Trusting characters Re: bullies? twins, padfoot and prongs

[Sharon]

No: HPFGUIDX 118882


Azriona:
> Would Peter have stepped out for something as inconsequential as
> tea, knowing the Sirius was on his way? No, of course not. But he
> might have been called out for something more important - and yes,
> I'll even agree that it could have been something that didn't bode
> well for James and Lily. But it could also have been something as
> innocuous as a private meeting with DD - one which left no time to
> contact Sirius to tell him of the change in plans.
>
> Yeah, it's a stretch. It still doesn't let Sirius off the hook.

>SSSusan:
But off the hook for WHAT? For reacting as most people would? Or is
that the crux of it -- that you *don't* believe most people would
>have reacted this way and so he's at fault somehow?


Az's reply:
Actually, I think most people in Sirius' situation probably would 
freak out and want to verify the safety of their friends.  However, 
Sirius isn't most people.  Sirius is supposed to a soldier in a 
*war*.  And in *war*, there are rules.  At the very least, Sirius 
needed to tell someone what he was doing and where he was going   He 
behaved really irresponsibly – first by passing off the SK position 
to Peter without telling DD, second by not staying away from Peter to 
help keep him safe, and third by blundering off to GH without warning.

And the fact is that if he'd contacted DD, he would have learned what 
had happened – Sirius was at GH at the *same time* as Hagrid, who had 
been sent there by DD.  Dumbledore would have listened to Sirius and 
might have been able to circumvent Sirius from going after Peter, 
thus saving him from 12 years in Azkaban.

So, no, I'm not letting Sirius off the hook for the irresponsible way 
this played out.  Not once did he take DD into confidence; not once 
did he trust that DD might have a clue about the best way of going 
about things; not once did he admit that as a 22 year old kid he knew 
*zilch*.  


>SSSusan
> My other quibble with your position has to do with something you
suggested a couple of posts back -- that Sirius could've contacted DD
and said that Peter was missing, that Peter was the SK, and that he
was worried about J/L/H. I guess my first question is: Would it
have been right to have gone that far and spilled all those beans,
not yet knowing where Peter was or what had happened? If it turned
out to be nothing, they'd have had to start over with a new SK/FC
scheme, wouldn't they?
>

Depends on how he contacted him.  Dumbledore tells Harry that the 
Order has ways of contacting each other, which are a bit more 
reliable than Floo.  We can imagine that these protections were in 
use at this time as well.  Had Sirius used this method, a new SK 
would not have necessarily been needed.

And he would have been `spilling the beans' to DD, who should have 
known the beans to begin with.


>Kneasy:
> I prefer to think that checking up on Peter was more than just
normal activity. Peter missing would mean Voldy had struck and
Sirius could arrive at GH with a suitably shocked expression. Sirius
may be able to salve his conscience by saying he didn't betray James
and Lily directly, but I do think it probable that he pointed Voldy in
the direction of Peter or already knew that Peter was in Voldy's 
pocket.
>

Az:
That is so delightfully evil, Kneasy.  I take my hat off to you.  I 
don't agree; I think Sirius was just stupid, not evil, but I love it 
anyway.


>Finwitch:
> Sirius needs to check on Peter in order to find
out if he's captured so that Potters could possibly be warned in
time.
>

Az:
Are you talking about for the purpose of the plot, or just in 
general?  Because if it's for the plot, I agree – Sirius needs to 
check up on Peter so that he can hightail it over to GH and give the 
motorbike to Hagrid. 

But in general?  I'm curious why Sirius would be so concerned about 
Peter being captured so easily.  Didn't they trust him to stay hidden?

>Finwitch:
> And how do we know that Pettigrew's hiding-place wasn't ALSO under
FC, with Sirius as SK?
>

Az:
Oooooooooo.  That would be so cool.  Double SKs.


> SSSusan:
>Yes, the *mechanism* was the motorbike. And though Finwitch makes a
good point about the possibility of silencing it, as the FA was made
invisible, I was really referring to whether he burst upon the scene,
loud & "intact" as it were, seen by all, or whether he might have
taken some precaution against being seen/heard. For instance, Sirius
could have ridden the motorbike to w/in a certain distance, then
transformed into Padfoot and bounded the rest of the way. He'd be
disguised then, no?
>

Az:
I suppose Sirius could have parked a ways off and walked in the rest 
of the way.  And there's certainly a poetic quality about a lone man 
(or dog) walking over the crest of a hill to see a burnt out ruin of 
a house, slightly smoking...

But wouldn't that take up more time in which he could have been 
saving James and Lily?

Actually, I would imagine that Sirius would have canvassed the area 
from the air, and seen the smoldering ruins of the house before he 
landed.  And I doubt he made Hagrid walk a mile or two to get it, 
afterward, or had the presence of mind to tell him where it was, when 
at that point, his one objective was to *Kill Peter*.

>SSSusan
> And I prefer to take Sirius at his word and to believe that he was
truly horror-struck and grieved by the deaths of J&L and hysterically
bent upon retribution when he dashed off to find Peter, whom he (for
the first time) suspected of disloyalty.
>

Az:
Agreed, actually.  Although I'd say he was hysterical from the moment 
he discovered Peter was missing.  I just wish he'd taken a moment to 
contact DD first.

--azriona