Dark? Sirius (was: what were Malfoys) (longish)

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 114701


> > Mac wrote: 
 PoA introduces Sirius - an extremely ambiguous character but who we 
are supposed to love, like Harry (and James).
> 
> Harry's view of Sirius by the end of PoA and through much of GoF 
and OotP is of adulation. No wonder he's clutching at straws since 
he has NO-ONE, literally, to love or that he can consider really 
cares about him apart perhaps from DD, but then maybe not him even. 
So why must Sirius have an entire book (PoA) and then be so 
suppressed and even 'necessarily' killed? Where does it fit? 
> 
> Lots of characters in the books and lots of HPfGU posters read 
> Sirius very differently than I had always done, namely they see 
him dark: I saw him misunderstood and good: He's James' best mate, 
> Harry's godfather, even DD trusts him (or does he?) - flawed, 
> reckless, but esentially good. 
> 
> Hmmmm .... Sirius comes from an arcehtypically pureblood family 
(how far can we escape our roots?), he *hates* (always has) Snape 
who, awful though he is to Harry (I think its an act as much as 
based in justifiable dislike) works tirelessly to protect Harry, he 
is accused again and again as a DE (but we ignore it/forgive Sirius -
 he's *always* got a 'reasonable' explanation - even comes across as 
> persecuted), he breaks rules, is a loose canon, instigates 
terrible (if you think about it) and risky behaviour by the 
Marauders (how did DD possibly *not* know?) and, one way or another, 
knew enough about the Potter's demise to be on the spot straight 
after it happened (if only that late). Why does JKR say that in 
early drafts of GH a DE met Sirius there? Sirius is not stupid 
enough to be duped, so why is he associating with DE's? Especially 
at GH.
> 
> So, please, it must have been discussed. Point me towards posts 
that accuse Sirius of being much darker than the books let on at 
times. has anyone ever suggested he was a DE?: more the person that 
Stan Shunpike, Ernie Prang and that always ammbiguous character 
Fudge think he is (Voldy's right hand man, 2nd in command), as 
opposed to the noble 'wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot wand' saint 
we have so far been led to believe in.
> 
> I can give some quotes from the books which, if reinterpreted, 
could support a theory I am trying to get to work (but can't yet) 
that yes Sirius was a DE all along and, moreover, they (DE's) now 
hate him - the reason he was lured to MoM and killed there by them. 
He, not Snape, I can imagine (sorry Sirius fans), just might be the 
one who LV says 'has left me forever - he will be killed'. 
> 
> So, please help me to either redeem Sirius (I really really would 
> like to be able to do this while understanding why he 'had' to 
die) or else drive nails into his coffin (of course he had to die). 
My chief problem is that while his being in hiding between PoA and 
the end of OotP makes sense if not only the MoM but also the DE's 
> are 'after him' (as they killed his brother), his ability in this 
> position to do anything useful at the end of GoF isn't clear to 
>me,yet DD dispatches him to do *something* (and no I don't think it 
>was just to open up Grimmauld Place as an OotP HQ, though it makes 
>sense that he did that too). If it assumed that Sirius was once 
>a 'major' DE, but betrayed LV at GH for his friend James, is there 
>anything Sirius could do by the time of GoF to get back 'in' with 
>the DE's, bearing in mind he *must* be killed at the end of OotP?

Hannah: I promised I'd answer this post, so here goes.  I'm neither 
a rabid Sirius-phile or Sirius-phobe.  He's an interesting 
character, rather as Snape is, because his motivation isn't always 
clear, his past is shady, and his actions can be interpreted in 
several ways.  

I agree there is more to Sirius than meets the eye.  Something made 
DD mistrust him even before GH, and apparently not even question his 
guilt afterwards.  Something also made Lupin, one of his best 
friends, believe he was a spy before and after GH.  There's 
the 'prank' and the issue of why he was never expelled.  There's 
Snape's apparent conviction that Sirius was guilty of betraying the 
Potters.

I can see that Sirius may have been a DE who left.  It's not very 
likely, but I don't think it's impossible.  I am sure he wasn't 
working for them again during OotP though.  If he was, he'd have 
taken Snape's advice and not rushed off to rescue Harry, and Bella 
wouldn't have killed him, since he would have been very useful as a 
spy.  I also believe he really did care about Harry, even if he 
wasn't a very good influence on him.

I don't think the DoM plot was set up to lure him out of hiding and 
kill him.  There would surely have been easier ways to get him of 
hiding (a fake 'help me Sirius' message from Harry, for example).  
The DoM mission was about getting the prophecy, and maybe destroying 
Harry.  Sirius only got there by accident.  You could argue that ESE!
Snape set him up, but even then it seems very complicated and risky, 
especially as a whole load of other Order members including DD were 
alerted in the process.

I agree Sirius is not a wonderful misunderstood saint.  Future books 
will likely reveal more of his unsavoury past exploits.  But as he 
himself said; 'The world is not divided in good people and Death 
Eaters.'
Hannah