so strongly affected when 
escaping his cell?

 > Laura
Harry never got a clear look at Padfoot until the Shack. So what he
saw combined with his imagination (especially after he learned about 
Grims) could account for what he thought he saw.

Kneasy:
Now, now! Play the game! Harry thinks 'hulking' before learning about 
Grims. JKR tends to be punctilious about vocabulary. Hulk implies bulk 
- strongly. Can you believe a TV show called 'The Incredible Thin'?


Laura:

No, I don't agree that revenge was foremost in Sirius's mind.
Protecting Harry was always his first priority.

Kneasy:
Sorry, but it was. When he finally got into the dorm, did he go to  
Harry? He did not, he went to Ron's bed for Scabbers. At the S.S. all 
his actions, words, demeanour are primarily about revenge and 
self-justification. Explaining things to Harry would have been an 
after-thought if distractions hadn't intruded. He even has his hands 
around Harry's throat at one point. Sirius is obsessed, verging on 
demented perhaps, but he is fixed in his priorities. And Harry isn't at 
the top of the list.


Laura:
It's my understanding that one of the resposibilities of a godparent
is to take over parenting if the original parents are unable to care
for the child. But I don't know very much about that-we don't have
this tradition in my religious practice. (I wish we did, though-I
think it's very lovely.)

Kneasy:
Unfortunately  it's  not. That's a bit of wishful thinking (or is JKR 
trying to pull a fast one?) Oh, it has happened on occasion, usually in 
Victorian romances, but the usual resolution is for a child to go to a 
relative if possible. The original and true function of a Godparent is 
to take responsibility for ensuring that a child receives a proper 
*religious* grounding; hence the title. These days it's more of a 
social recognition to the parents friends.


Laura:

This stuff is all trivial, it seems to me, and can be explained in a 
variety of ways that don't affect their believability.

Kneasy:
Hmm. Trivial. Perhaps. But even circumstantial evidence can be 
compelling, finding a trout in the milk, for example.


Laura:

I got the idea that the Dementors weren't looking for anyone in
particular at Hogwarts, just for the fear they fed on.


Kneasy:
I got the opposite idea - that the Dementors were guarding Hogwarts and 
environs solely because they suspected Sirius would be trying to break 
in. Fudge: "I have never seen them so angry." (at Sirius' escape), and 
"..they rarely fail." Arthur tells Molly (Chap. 4, "They didn't report 
it  in the press but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped 
[now there's a co-incidence! You can see why I see conspiracy theories 
all over, can't you?]. The guards told Fudge Black's been talking in 
his sleep. Always the same words "He's at Hogwarts ... he's at 
Hogwarts...We had to ask him [DD] if he minds the Azkaban guards 
stationing themselves at the entrances to the school grounds."

Laura:

If Sirius and Hermione are both unconscious and Harry is awake and 
terrified, wouldn't they go for, shall we say, the full banquet rather 
than a snack?

Kneasy:
I admit that this isn't a particularly telling point, but their 
instructions are, supposedly, to get Black. Harry isn't going anywhere; 
he can be enjoyed at leisure, later (to continue your  banquet 
metaphor). Black is  supposedly the meat and veg.

angelberri56:
We wouldn't know half of what we know now if not for Sirius...why would 
JKR bring him into the story, have him do a little dance, then just  
throw him right back out?

Kneasy:
Isn't that exactly what she has done? Unless there is more to it than 
meets  the eye. In every  book except PoA Harry  has battled Voldy 
and/or his minions. Why  should this one be the singular exception? 
Unless he has foiled yet another  dastardly Voldy plan, but it hasn't 
yet been revealed to us.
As to what Sirius has told us, well, only Scabbers is critical and that 
could have been conveyed as hearsay by Lupin.

Wanda:
Did you mean to write 'The Piggery' instead of the 'Burrow'.

Kneasy:
Sort of. The Burrow is described as looking like a converted pigsty and 
a friend of mine lives in an actual conversion (much more salubrious 
than it sounds) that is jokingly referred to as such, so the term 
'Piggery' is how I think of it.

Sarah - I think you're reaching - hard. Can you get there?

Kneasy







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