Snape, Hagrid and Animals

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 143968

> 
> Sirius Black is a "good guy" who was even once an attractive good 
> guy too - but he has numerous flaws. Recklessness, a cruel streak, 
> irrationality to name a few. 
> 
*Is* he?

I hope (and would not be greatly surprised if we do) that we will find 
out a few more things about the character (or lack of it) of Sirius 
Black, in re Snape and otherwise, before we are through with Book VII. 
I think he was innocent of the crime for which he was sent to Azkaban, 
but I don't think he is innocent period, and I suspect Snape has good 
reason to become hysterical when the guy turns up at Hogwarts. 
Personal issues aside, Snape is a teacher, and as we have been so 
busily pointing out recently, responsible for the *safety* of the 
students. I would add, emotional safety as well as physical safety. I 
can relate, having been a teacher myself and having had to deal with a 
similar situation. (The perp in that case was a bishop in the LDS 
Church, which is even better than the Wizarding community at keeping 
the dirt under the rug.)

*Sigh...*

O.K., let's go back to Snape's worst memory (OoP), and ask ourselves 
once again *why* it was Snape's worst memory. I think it had nothing 
to do with the grunginess of his underpants, and everything to do with 
the fact that James proposed to remove them, with Sirius on hand to 
enjoy the show.

And then let's ask ourselves why, both times Harry turns up at 12 
Grimauld Place for an extended stay (OoP), he finds Molly and Arthur 
Weasley *in residence*, even though we know from CoS that they live 
within a reasonable drive of King's Cross Station (and like the rest 
of the Wizarding world, they also have other means of getting quickly 
from one place to another).

I'll forgive JKR if she doesn't choose to rake up this particular 
patch of muck. We *are* talking about a series of children's books 
after all. But Sirius Black has always made my skin crawl, and once I 
started asking myself why, the answer wasn't too far to find.

--La Gatta