Sirius revisited. Character discussions

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 104302

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at y...> 
wrote:
> 
> Alla:
> 
> 
> Eh, as far as I remember responces "Azkaban stunted his emotional 
> development", at least my responces of that variety were given in 
> responce of POST-AZKABAN part of Sirius life.
> 
> I think it is very reasonable to counter with that in responce to 
> let's say "Why Sirius did not apologise to Snape in the Shrieking 
> Shack?"
> 
> I think it is also a reasonable responce to the  Sirius confusing 
> Harry and James in OoP, etc., etc.
> 
> Before the Azkaban, yes, Sirius made his fair share of the disastrous 
> decisions.

Yes, you were concentrating on Sirius post-Azkaban; that I'll readily
concede. Being too smart for my own good I was attemping to put
together a post that covered the range of responses regarding the
Sirius thread, rather than sticking specifically to your points. (Taking
the Admin request to heart about posting too much - better one 
generalised post than 4 or 5 individual responses.)

As to the points above; Sirius/Snape goes waaaay back it seems.
It's unlikely any  reconciliation could work IMO; and with a highly
emotionally charged event like the S.S. - no chance. Even if
Sirius apologised, I  doubt Snape would accept it. Not without
passing some snide comment, which would only set things off again.
Oil and water, those two. 

Does Sirius confuse Harry with James? Molly suspects so, but even 
with her it's not easy to determine if she thinks it's genuine confusion
or wishful thinking on the part of  Sirius. Probably  the latter, if I
had to make a guess, but that could be even more  dangerous in the
long run. Wishful thinking can be seductive; eventually you may believe
something to be true because you want it to be true, plus the danger
of unconsciously molding Harry in James'  image. That would never
work and might eventually alienate Harry.

Kneasy