Sirius's property (Was Re: Buckbeak)

[KathyK]

No: HPFGUIDX 81608

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sbursztynski" 
<greatraven at h...> wrote:

Yahtzee:

>>My personal take on it is that Sirius would leave the house to
Harry outright, but perhaps leave Lupin with the right to inhabit it 
for as long as he wishes. Lupin's the one in more immediate need, 
and if Sirius got around to writing his will, he'd no doubt think of 
that. Also, it appears in OOTP that Lupin's living there, at least 
part-time, already -- and Sirius would not want Lupin to be made 
homeless.<<

Sue B:

>True, he probably would leave it to Harry, along with his money, 
and this leads me to another question - what happens to the property 
of someone who was on the run at his death? Where *is* his will? 
Possibly, now, he will be posthumously cleared of all charges and, 
of course, it would be impossible to find the house by anyone not 
authorised anyway. <snip> <
 

KathyK:

I don't think anyone will know Sirius is dead other than those who 
were at the DoM until his name is cleared.  No one in the Order has 
any reason to open what could be a very ugly can of worms over 
Sirius's property.  Does he have a will?  Who gets 12 Grimmauld 
Place?  If he doesn't have a will, does the house go to one of his 
Voldemort-loyal Black relatives?  Depending on how the property is 
distributed, it could go to Narcissa or Draco.  And the Order 
wouldn't want that to happen.

If someone who was at the Ministry were to reveal Sirius' death, it 
would be one of the Death Eaters.  As they are now revealed as Death 
Eaters and locked up in Azkaban, would they really be concerned with 
telling the Ministry that Sirius is dead?  Especially if the WW 
still sees him as Voldemort's most feared Death Eater.  Why give up 
that power over everyone else by telling the Ministry that he's 
dead.  And they certainly wouldn't go around telling people that 
Sirius was never really a Death Eater to begin with.  Once again, 
they'd be giving up a great advantage.

Once Sirius' name is cleared, however, it will be safe for the Order 
to tell the world that he's dead.  And it would then be to the DE's 
advantage to tell the world how Bellatrix killed so easily did away 
with one of the good guys.  Then they can begin to contend with the 
possible sticky situation that is Sirius's property distribution.

That leads to the question of how quickly Sirius' name will be 
cleared.  The general WW may be willing to believe Harry and 
Dumbledore about him now that Voldemort has been proven alive.  
Their credibility has increased immmensly.  But will the Ministry be 
so easy to persuade?  As long as Fudge remains Minister, I think the 
path to clearing Sirius will be very difficult.  

Fudge obviously has been delivered a crippling blow with the 
revelation of LV's return.  Will he continue to eat humble pie and 
publicly announce Harry and Dumbledore were right about Sirius as 
well?  I'm not convinced it will be so easy to persuade the Ministry 
officials to clear Sirius.  Perhaps they will eventually do so and 
perhaps I'm underestimating the weight Harry and Dumbledore will now 
carry with the Ministry.  

But if and when Fudge and co. are ousted from power, depending on 
who the new Minister would be (I will hope Arthur Weasley, but I'm 
not sure this is very likely at this point), it will be easier for 
the Order to get Sirius' name cleared.  

I hope that wasn't too much babbling,

KathyK (trying to jump back into the main list after only a six day 
break and finding it intimidating)