Was Ministry going to punish Snape if kills Sirius on site? WAS: On perfection o

[jmwcfo]

No: HPFGUIDX 169049

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" 
<dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:
>
> >> Julie:
> <SNIP>
> > BTW, Snape COULD have killed Sirius then and there, and 
> > totally gotten away with it. Sirius is a wanted killer, 
> > Snape knows that and knows the Ministry is not going to
> > punish him in any way for taking out such a threat (didn't
> > the Wanted poster even say "Dead or Alive"?). So *why* 
> > oh why doesn't he?
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Is it possible that Ministry IS going to punish him and dear Snape 
> does not want that? Ministry may be trigger happy to get Sirius to 
> dementors, but I cannot find any canon references that Muggle or 
> Magical community was allowed to shoot Sirius on sight, no 
questions 
> asked, etc.
> 
> Does not mean those references do not exist of course, but I would 
> love to see them before accepting the fact that Snape will not be 
> punished for killing Sirius on sight. As far as I am concerned, 
that 
> is precisely why he does not do it and delivers Sirius to the 
> castle, hoping Dumbledore would not interfere with Ministry 
> proceedings. Oooops.
> 
> So, here is the canon I found about Sirius initial introduction and 
> how they want him to be captured, etc.
> 
> 
> I see no references to **Dead or Alive** in these quotes, but maybe 
> I just missed them.
> 
> 
>  "Harry sat down between Dudley and Uncle Vernon, a large, beefy 
man 
> with very little neck and a lot of mustache. Far from wishing Harry 
> a happy birthday, none of the Dursleys made any sign that they had 
> noticed Harry enter the room, but Harry was far too used to this to 
> care. He helped himself to a piece of toast and then looked up at 
> the reporter on the television, who was halfway through a report on 
> an escaped convict:
>  "... The public is warned that Black is armed and extremely 
> dangerous. A
> special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should 
be
> reported immediately."– PoA, ch.2, p.18, british edition, paperback.
> 
> Alla:
> 
> So, in these quote muggles are encouraged to report about Sirius, 
> are they not? They are not being told that he is armed and 
dangerous 
> and needs to be killed on sight.
> 
> Here is another quote:
> " Stan had unfurled a copy of the Daily Prophet and was now reading 
> with his tongue between his teeth. A large photograph of a sunken-
> faced man with long, matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the 
> front page. He looked strangely familiar. "That man!" Harry said, 
> forgetting his troubles for a moment. "He was on the Muggle news!"
> Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled. "Sirius Black," he 
> said, nodding. "'Course 'e was on the Muggle news, Neville, where 
> you been?" He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look on 
> Harry's face, removed the front page, and handed it to Harry.
> "You oughta read the papers more, Neville."
> Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read:
> BLACK STILL AT LARGE
>  Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held 
> in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of 
Magic 
> confirmed today.
>  "We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of 
> Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical 
> community to remain calm." Fudge has been criticized by some 
members 
> of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the 
Muggle 
> Prime Minister of the crisis.
>  "Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said irritable Fudge.
> "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or 
> Muggle.
> I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a 
> word of
> Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it-who'd believe 
him 
> if
> he did?"
>  While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind 
of
> metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical 
> community
> lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when 
Black
> murdered thirteen people with a single curse.
>  Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part 
> of
> the sunken face that seemed alive. Harry had never met a vampire, 
> but he
> had seen pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts 
> classes,
> and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one." – PoA, 
> p.33-34, british edition, paperback.
> 
> Alla:
> All I can see in this quote is that Magical community lives in 
fear, 
> etc. Can anybody please refer me to the page that says that good 
law 
> abiding witches and wizards were allowed to shoot Sirius with no 
> consequences for themselves?
> Thanks ;)
>

JW:
The reference to "dead or alive" was on a wanted poster in the 
movie.  I too can find no mention of this in the book.