Dumbledore's defense....again (finished this time)

[Diana]

No: HPFGUIDX 158736

This darn computer froze up while I was writing this and then 
submitted it to the list. Errgh.  

Now I'll finish my post.  Please forgive me if I'm duplicating other 
posts in theme.  I just wanted to get this post finished.

I'm admittedly flabbergasted by the hatred being expressed toward 
Dumbldore in so many of these posts.  It surprises me that several 
posters hold DD soley responsible for Sirius' imprisonment in 
Azkaban.  
 
I would ask those of you to blame DD for Sirius' fate to consider 
Sirius' actions in regard to his imprisonment, including his actions 
after his escape from Azkaban.  
DD, Lily and the Marauders knew there was a traitor in their circle of 
friends who was feeding info to Voldemort.  DD did not know exactly 
who the traitor was and in an effort to protect the Potters, he 
offered himself as Secret Keeper.  DD was turned down in favor of 
James' selection of Sirius.  Until DD talks to Sirius again *after* 
his capture near the end of PoA, DD still believed that Sirius had 
been the Potters's Secret Keeper, therefore the same one who betrayed 
them to LV.  
While so many of you are eager to blame Dumbledore, where is Sirius' 
responsibility for his own imprisonment?  Did Sirius tell the wizards 
who showed up at Godric's Hollow that Peter had transformed into a rat 
and escaped into the sewer?  No, he laughed his head off due to grief, 
despair and shock.  Hagrid saw Sirius at GH right after Lily and James 
died and *before* the magical enforcement squad showed up, yet Sirius 
told Hagrid nothing about the switch, nor did he ask to see DD 
personally to tell him about Peter being the traitor.  We don't know 
exactly what, if anything, Sirius said in his own defense, but I doubt 
he said much at all to defend himself because he *felt he was* 
responsible for their deaths because he had suggested switching to 
Peter at the last moment.  The fault of Sirius not having a trial 
lands squarely on the heads of Barty Crouch Sr. and the MoM officials 
in charge at that time.  DD was Headmaster of Hogwarts, not in charge 
of the ministry.
After Sirius escapes in PoA, did Sirius send a letter to Dumbledore 
telling him what really happened at GH and that Peter was the 
traitor?  Did Sirirus warn DD that Peter was hiding out as a rat in 
the Gryffindor dorm while posing as Ron's pet?  No, he made no effort 
to contact DD at all.  Sirius went about sneaking his way to Hogwarts 
where he slipped into school and 'appeared' to attack Ron with a 
knife.  We know *after the fact* that Sirius was trying to kill Peter 
the rat, but no one knew that at the time.  Even if Harry was smart 
enough to figure out that something didn't quite add up with Sirius' 
aborted attack when Sirius could have slaughtered everyone in the dorm 
after just getting the wrong bed, Sirius did not make himself look 
innocent.  I guarantee you that if Sirius had contacted DD and 
explained about Peter the rat and what had really happened, DD would 
have investigated it and more than likely have caught and exposed 
Peter.  
Look at the reaction of Lupin, who was one of Sirius' best friends.  
Even Lupin thought Sirius had been the traitor who'd betrayed the 
Potters up until he saw Peter Pettigrew's name on the Marauder's map.  
Think back to the events in the shrieking shack, when Lupin insisted 
that Sirius explain to Harry what was going on *before* Sirius killed 
Peter in revenge.  Sirius was so bent upon revenge that he didn't care 
if Harry knew the truth about who betrayed his parents before he wiped 
Peter out of existence.  If Sirius had been spouting about the truth 
before he was locked away without a trial, Lupin would have mentioned 
it somewhere in PoA and would have acted to investigate those claims 
on his own even if he chose not to include DD in the investigation.  
Blaming Dumbledore for Sirius' imprisonment is ridiculous because the 
very person who was being imprisoned went out of his way to never 
reveal the truth or even tell DD or his closest friends what really 
happened that night.  Why Sirius didn't speak up and at least try to 
enlist the aid of at least Lupin or Dumbledore in his defense was most 
likely a direct result of Sirius' profound grief and guilt over James' 
and Lily's deaths, however he is the one responsible for helping 
ensure that everyone close to him thought he was guilty of betraying 
his friends for 12 years. 

Answers for expected counter-arguments:
Some would argue that DD would have turned Sirius in if he'd contacted 
DD after escaping from Azkaban.  Balderdash.  DD treats everyone with 
respect and will hear them out, no matter how much he may personally 
dislike them (i.e. Umbridge, Fudge, etc.).  DD would hardly have been 
afraid of meeting Sirius to hear what Sirius would have had to say, 
either as DD is afraid of no one.
Some would also argue that Lupin *must* have suspected that Sirius 
wasn't guilty of betraying James because he didn't reveal to DD that 
Sirius could disguise himself as a dog and that Sirius knew about the 
hidden passage to Hogwarts from the Shrieking Shack to the Whomping 
Willow.  Nope, sad to say that Lupin didn't mention it for his own 
selfish reasons, mainly that he was afraid to lose DD's respect.  DD 
had set up rules to keep Lupin and the other students safe when Lupin 
was at school and Lupin and the other Marauders had ignored them.  
Even after all those years of being out of school, Lupin didn't want 
DD to know that he'd been so disrespectful to DD, who'd done so much 
on his behalf.  
Some might say that it's *irresponsible* to blame the victim.  The 
blame goes to where it belongs - to Sirius (who never spoke up for 
himself or revealed the true events until 12 years after the fact), 
Barty Crouch Sr. and the MoM (who didn't give Sirius a proper trial or 
investigate the events to ensure they had the truly guilty party going 
to Azkaban) and to Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort (who framed 
Sirius quite successfully).
 
Diana L. (who's enjoying all the posting and discussion about DD)
The Plaid Toad