Why Do you Like Sirius? (An analysis of why the Prank wasn't a big deal)

[drliss at comcast.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 122484

Nora:

I have this problem with Prank discussion.  It almost always ends up 
in some kind of circular reasoning, because we lack the actual 
information for what happened and why (and make no mistake, we do--
unless you have some version of the books that I don't?).  To 
elaborate: Sirius is the kind of person who doesn't think about his 
friends, we know this because he didn't think about Lupin, and he did 
the Prank the way that he did because Lupin wasn't really important 
to him.  This is self-validating: if you are inclined to think of 
Sirius as not caring for his friends, the reading of the situation 
becomes straightforward.  If you are inclined to go "something here 
doesn't quite add up--why would he do that?", the situation is more 
complex.

Lissa:

I couldn't agere with this more.  The Prank- which we've seen very little of in canon- is not a straightforward situation.  There are several things to consider:

1.) We have no idea what Snape did or said to provoke Sirius's anger.  It could be that he existed (knowing Sirius, very possible), but it could be that he said or did something truly nasty to Remus or Sirius (knowing Snape, very possible).  Or it could be somewhere in between  (knowing JKR, very probable!)  But the fact is, we don't know what Snape did.

2.) Sirius has a history of not thinking.  We know this for a fact, and we see it very clearly in OotP.  What does this mean for the Prank?

I don't think Sirius necessarily thought that Snape would be killed.  The way I envision it, Sirius thought Snape would see the werewolf and run away screaming like a little girl, perhaps wetting himself, and end up horribly embarrassed.  Furthermore, I don't think Sirius thought the werewolf would kill Snape.  What Sirius saw was a.) Remus, and his mild, considerate personality, and b.) the wolf he ran around with, which was a dangerous and exciting playmate, but controllable and not a killer.  I think Sirius unconsciously grafted those personalities onto the werewolf, and consequently assumed that because Remus would never kill Snape, the wolf would never kill Snape.  

3.) Sirius and Remus are guys.  Generally speaking, guys tend to get through interpersonal problems a bit easier because they don't give them so much weight.  I'm not saying Remus wasn't angry, but given his willingness to forgive and his healthy dose of testosterone, he probably didn't analyze the situation to the depth that we do.  

4.) We don't know how Remus reacted.

Personally, I see a huge shift in both Remus himself and specifically in Remus and Sirius's relationship from the Pensieve scene to the present day.  In the Pensieve scene, Remus does not stand up to Sirius at all.  In the present day, he's the only one that can control him.  Now granted, there's a lot of time between the two, but what made Remus change?  Could it have been that the Prank shifted the dynamic between the two of them?  It could be that Sirius realized how badly he screwed up, Remus realized he had to speak up and get angry with Sirius, and their relationship actually changed for the BETTER, not for the worse!  Sirius became more sensitive to Remus, Remus became less of a doormat.  

5.) Sirius's life at the time was a mess.

When did the Prank happen?  Sixth year.  When did Sirius run away from home?  When he was 16.  The two are very likely closely related.  Sirius was under some major stress, and while that's not an excuse, it is a reason that people do stupid, terrible things like this.  While Sirius pretends that running away from home was no big deal, he's still incredibly bitter about his mother, which to me says he still hurts from it.  I don't think running away was something he wanted to do, but something he had to do, and I don't think he ever really accepted that.

6.) The magical world has a different view of danger than we do.

All you parents out there: how overjoyed would you be if your 11 year old started flying around, 70 or 80 feet overhead, on a broomstick?  How would you feel if your 17 year old had to swipe an egg from a mother dragon?  Heck- how overjoyed would you be if your son was injesting something of his own making that made him throw up?  The magical world does view danger with a much more relaxed view than we Muggles do.

The assumption that Remus would have been killed if Sirius's plan had succeeded, while logical, is a purely fandom one.  It is possible that Dumbledore would have had enough power to protect Remus, and that he might have been able to convince the Committee for the Disposal of Magical Creatures that Remus was holed up in the Shack as he should have been, and that the fault lay with Sirius.  It may be that he would have been put in Azkaban for a few years and then released.  And it may have been that he would have been killed.  We don't know what the consequences would have been for sure given the unique nature of the situation, and if Remus would not have been killed that certainly lowers the stakes for Sirius.  (Although I think we can all agree that Remus would have gone through some serious mental anguish over it!)

7.) Remus doesn't seem that torn up over it in the Shrieking Shack.

Remus does hesitate when he explains the Prank to Harry and Hermione and Ron.  However, bear in mind that while Remus is completely convinced Sirius is innocent, he knows that the Trio is not.  He has to explain it, because Sirius can't really and Snape will make it sound terrible.  But he knows the truth makes Sirius sound like the murderer he's accused of being.  So he hesitates and glosses over.  But never once does he seem all that upset about it.  Now, granted, this probably isn't the strongest point because when does Remus ever seem all that upset about ANYTHING?, but I think it's still something to raise an eyebrow over and consider if he really was that upset about it.

Overall, I think the Prank gets blown way out of proportion in deciding whether or not Sirius is a good guy.  I love Sirius as a character because he's so human: JKR is right that we often see ourselves and our actions as different than what they really are.  Sirius knows what he should be doing, and in many ways he tries very hard to do it, but he comes up short a lot.  He's not perfect, and that's exactly why I think he's such an amazing character.
And now I should get back to work ;)

Lissa

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