Regulus and Sirius WAS :Re: Slytherin's Horcrux (was:Hogwarts Houses Unite!)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163766

> > Carol, not trying to "bash" Sirius Black but wondering why we
should take McGonagall's word that a former Gryffindor who excelled in
*her* class should be regarded as an exceptionally talented or
creative wizard comparable to, say, Severus Snape


Sherry responded:
> 
> What evidence do we have that Snape is brilliant and trustworthy
beyond the word of Dumbledore?  At this point, I'd trust Minerva as
much as I'd trust DD.  And sorry, but Sirius would die to protect his
friends, his pack, whereas  Snape, a coward in my opinion, murdered
the person who believed in him.  I think Sirius was brash and
reckless, but a far better man, than Snape.  I'd rather have had
Sirius watching my back, than ever have dared to turn my back on Snape.
> 
> Sherry, believing that the reputation of Sirius Black will be
redeemed in the last book.
>
Carol again:

Hi, Sherry. I was a bit hard on Sirius, wasn't I? I'm sorry if I hurt
your feelings or those of other Sirius fans. I was trying to figure
out why everyone thinks he's so clever and talented and let my dislike
of him show instead. As for Snape, I think it's pretty clear that he's
brilliant, wherever his loyalties lie. (I think they lie with
Dumbledore, obviously, but I realize that the evidence is not all in.)
 All those spells and potions improvements he invented as a teenager
are sufficient evidence of that, not to mention his abilities as a
Healer and duellist, revealed in HBP, and his unusual skill at
Occlumency, mentioned again by Lupin near the end of HBP. (I'd add
more examples, but I think his brilliance is self-evident, in contrast
to his loyalties.)

And do remember that Minerva believed that Sirius was a murderer even
though she'd had him in her classes and her house for seven years, so
I'm not sure how trustworthy her judgment of her former students is.
Nor is Lupin's judgment of his former classmates, which is similar in
both cases to McGonagall's view of them, particularly trustworthy.
It's interesting to me that Lupin's words about Black in PoA ("Yes, I
knew him. Or I thought I did") are very similar to Slughorn's about
Snape in HBP ("I taught him! I thought I knew him!")--except that
Slughorn is shocked by Snape's action and Lupin has already resigned
himself to Black as murderer (and is fooling himself by pretending
that an Animagus who knows about all the secret passageways can't
figure out a way to get onto the grounds and into the school).

I agree that Sirius Black's reputation will be publicly cleared in DH
and I expect his body to be returned through the Veil so that Harry
and the Order can hold a funeral for him at last. I'm just not sure
that he's as creative and clever as he's commonly believed to be. If
he weren't an Animagus motivated by the desire to commit the murder he
was imprisoned for, he'd never have sneaked past the Dementors, who,
fortunately for him, are blind. But that isn't cleverness so much as
having an advantage over the other prisoners thanks to one particular
ability.

Carol, who trusts Dumbledore's judgment of Snape, whom he knows much
better than he knew Sirius Black