Sirius Black's role in DH -- why? SPOILERS

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 179163

> vivida89:
> She keeps saying over and over, Sirius is NOT perfect, he has
> flaws.

zgirnius:
Yes, and as others have already pointed out in response to this, we 
as readers can disagree that he does have flaws (a position I would 
personally consider untenable in light of his characterization in the 
books), or decide that we like him anyway (a perfectly reasonable 
difference of opinion with the author about what makes a character 
worthy of being liked by us). For example, I am not a huge Sirius 
fan, but Snape is my favorite character. I would not deny he is 
a "mean teacher" based on the text of the books, but this has never 
bothered me nearly as much as Rowling apparently thinks it ought to, 
if I had to guess based on her interview comments.

> vivida89:
> In DH, page 418, last sentences it's said: "...He seemed to set
> on the course to become just as reckless a godfather to Teddy
> Lupin as Sirius Black had been to him."

zgirnius:
This expresses Harry's opinion of Sirius, and how seriously Harry 
takes his responsibility as a godfather, it seems to me. You can 
disagree with Harry. Also, we can see that Harry does not really have 
the option to be a better godfather, since he is busy saving the 
world, so we could take this to mean the same about Sirius. (I would 
not, but someone could).

> vivida89: 
> Page 590, somewhere a bit above the middle: "Bellatrix laughed,
> the same the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given
> as he toppled backwards through the veil..."

<snip>

> Quote number two really got me. My mouth stands open every time
> I read it, my eyes narrow -- how can she? How can JKR compare
> Sirius with someone he dislikes? 

zgirnius:
In my own view, this is entirely consistent with what I see as a 
strand woven throughout the books in which Sirius is compared to his 
cousin. They definitely have a good deal in common.

-They are both Blacks, and the eldest siblings of their families.
-They both share a certain arrogance that probably comes from the 
family.
-They share a strong family resemblance. Both were blessed with 
unusually good looks physically, and both are dark.
-They are both brave. I presume I do not need to explain this to you 
about Sirius, but it is certainly also true of Bella. Consider, for 
example, her defiant support of Voldemort after his apparent death.
-They are capable of great loyalty (to James, to Voldemort).
-They are both reckless (Bella's death shows hers, Sirius can be 
faulted for this, IMO, in his decision to go after Peter without 
telling anyone anything first, and if he truly did not think through 
the business with Snape and the werewolf, for not thinking that 
through).
-They both served long stints in Azkaban, where they both lost their 
good looks and both came out a tad unstable.

I feel there are other passages in the books that underline their 
similarity. The argument Snape and Sirius have in "Occlumency" (OotP) 
to me bears a strong resemblance to the argument Bella and Snape have 
in "Spinner's End" (HBP). Both Bella and Sirius express their 
distrust of Snape and their contempt of his spying (Sirius with his 
disparaging remark about Snape's closeness to Malfoy, something that 
would be obviously desirable in a spy, Bella with her comment 
about 'slithering out of action').

So that they died in very similar ways does not surprise me.

There is of course, a crucial difference. Sirius was in the MoM to 
rescue children from their would-be murderers; Bella was engaged by 
Molly in a duel after she attacked Molly's underage daughter. But at 
the level of personality and style, I think those two characters are 
similar and it makes sense that they died for the same reason - for 
not taking their opponents seriously enough. The mistake was in 
character for both.

> vivida89:
> Okay, about
> the epilogue; there were James jr, Lily jr, even Albus SEVERUS
> (with whom Harry didn't have as much to do as with Sirius) 

zgirnius:
Actually, Harry knows Snape for seven years, compared to two for 
Sirius. In six of those seven years, he sees Snape on a daily basis, 
which is only true of Sirius that one summer at the start of OotP. He 
also has the rather odd but strongly felt friendship with young Snape 
that he develops in HBP (until he learns who his 'friend' really is.)
So Harry actually did have a lot to do with Snape. 

There's also this parallel I see, that Harry inherited these two men 
from his parents. Sirius considered James his best friend, and was 
willing to die for him. The same can be said of Snape and Lily. Both 
men transferred this protection onto Harry. The latter is something 
Harry did not even remotely suspect until the end of DH; that makes 
it no less true.

> vivida89:
> I still hope the second name
> of James jr was James Sirius. I really do hope because it seems
> unfair to me that Sirius should just be forgotten. 

zgirnius:
This is the beauty of ignoring interviews. The middle names of James 
and Lily are not in the text, so they can be whatever you want them 
to be. Just as in my version of DH, the reason we never saw Snape's 
portrait was because it was hung in some corner and it was sleeping 
when Harry stopped by. (They do right after they appear, I figure - 
just like Dumbledore's did at the end of HBP).

But Sirius got his final farewell in the Forest; I don't think 
Rowling intended his omission in the Epliogue as a slight, she simply 
wanted that scene to be the last work on Sirius. (And as you say, it 
is a very *nice* last word.) Telling us Al's middle name was Severus 
told us something new in a way telling us James's was Sirius, would 
not have. We know that Harry loves Sirius with all of his flaws - why 
else was Sirius in the Forest? On the other hand, a choice to name a 
son after Snape tells us Harry's view of the man has changed.