Responsiblity for Black's death

[Dicentra spectabilis]

No: HPFGUIDX 80172

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, A Featheringstonehaugh
<featheringstonehaugh at y...> wrote:

> It's too easy to say that Sirius's confinement at Headquarters was 
> the reason for his demise. ... Sirius died of an overdose of hubris, 
> and no one was responsible for that but Sirius himself. 

Sirius didn't show up at the Ministry because he was stir-crazy,
cocky, irresponsible, egotistical, or any of that; he showed up for
the same reason all the others did: to save Harry et al.  

Even if Sirius's name had been cleared previous to the final
confrontation, he would have shown up at the Ministry.  Even if he'd
never stepped foot in Twelve Grimmalud Place, he'd have been there. 
Even if he weren't Harry's godfather, he'd have helped save him.

After all, Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Shackelbolt don't have Sirius's
particular character flaws, nor do they have the same connection to
Harry, but they could just as easily have been killed as Sirius.  

The fact that Sirius had left Headquarters wasn't the problem.  He
wasn't killed because some Ministry official recognized him.  He
wasn't killed because he revealed his existence to the DEs. (They
already knew he was in London from Malfoy.) 

The only place you can hang the hubris charge is on his taunting of
Bellatrix, but even that is debatable.  The text doesn't indicate that
he stopped duelling to taunt her nor that he had let his guard down. 
It looks like Bella just got lucky with that one curse (assuming she's
the one who cast it).

Sirius wasn't perfect: none of the characters in the Potterverse are.
 But his character flaws aren't what got him killed.

I don't think that Sirius's death is supposed to be an example of the
hazards of hubris.  I think it's to show a good many things, one of
which is the way that our strengths can also be weaknesses, sometimes
tragically so.  Harry's heroic instincts led him down the wrong path
this time, Dumbledore's love for Harry weakened his judgment, and
Sirius's being a "brave, clever, and energetic man" are what got him
into the Ministry that night.

--Dicentra