Sirius's hypocrisy was Re: Dumbledore's Hypocrisy/Sirius and Kreacher

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 129273

 
Alla:
<SNIP>
Again, I do understand the plot based necessity to comment on 
Sirius' mistakes, but the simple RL analogy makes me cringe my
teeth  every time I read this scene. No matter what you think about 
somebody, who just passed away, I was taught not to say anything
bad  about this person AT LEAST to the friends and relatives of such 
person, to show respect for their grief, especially if those people 
are friends of mine, even if the person who passed away wasn't.
 
Pippin:

And  does that apply to Sirius's parents too? Kreacher loved them if 
nobody else did. How do you think Harry will feel if Sirius's legal
heir decides to junk all of Sirius's possessions, wouldn't let Harry
keep so much as a photograph or a pair of pants to remember him
by, and  jeered at him for even wanting them? That's what Sirius
did to Kreacher.

Viewed that way, it  was an act of breathtaking cruelty, and far 
more spiteful than Sirius ever intended, IMO.  But that's what 
happens if you regard someone as a servant unworthy of much 
interest. 


Alla:

If Sirius' parents just passed away then yes, absolutely I would say 
it does apply and Kreacher should have been let to mourn them, but 
at least several passed since they died, so no, I don't think that 
Sirius is required  not to say anything for Kreacher's sake.

But as I said - you get no argument from me that Sirius treated 
Kreacher cruelly. I was not debating this point much, I was only 
debating what right Dumbledore had to bring Sirius' faults in front 
of Harry right after he died. My answer is no right whatsoever, I 
understand that yours is the opposite, so we will have to agree to 
disagree on this oen, I suppose. :-)


Pippin: 
I don't think Dumbledore was ignoring Harry's feelings, however.
I think he understood that Harry had found all this very 
painful to hear. Why do you think he wept?


Alla:

Hmmmm, maybe because he realised that he just preached to Harry 
about how badly Sirius treated Kreacher, while he himself let Harry 
live almost the life of house elf for ten years? :-)

Seriously though I think he wept because of the prophecy, I doubt 
that he was weeping because of understanding Harry's grief about 
Sirius' death. I saw no signs of it in the text whatsoever. It is 
just my opinion and only my opinion of course.


Pippin:
Still, he's not as rough on Sirius as JKR is.
 
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/faq_view.cfm?id=61
Sirius is very good at spouting bits of excellent personal
philosophy, but he does not always live up to them. For instance, 
he says in "Goblet of Fire" that if you want to know what a man 
is really like, 'look at how he treats his inferiors, not his
equals.' But Sirius loathes Kreacher, the house-elf he has 
inherited, and treats him with nothing but contempt.

Alla:

Yes, I know , Pippin. :-) She says some nice things about Sirius 
too. :-)


Just my opinion,

Alla.