Sirius' death (was: Dept of Mysteries Veil Room)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 115099


Nora wrote :
" Learning to deal with the death of the person he loved more than
anyone (note, who Harry loved, regardless of how we feel about the
character) is more important or beneficial than, perhaps, learning
what it's like to build a relationship of trust and love, even when
the person in question *is* unquestionably damaged?"

Del replies :
The problem I have with that relationship is that it wasn't going
anywhere, and more importantly, it was beginning to require more from
Harry than it gave him.

In GoF, Sirius is useful, Harry can depend on him for advice and
support. But in OoP, Harry realises that the issues in Sirius's life
have not gone away and that they color the relationship they have in
ways that are contrary to Harry's interests.

He realises that Sirius can't completely separate Harry from James
(like Snape, interestingly).

He realises that Sirius unconsciously expects Harry to make his
(Sirius's) life easier.

He realises that Sirius might not always have Harry's best interests
in mind when giving him advice.

And worst of all, he realises that Sirius might well use their
reciprocal love as an excuse to indulge in his rash instincts under
the pretense of helping Harry, at the risk of getting himself killed,
and without admitting that this is Harry's worst fear. In other words,
he is dismissing Harry's express wish (that Sirius stays safe), in
favour of his own self-serving fantasy (playing the heroic best pal
again), and under the cover of "But I'm doing it for you Harry !"

This all results in Harry taking responsibility for his Godfather,
which is exactly the opposite of what should be. Harry ends up being
the one sacrificing himself and his needs in order to protect Sirius
and prevent him from doing stupid things.

Yes Harry needed Sirius. But Harry was having to mature at a fast
pace, while Sirius was stuck in his immaturity (this is so plainly and
painfully apparent in the After Pensieve Explanation, where Harry is
obviously more aware of how disgusting James and Sirius's behaviour
was than Sirius himself). It was still OK in GoF, where Harry had not
had his first real brush with death, but in OoP, it became very
obvious that Sirius was not going to be able to bring Harry much help
much longer, that he was in fact becoming an increasing drag and
burden on Harry's mind.

That doesn't mean he had to die of course. But IMO he did have to be
removed from Harry's life for a while, so Harry could act freely
again, without wondering how whimsical Sirius was going to take his
initiatives. Maybe that's precisely what DD was trying to do ?

Del