[HPforGrownups] Re: Why Sirius Had to Die-maybe/Sirius, Sirius, Sirius

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 169882

  Magpie:
So how great is it that they are now essentially part of the same
family? I feel like Harry is the heir on the patrilineal side,
having inherited the house from Sirius, to whom he was first
connected through his own father and his friends. Regulus was, of
course, Sirius' only sibling and younger brother. The only Black
woman in Grimmauld Place in Harry's experience has been Mrs. Black,
who is mad and dead. The Order spends most of its time shutting her
behind her curtains, trying to not listen to her, and also not
listening to Kreacher loudly adoring her.

Draco, then, inherits from the distaff side as the child of
Narcissa, herself one of three sisters.

 Debbie:
Dumbledore states that Harry inherited the house because Sirius named him in
his will, not because Harry is some sort of heir at law under some sort of
convoluted analysis of the tapestry (the version JKR wrote with Charlus
Potter on it).  In any event, Harry is not literally a Black through the
male line, so this only works symbolically based on Sirius' choice of Harry
as heir.   I think that's what you meant, but wanted to clarify.

Jen:
The Permanent Sticking charm on the family tapestry and the fact that
it's one major artifact the Order can't get rid of in the House of
Black. Lol, it's silly but now I see where there could be some
significance to that - everything in the house *shouldn't* be removed
and cleaned away as if the family never existed and especially not
that tapestry.

Magpie:
Oh no, I totally agree. I love that Sirius can't remove the history
of all the people who lived there. Nor can he get rid of his own
pedigree--he came from these people. They couldn't get rid of him
either--here he is inheriting the house despite being blasted off the
tree.

Debbie:
Sirius is much more like his family than he would like to admit.  We witness
his mother railing against the enemies of pureblood domination -- mudbloods
and blood traitors and the like -- but it isn't substantially different from
the way Sirius rails against his own family, or Crouch Sr. or anyone else on
his enemies list.  And he is as fanatical as his cousin Bella, though their
causes are different.  I think this is the real tragedy of Sirius Black.  He
cannot escape who he is, and he is a member of the Black family.  (Likewise,
Regulus was a member of the family, and his apparent attempt to thwart
Voldemort's plan -- assuming our surmises are correct -- is consistent with
the Blacks as a pureblood family with superior notions about themselves but
not a bunch of Voldemort supporters.)

 Alla:
Sure, I was. I know it is Harry's story and he is my favorite
character, but I sure hope there will be good reason Sirius was
killed, plot wise, because Harry has to go alone, well just does not
really cut it for me.


Debbie:
This is where I'm going to really get in trouble with all the Sirius fans,
but in addition to the genre requirement that the hero lose his mentors and
face the ultimate challenge alone, Sirius had to go because, well, he
provided a lousy example.  We know (well, we think we do) that the power of
love will be a key to Harry's success against Voldemort.  Sirius' most
powerful character trait was his loyalty to those he loved and his
willingness to put himself at risk to the point of recklessness to protect
those.

But that's not the role model Harry needs.  Most people (Voldemort excepted,
of course) are willing to go out of the way for a friend. Sirius carries
that principle to the nth degree.  However, the love Harry needs to learn is
love of his enemies, and Sirius, who is as contemptuous of his enemies (and
his inferiors such as Kreacher and Pettigrew) as he is protective of his
friends, is an obstacle to Harry's achievement of that higher form of
love.  Sirius, who allows his contempt to color his judgment, isn't
interested in any such thing.

And Harry doesn't need his advice either.  Take the First Task in GoF.
Sirius was happy to provide advice, and Harry was happy to take it.  It
wasn't bad advice (since Krum used the conjunctivitis curse Sirius would
have suggested), but Fake!Moody's advice was much better.

Magpie: So why did Sirius have to die, besides Harry going on alone?
Honestly, I think it may be important for Sirius to have died
because Harry is his heir. In inheriting the Black House, which of
course symbolizes all the secrets and tragedies of the Black family
(literally and figuratively) Harry has become an Heir to the Black
family in Sirius' place. Just as PoA gave us the Shrieking Shack
that held the Potter family secrets Harry has now inherited and
taken ownership of the even more insane Black family secrets--
secrets it's going to be harder for him to uncover on his own.

Debbie:
You mean hard for him to uncover without the assistance of his house elves?
<vbg>  But truthfully, Harry's treatment of house elves (including Kreacher,
whom he despises as a traitor) is a vast improvement over Sirius.

But that's an aside.  The main point I have here is that, rather than simply
uncovering Black family secrets (although there are clearly horcrux secrets
to be discovered) I see Harry's pureness of heart as a cleansing or
purification agent of the pureblood tendencies of 12GP itself.  The Order
taking over was not enough to scrub it clean of dark influences.  Only Harry
can do that, just as only Harry can defeat Voldemort.



Betsy Hp:
And I've been meaning to do so for *forever*. <bg> So, favorite
Sirius moments, just for you, Jen. <g>

Debbie:
::sigh::
I confess that I have no favorite Sirius moments.  Unlike most fans, my
reaction to Sirius is to want to protect Harry from him.  (See?  I'm not so
hardhearted as to cite falling through the veil as my favorite Sirius moment
. . .)

Debbie
who always saw Sirius as part of the problem and not (unlike Snape) as part
of the solution to the WW's woes


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