[HPforGrownups] Trusting characters Re: bullies? twins, padfoot and prongs

[kim reynolds]

No: HPFGUIDX 118885

Sharon <azriona at juno.com> wrote:
 
<snip> 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 wrote:
> 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?<

Azriona replied:
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 wrote:
>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.<

Azriona wrote:  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.

<snip>

Azriona wrote:  <snip>  I'm curious why Sirius would be so concerned about Peter being captured so easily.  Didn't they trust him to stay hidden?

<snipped Finwitch>

<snipped SSSusan>

<snipped Az>

>SSSusan wrote:
> 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.
Kim asks:
 
I notice a theme of irresponsibility, also stupidity, running through this thread.  Does anyone else notice irresponsibility or stupidity on the part of James and Sirius in that they trusted Peter with the secret in the first place?  Peter is one of the last people I'd have trusted with a life or death secret.  But 22 year olds may not have been wise enough to see that their friend of many years was also a potentially untrustworthy, disloyal brown-noser.  Was that the failure of James' and Sirius' arrogance, perhaps?  Or maybe desperate times called for desperate (or foolish) measures, so they took a chance with Peter, and lost? 
 
Kim

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