Harry, Hermione, Sirius, and the Dream, 2-way mirror

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 117573


Pippin wrote:
<snip> I thought it was odd that Sirius didn't ask Harry why he didn't
use the mirror instead when Harry got him on Umbridge's fire. Did he
not want Remus to know that Harry had it?
>
Tim responded:
<snip> Very odd indeed! Sirius' and Harry's behavior in this book
drive me up the wall. Why didn't Sirius give Harry the mirror earlier
and demostrate its use while both were at 12 Gimmauld Place? Why did
Harry think the mirror was so dangerous to Sirius? I know the phrasing
Sirius used, but still why did Harry take him so literally and
seriously? Why didn't Sirius say to Harry, "Use my gift"? in
Umbridge's fire?

Carol adds:
I think you're both right that Sirius didn't want Remus to know what
he was doing. Notice how furtively he gives Harry the mirror. He
beckons Harry to his side and thrusts a badly wrapped package into his
hands. Then he tells Harry something he certainly doesn't want Lupin
to hear, that the package is "a way of letting [him] know if Snape is
giving [Harry] a bad time"! (OoP Am. ed. 523). Not only is Sirius
undermining the Occlumency lessons by making it look as if Snape is
out to hurt Harry rather than help him. Then he tells Harry, "Don't
open it in here! I don't think Molly would approve" (523). Most likely
Lupin wouldn't approve, either. Maybe he would agree with Harry that
using the "whatever it was" to complain about Snape would "lure Sirius
out of his hiding place" (523).

The irony is, of course, that refusing to use Sirius's gift led Harry
to forget about it, so that it was indeed he who unwittingly "lured"
Sirius out of his hiding place. While the mirror itself was rightfully
Harry's and probably should have been given to him at some point, both
the *way* in which the mirror was given and the reasons for the gift
were neither sensible nor admirable. Much better to have given it as a
Christmas gift in front of Lupin and Molly, with no mention of Snape.

Carol