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

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 163770

Kemper now:
> I agree with Sarah.  And to expand on the 'collectible' implication 
> that comes from Slughorn's word choice of 'set', it makes me think
> that was valued highly not only because he was a Black and had
> influence but because he was as powerful and creative a wizard as
> Sirius.

> Alla:
> Sure, it is quite likely that Slughorn thought of Black brothers as 
> *collectible set to own* or something like that.
 
> I mean, I do not think that this is necessarily the only thing he 
> thought of them, since on the example of Lily we do see IMO that 
> Slughorn can feel affection to his students as people as well, but
> I do not dispute Sarah's point.

Jen: I had the same impression that Slughorn cares for 'his' students 
while still considering them collectibles.  Slughorn appears to care 
about Lily mainly because of her abilities and personality, yet when 
faced with the story of how she died, his jovial manner disappears--
his horror at hearing what happened to Lily and his tears were real.  
He genuinely cared for her in his own limited way because of who she 
was and not *just* what she was capable of doing in the world or for 
him.  

Alla:
> What I was trying to say is that the fact that Slughorn refered to 
> them together, that he **knew** that they were brothers may imply 
> that Sirius and Regulus were not just enemies in Hogwarts, if that 
> makes sense. Of course he may have known that they were brothers
> simply because they had the same last name, hehe.

Jen: I'm pretty sure you are saying it wasn't the content of what 
Slughorn was saying so much as how he referred to the brothers as 
a 'set'--two halves of a whole.  Slughorn saw something in the 
brothers that connected them together in his mind almost like how 
someone would refer to a 'set' of twins or anything that belongs 
together.

Carol:
> Regulus is an unknown quantity and Slughorn may only have meant
> that he'd have liked to have both borothers in Slytherin because of 
> the Black family tradition. <snip> What I don't see is a powerful 
> and creative wizard worthy of "collection" by Slughorn, who, as I
> said, didn't even know that Sirius was an (illegal) Animagus, much
> less about his share in producing the Marauder's Map.

Jen:  I suspect Slughorn meant exactly what he said, Sirius was 
a 'talented boy'. Slughorn ignores those whom he doesn't believe have 
any potential, that much is clear.  He saw something in Sirius 
regarding his talent or it wouldn't be a 'shame' that Slughorn wasn't 
able to collect him.  

> 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.

Jen: McGonagall is not known for praising a person's abilities if she 
sees nothing to praise. If she said Sirius and James 
were 'exceptionally bright' then Rowling intends us to believe her 
comment.  And when Dumbledore later called Sirius 'clever' and 
Slughorn called him 'talented', that's more direct canon that people 
other than McGongall saw Sirius as a skilled wizard.  

Sirius being talented doesn't exclude Snape from being talented or 
vice versa, they aren't an either/or proposition, there's plenty of 
skill to go around in Potterverse <g>.