OOP Chapter 6-8 post DH look

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 182826

 > zanooda:
> 
> I think that the change of heart is more likely something that
> Sirius knew, and Regulus being killed by the DEs is the
> assumption :-). If Regulus disappeared, and was presumed dead, 
> why would Sirius think that the DEs killed him?
> <snip> 
> Sirius's believe that Regulus died because he tried to back out
> has to come from somewhere.

Mike:
I think the whole Regulus backing out story must have come from his 
parents, or at least Walburga. Sirius was aware that his parents 
became disillusioned with LV after an initial period of sympathy to 
the cause. "They got cold feet when they saw what [LV] was prepared 
to do to get power, though." <OotP, p.112, US> How did Sirius know 
that, unless he had *some* sort of contact with his parents after he 
left home? 

I got the feeling that Sirius's break with his parents wasn't as 
complete as we might have presumed from Sirius's words. I think he 
kept up with what was going on to some degree through other family 
members, say Uncle Alphard. So after his parents got their "cold 
feet", which might have coincided with Regulus's disappearance, 
Sirius got the word that his parents no longer trusted this LV fella.

I picture Regulus being all aggitated in front of his mother, asking 
queer little questions like 'what's a core-crux?' and generally 
mumbling things like 'I'll show him'. Possibly, when Walburga brings 
up Reggie's DE position or duties (in a way that only a mother can 
bring it up), Reggie has an outburst or two, ranting that LV isn't 
who he pretends to be. Or something to that affect. Possibly that's 
where Walburga gets the idea that LV is prepared to kill *anyone*, 
ANYONE, that gets in his way or that he has no further use of.

In any case, I don't see it as all that mysterious nor as a failure 
on JKR's part to maintain continuity in this part of the story. 
Sirius's mother is still around as a witness, and Sirius has clearly 
maintained some kind of communication with someone that knows what's 
going on in his family. 

The rest of it, the part about Reg being killed by DEs, was obvious 
conjecture on Sirius's part by the way it was phrased. We didn't need 
to learn the truth two books later to know that Sirius didn't really 
know why his brother was dead or how he died. And I agree with Alla, 
the subtext of Sirius's comments showed me that Sirius cared deeply 
for his brother and was mostly mad at his parents for steering him in 
the wrong direstion. IMO, Sirius blamed Regulus's death first and 
foremost on his parents, on their "pure-blood mania".

Mike, who thinks JKR did a good job in hiding Reggie's death, but 
still could have used more clues on how he found out about Horcruxes