Snape, Hagrid and Animals

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 144025

> 
> Sherry now:
> 
> i've been thinking all day about how to respond to this. i 
absolutely and
> completely disagree with your assessment of Sirius here. But 
personal
> feelings aside, because he is my favorite adult character, I don't 
think it
> holds up against the facts either.
> 
> First of all, *anyone* adult or child, would be humiliated about 
having
> themselves turned upside down and their underwear showing in front 
of a
> crowd of their peers. Can you imagine not feeling upset about such a
> terrible thing? It doesn't need to be any more sinister than that.
> 
Upset, yes, but not to the point that it obsesses you for life. As it 
clearly does with Snape. I think what we are seeing in the Pensieve 
is just the tip of the iceberg, one of many similar assaults on young 
Severus' physical and emotional space. As I see it, this harrassment 
has gone on for years, to the point that it is making Snape 
physically sick (see the description of him in the O.W.L.S. test). 
> 
> Your comments about the supposed real reason for James turning poor 
Sevvy
> upside down implies that James did it for Sirius, which means you 
think
> James knew of his terrible behavior. 
> 
Well, yes... I think all four of the Marauders are in on the dirty 
little secret, and responding to it in their individual ways: James, 
as Sirius' best buddy, right-hand man, and facilitator; Remus as 
the "protected" outcast, supporting the others and hating himself for 
it; and Peter tagging along and drooling down his bib at Severus' 
pain and humiliation. (Go back and read the whole episode, and watch 
what each of the Marauders is doing. It's pretty enlightening.)
> 
>                                    ...If that is true, why would he 
have
> made Sirius the godfather and guardian to his son? There is no way 
any
> parent would knowingly make a child molester his son's guardian. 
Remember,
> Sirius isn't just a godfather, a position that has no legal 
validity, he is
> also Harry's guardian. It would have been criminal for Lily and 
James to
> have considered leaving their son in the hands of someone who they 
knew had
> done the terrible things you think Sirius did. Whatever you think 
of James
> as a teenager, unless you think he never did change and that he was
> incredibly evil and sadistic, he would not subject his son to that!
> 
Here, I think we're back to a home-grown Gryffindor version of 
that "us" versus "them" thinking that everybody has been decrying 
lately in Slytherin. Sirius is a pure-blood and a spoiled brat, as, 
in all fairness, is James. Sirius comes from a family that beheads 
its house elves and uses their mounted heads to decorate the front 
hall (and I find it interesting that having inherited the house and 
thrown out a fair amount of stuff he finds offensive, Sirius has left 
the heads in place, which argues at the very least a certain lack of 
sensitivity toward his household staff); a family that has petitioned 
the MoM to legalize Muggle hunting. Not a nice family, and some of 
that thinking had to have rubbed off on Sirius; little as he likes 
most of his relatives, he seems to dislike them for personal reasons, 
not because of their social elitism. James can entrust Harry to 
Sirius' guardianship believing that Sirius would never let down "our" 
side by taking advantage of Harry, and betraying James' friendship 
and the kindness of James' parents. And I dare say James is perfectly 
right, though Molly Weasley is unconvinced.

(Interestingly, I don't think we are told what Lily thinks of this 
arrangement.)

Whereas Severus is this weedy half-blood kid from a nuthin' family, 
and as such fair game to be victimized by Sirius and his Marauders, 
and even killed outright if he doesn't cooperate. (Interesting that 
that was what stuck in James' craw, whereas he seemed perfectly 
comfortable with the hazing.)
> 
> Also, there are JKR'S words about Sirius. Would she cry when she 
killed
> Sirius, if he was the monster you think? Would she say the good 
things
> about him that she does? This would make Sirius into a creature as 
evil and
> disgusting as Voldemort.
> 
Well, no, there are degrees of evil and disgusting, after all. And 
Sirius may have reformed, having lost James and Lily so shockingly 
and having had all that nice  spare time at the Azkaban Club and Day 
Spa to think things over. But I wouldn't bet the farm on it, and 
neither, I think, would Snape.

As for JKR, we have only her word for what she feels about Sirius, 
and JKR, IMHO, is a past master of misdirection.
> 
> As for why the Weasleys are at Grimauld place, that seems so 
obvious to me
> and doesn't need sinister plots to explain. It was the headquarters 
of the
> Order of the Phoenix after all. they were all guarding the prophecy 
at the
> time and must have been easier to report and have meetings there. 
As well
> as being convenient to have all the kids there. Since it was 
unplotable and
> under the Fidelius Charm, it was safer than anywhere else.
> 
> Sherry
> 
And is that why *inside the house* she escorts the kids everywhere? 
Does she think something nasty is going to come down the chimney and 
grab them if she takes her eyes off them for a minute?

I'd love to be wrong about Sirius, but I'm afraid I don't have a very 
high opinion of him and his Marauders, and I don't think the Prank 
was even remotely innocent.

--La Gatta