Sirius reservations

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 79938

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, B Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
> 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 smiles wistfully and extends an invitation for Dicentra to 
drop by anytime*

> 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 responds:

Vulnerability never loses its charm, believe me.  And I do believe 
that the Sirius we saw in GoF was the default version.  If he'd been 
able to have a normal life, he would have had time to resolve some of 
his emotional problems that tormented him in OoP.  And it would have 
been very emotionally satisfying to be able to care for Harry, which 
would havd done wonders for his feelings of guilt and shame.

Kneasy:
 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:

As Annemehr said, there were probably not 100 Dementors guarding 
Sirius's cell.  And I'd suggest that it was a matter of expectations 
and focus.  That is, when Sirius escaped from Azkaban, he had a well-
thought-out plan and a clear picture of what to expect.  He could 
concentrate all his energies on what he had to do in reasonably 
predictable surroundings.  Outside of the Shack, chaos reigned.  
Sirius had no control of the situation, people for whom he felt 
responsible were in imminent danger and there were tons of hungry 
Dementors all over the place.  It was a very different situation.
> 
Laura (from before)
> 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 again:

Lord, don't give reality tv any ideas!  <bg>  I think my theory works 
even before Harry read about Grims.  He saw a "hulking outline".   We 
know that eyewitness evidence is notoriously unreliable, so if Harry 
saw Padfoot's shape in the dark for a second or two (and in a state 
of panic and shock), his mind would have been likely to fill in the 
missing information as "massive, heavy, scary dog" rather than "dog 
with big frame but skinny and weak-looking".
> 
> Laura (from before):
> 
> 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 again:

We read the evidence differently, I guess.  The fact that Sirius was 
so focussed on Scabbers just proves my point, in my view.  Sirius 
felt that it was imperative to eliminate the threat to Harry.  There 
was no reason for him to go to Harry at all, and in fact, it's not 
clear when he would have done so.  Clearly he would have preferred to 
get rid of Peter without revealing himself to Harry-and Harry's 
reaction to him tells us a good bit of the reason why.  IIRC, Sirius 
had his hands around Harry's throat after Harry attacked him.  
Whatever plan Sirius had for communicating the truth about Wormtail 
to Harry got trashed the night of the Shack confrontation.
<snip> 
> 
> Laura (from before):
> 
> 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. <snip> 

Laura responds:
> 
Yes, you're right that they were assigned to guard Hogwarts because 
of everyone's assumption that Sirius would show up there.  But once 
they were there, everyone was fair game.  They still had to eat, 
right?  The Dementors don't discriminate among their victims, as I 
understand it.  If they found Sirius, all well and good, but in the 
meantime, there were all those other people...

By the way, Pippin, don't *even* get started on ESE!Lupin.  Or I'll 
have to take you on next...;-)  It's a good thing I have an 
understanding husband...