A Sirius Defense (was: An Ironic Sirius Quote) - Longish

[tub_of_earwax]

No: HPFGUIDX 96096

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
<gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "JoAnna" <pt4ever at y...> 
wrote:
> > 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).
> > 
> > Thoughts?
> > 
> > - JoAnna
> 
> Geoff:
> I tend to agree with what has been said by a number of posters on 
> this thread.
> 
> Kreacher is obviously willing to foment trouble by drawing 
> comparisons between Sirius and his mother and to insult and 
criticise 
> other people within the house. Sirius' responses are largely to 
> counter the elf's remarks. There is little evidence of behaviour 
> worse than this.
> 
> On the other hand, Crouch seems to take a sadistic delight in 
heaping 
> humiliation and gratuitous verbal and emotional abuse on Winky 
after 
> the Dark Mark incident, reducing her to terror and hysteria 
without 
> showing any restraint or compassion at all. No thought is given to 
> what she will do and how she will do it; she is effectively told 
in 
> the tradition of the old Victorian melodramas "Go and never darken 
my 
> doorsteps again". Sirius may be treating Kreacher with disdain but 
> the elf is getting the comeback which he probably deserves and 
Sirius 
> is perhaps reflecting the general Wizarding World feeling about 
house-
> elves - whether that is ethically correct or not.
> 
> Nope, on reflection, I would say that Sirius' good points outweigh 
> his bad ones.



Now me (Lara):
Goeff, I agree. 

You see, Winky and Dobby are very nice House-Elves that deserve the 
respect. After all, both Winky and Dobby try to do their jobs and 
are very nice to their masters and non-masters. Kreacher on the 
other hand, is a different matter. He is not exactly nice to anyone 
expect Sirius' mom. He says bad things about Sirius and the 
other "traitors and mudbloods" "behind their backs", plus, he 
symbolizes the things Sirius hates most. Kreacher discriminates 
through blood, he only likes pure-bloods who are anti-
"depurification" of the WW. As Sirius said of his family, and 
obviously Kreacher also falls into this catagory (because of his 
attitude towards good old mum), they thought the Death-
Eater/Volemort ideology was not all wrong, on the contrary. 

Sirius does not treat Kreacher that way because he is inferior to 
himself, but because of his personality. Besides, Sirius mostly just 
wants Kreacher gone and out of the way. Sirius does not torture the 
elf (except if you count the throwing away family hierlooms and 
such, which belong to Sirius anyway.)

And, about Sirius' general personality. Excuse the lack of exact 
pagenumbers, I am quoting by heart, or paraphrasing. 

Sirius is a very moral, who fights for his prinicples:
"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who 
has ever existed? Only innocent lives Peter." PoA.
He is against the bad treatment of inferior beings/people, as the 
quote at the top says. He is against blood-discrimination, against 
his family, he is ashamed of being related to people such as 
Bellatrix and Narcissa. 

He is loyal:
"Die! Die rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for 
you!" PoA
He offered to be the secret-keeper, he tried to do what was best for 
Lily and James, he then wanted to not only honor James and Lily by 
going after Peter but also protect Harry, his Godson. 

He is brave:
He wanted to fight the war against Voldemort, and felt bad for not 
being out there helping the order, and later insisted on going to 
the DoM to help Harry & co. out with the fighting of the DE. 

He is intelligent:
He never really had to do a lot at school, and still got good 
grades. McGonnagal herself said they were exceptionally bright 
(James and Sirius), which is a lot coming from her, as she is fair, 
strict and is a ood judge. PoA, the three Broomsticks during 
Christmas-time I think. 

He is talented:
In magic, as was said by the teachers in PoA at the three 
broomsticks during Christmas-time I think. 

He is loving:
He tries to do what is best for Harry, by giving him advice, by 
going after Peter, by signing harry's permission slip for Hogsmeade, 
by giving Harry a Firebolt, by wanting Harry to live with him. He 
tried to do what was best for James, by trying to be there for him 
by taking care of Harry, by helping him with the secret-keeper etc. 
He tried to help remus by becoming an animagi. 

He Cares for other people: 
Almost all of the above, plus he gave Grimauld place to the Order 
pretty much. 

And, well, he is DeadSexy........

Personally I Love Sirius, I mean, sure he was at times a little 
hotheaded, but he has so many good qualities. Besides, he is mostly 
hotheaded and such when in certain situations. In GoF for example, 
he is very reasonable and gives Harry Excellent advise. In PoA we 
don't see much of him except for the last bit where he is someone 
who has been in Azkaban (the most depressing place in the world) for 
12 years and has been out to take revenge for something he has felt 
so sad and guitly for for so long. So untill the part in the tunnel, 
we can't judge him by anything. In OotP he is cooked up, helpless 
(completely against his characters to be so), feeling guilty again 
but for not being able to do anything usefull, in a place he hates, 
that only puts him back to a place he has had some of his worst 
memories. But you see how much he shines when Molly says that 
they're staying for Christmas, how genuinly happy he is, and how 
much he dries up when they have to leave, also at the end of august. 

So, there it is, 

A Sirius Defense. 

*Lara*.