Sirius says

[prep0strus]

No: HPFGUIDX 174702

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Shaunette Reid"
<strawberryshaunie at ...> wrote:

> Shaunette:
> 
> Sorry to butt in on the Unforgivables debate, but this quote made me
think of something 
> else Sirius said in that hideout which has bothered me. 
> Same scene as above: Ron and Hermione begin to argue about house
elves again, and 
> Sirius cuts in, siding with Hermione. He says Hermione's disgust in
Crouch is wise because 
> "if you want the measure of a man, look at how he treats his
inferiors, not his 
> equals" (paraphrasing heavily). 
> Now, assuming I've quoted the right person (I've been known to have
a completely wonky 
> memory for this sort of thing), does anyone else see the problem
with this? Dumbledore 
> and Hermione both go on to criticize Sirius for his treatment of
Kreacher in OotP. And we 
> are shown, in DH, that Kreacher is really quite nice if you treat
him nicely. So...am I 
> supposed to conclude that Sirius is a bit of a hypocrite? 
> Somehow, I think he really meant what he said. It certainly stuck
with me as one of the 
> great lines in the series! 
> any ideas at all on this discrepancy? 
> 
> -Shaunette


I think Sirius meant it, but was never able to separate Kreacher from
the dark-loving family he served.  When Sirius knew Kreacher, he was
loyal to his mother, who hated everything Sirius stood for.  He was
loyal to his Death Eater brother.  He hated Sirius and treated him as
a traitor.

I feel if Sirius were to get his own elf, he would treat him well -
perhaps not like Hermione, who wouldn't bear to have a slave, or even
Dumbledore, who appears to have become slightly more enlightened, but
well for the WW.

Crouch treated an elf who was in all ways loyal and good badly. 
Sirius treated Kreacher badly, but Kreacher wasn't a faceless
nonentity servant.  He was almost an enemy in his own right - yes, an
underling technically, but one who he had a longstanding relationship
with, and who did not obey him or treat him well.

I'm not saying Sirius couldn't've tried to be more understanding and
patient - we know how immature he was in many ways.   But I don't
think his treatment of Kreacher reflects on how he would treat his
inferiors so much as how Sirius treats those who are against him.

We note that he treats Buckbeak with great respect, and he would be
considered even a lower lifeform than an elf.  Compare to Draco.

~Prep0strus (Adam