[HPforGrownups] An ironic Sirius quote

[PippinTheHobbit4 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 95995

In a message dated 4/14/04 6:58:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
pt4ever at yahoo.com writes:
I ran across the following earlier today -

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he
treats his inferiors, not his equals." -Sirius Black, Chapter 27,
"Padfoot Returns," page 525 (American Edition).

It's interesting that Sirius Black says the above regarding Barty
Crouch Sr.'s treatment of Winky the house-elf, given how Sirius treats
Kreacher the house-elf in "Order of the Phoenix."  It also says a good
deal about the kind of people that Harry and Hermione are, given their
kindess towards house-elves.

If we look at Sirius' treatment of Kreacher in OotP and judge him by
Sirius' own standard, Sirius would not seem to be a very nice person
at all.  No doubt that's why Dumbledore had told him that Kreacher
must be treated with respect (and it also shows that Dumbledore,
unlike Sirius, practices what he preaches).

Lisa writes:

I am new to the group and thought I would make my first post on this subject. 
I think, compared to other house elves, Kreacher is a special case. He went 
around the house stealing things and was completely loyal to a family who 
Sirius hated and who obviously hated him. Kreacher did nothing that deserved 
respect, maybe pity, but not respect. I don't blame Sirius for his treatment of 
Kreacher. From the quote you pointed out he seems to feel bad for Winky. If he 
really felt all house Elves should be treated like dirt then he wouldn't have 
made such a comment to began with.

-Lisa-


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