Sirius vs. Snape

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 99418

Kneasy:
<snip>
I don't blame Snape for throwing Harry out.
Just who the hell does Harry think he is? Poking into people's private
affairs, not trying to learn, disobeying not only Snape but DD, never
considering that someone else may know better than he. Obnoxious
little creep. A true Slytherin.

What Harry was taught and how was no business of Sirius. He should
never have intervened with Snape at Grimmauld Place. He's being a
petulant prima donna - again. 

Neri:
I apparently wasn't very clear. I'll try again: This is a war. The 
whole future of the WW is at stake. Harry learning Occlumency was 
thought to be the difference between winning and loosing. Snape knew 
it. And still he stopped giving Harry Occlumency lessons just because 
the obnoxious, disobedient, inconsiderate (and whatever) Harry peeped 
into his memories. Snape got annoyed with an unruly student, so he 
knowingly left the most critical and sensitive position of his side 
open to the enemy's attack. And you call SIRIUS prima donna?  


> Kneasy wrote:
> Yes, Sirius obviously cares for Harry very deeply. He just has a 
funny
> way of showing it sometimes.
>
> Neri:
> Yeah, I know. Like rushing to save Harry's life (and the life of 
five
> other kids) in the DoM against a superior force of DEs. You won't
> catch "watch-dog" Snape doing such a funny thing.
>

Kneasy:
Yes. Rushing off, disregarding all blandishments and where did it get
him? The final curtain. Sirius cocks it up again.<snip>

Neri:
I'll try clarifying this too. Sirius didn't "cock it up". He achieved 
precisely what he went out to do: preventing four other Order members 
and six kids (including Harry) from getting killed AND preventing the 
prophecy from falling into Voldy's hand. The final curtain wasn't a 
failure. It was just a price that he was ready to pay for achieving 
this goal. He would have rather not paid it, but he knew that he 
might have to. Do you think he was not aware of it when he "rushed 
off"?

The funny thing is, I'm not even a Sirius fan. I didn't feel sad when 
he died, and I always thought that it was convenient for JKR to get 
rid of him because she didn't manage to develop him properly as a 
character. I also like to read about Snape, and I think he is a much 
more complex and interesting character than Sirius (and their sex-
appeal isn't a factor for me...). It is just that I like to get my 
terms straight. What is a responsible person? It's a person that 
estimates the importance of the situation at hand, knows what are the 
possible consequences, what are the risks, weights them against each 
other and makes the correct decision, whatever it takes. What is an 
irresponsible person? It's a person that estimates the importance of 
the situation at hand, knows what are the possible consequences, what 
are the risks, and then acts by his emotions.

Perhaps I just think so because I had to spend a year or two in a war 
zone. If I had to choose who I want to cover my flank, Sirius or 
Snape, I wouldn't hesitate even a single second deciding.  

Neri