How Sirius' death suits Dumbledore? Was: Re : Harry's Role in OotP (long)

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 130571

> > Betsy Hp:
> > <snip> The reason I think Sirius was the weakest member of 
> > the Order was his own emotional instability and the fact that
> > he was a wanted criminal.  Sirius was of very little use to 
> > the Order because he wasn't able to leave the Headquarters.  
> > Everyone else in the Order seemed heavily involved in various
> > diplomatic and reconnaissance type work that Sirius could 
> > not participate in.  It's also unfortunate that his animagus 
> > form had been compromised.  
> 
> Finwitch: 
> Well, yes - Sirius was emotionally unstable. I believe he was 
> fighting for his sanity and claustrophobia. His love for Harry 
> is the one thing that helps him. Obsession got him out of 
> Azkaban. <snip>


I find this discussion of Sirius to be especially troubling in light 
of real-world events. Any war has victims. Many do not survive. Few 
survive unscathed. When a war is just sacrifices must be made and 
often the best of us must sacrifice the most. No character reflects 
this truth more than Sirius Black, who rejected the comfort and 
advantages his background would've permitted, defied Voldemort, and, 
as a result endured 13 years of the worst torture imaginable. Do we 
now judge such a man on the basis of his future worth to a cause for 
which he has already given his utmost? Sirius is/was a HEROIC 
character in the broadest sense. The circumstances surrounding the 
last year of his life do not change this in the least! Who among us 
could hope to say the same of our lives?

"Mike"