The two-way mirror - a cruel useless plot device

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 163686

> Maria:

> My point, however, comes from the sadness and pain Harry goes through
> in the hours and days after Sirius goes through the veil... he feels
> incredibly guilty, and the discovery of the mirror serves to increase
> this guilt upon realizing that he coudl have reached him with it and
> saved everyone the trouble and Sirius his life. In that sense, he
> doesn't need the extra guilt. But I see that the mirror can still
> offer a lot of other uses, like you all point out very well.
> 

Pippin:
::sputters:: But Harry doesn't realize that! AFAWK, it never dawns
on him that he could have used the mirror to talk to Sirius instead
of trying to reach him through the Floo network. The cruel irony is
obvious to the reader, but Harry is completely oblivious.

Harry only feels angry and disappointed because the mirror won't 
let him talk to Sirius *now*, not because he didn't think of using it 
earlier.  We may ask why Harry didn't have the guilty feelings 
you seem to be imagining he had. 

It's always easier to feel guilty than helpless. But once Harry
had escaped his feelings of helplessness by turning them into 
guilt, and escaped the guilt by shunting it onto Snape, IMO, he 
didn't need to find reasons to feel guilty anymore.
 
Pippin