Sirius as Father Figure (was:Re: How Sirius' death suits Dumbledore?...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 130636

>>Alla:
<snip> 
>So, if it is so, Dumbledore has no reason (IMO only) to be glad of 
Sirius' death IF Sirius indeed was a good father figure for Harry 
AND  I am arguing that even when he was depressed ( and I don't 
think it is that easy to stop being depressed when you are stuck in 
the house which you run away from as a teenager, even if you would 
much prefer to do so), he knew often what is the best for Harry, SO 
he was not a bad father figure for him and if he got a chance to get 
better psychologically , he would have been a great father figure 
for Harry, IMO only.<
<snip>

Betsy Hp:
I'd agree with Sirius being a good father figure in GoF.  Maybe even 
in the beginning of OotP.  But by the end of OotP Sirius shows 
himself to be horribly lacking.

First there's Sirius' strangely lack-luster response to Harry's 
confessed fear that he might be going mad.  Harry is desperate to 
talk to Sirius.  He's obviously incredibly upset about *being* the 
snake, and what does Sirius do?  He blames Harry's fears on shock 
and lack of sleep, tells him not to worry, pats him on the shoulder 
and leaves Harry standing there. (OotP scholastic hardback p.481)

The whole scene struck me as weird.  It's not like Sirius has 
anywhere he has to be.  Why did he blow Harry off like that?  It 
certainly left Harry in a frightened and confused state.  And in GoF 
and even earlier in OotP Sirius had seemed much more willing to talk 
to Harry, discuss things with him.  What's changed?

Then there's that scene where Sirius tells Harry that he's not as 
brave or funloving as his father (I can't find it for the life of me 
and so can't recall if this is before or after the "I think I'm 
crazy!" Really? Got to go!" scene).  And that struck me as horribly 
cruel.  I imagine (from her portrait) that Mrs. Black was 
emotionally abusive, and it seems that Sirius picked up a few of his 
mother's tricks.  And again, I'm not sure why Sirius, who had been 
so loving towards Harry previously, would suddenly turn so cruel.

And of course there was the whole undermining of the Occlumency 
lessons before they even got started bit.  Rereading the scene 
Sirius is the first to attack Snape. 

"I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape.  It's 
my house you see."(ibid p.518)  

All Snape had done was tell Harry to sit down. Nothing overly 
extreme. And remember, this is soon after Harry has told Sirius that 
he's afraid he's going mad.  Why would Sirius sabatoge the very 
lessons that could help his godson?

The downward spiral of Sirius is strange to me.  Yes, the house 
holds bad memories, but why does he seem to get worse as time goes 
by?  There were hints of darkness in GoF (his advice to maim the 
dragon for example) but Sirius seems to be retrograding back to 
Shrieking Shack!Sirius instead of slowly getting better.  And 
unfortunantely Harry seems to bare the brunt of Sirius' emotional 
breakdown.

I've read some theories: Sirius is being drugged (I think I read 
that on this list - don't remember the post though); he's slipping 
into alcoholism (http://www.redhen-
publications.com/MansBestFriend.html).  I personally like the 
alcoholic!Sirius read.  (It adds the interesting twist that Sirius 
may have been a bit drunk when he rushed off to the MoM, and that's 
why Bella so easily dispatched him.)

I still doubt that Dumbledore is either relieved or chortling over 
how well his plan came together regarding Sirius' death.  But I do 
think that his influence, especially as the book went on, was not a 
good one for Harry.  In the end Harry was acting more like a parent 
towards Sirius than Sirius was towards Harry.  That's never a good 
situation for a child to find themselves in, and for someone under 
as much stress as Harry is, it's got disaster written all over it. 
And seeing how it all ended with Sirius' death, I'd say the disaster 
occured. 

Betsy Hp