HBP post DH look chapter 5

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 184334

Carol responds:

I think this is one of many instances of Hermione or another character
being partially right. Clearly, Tonks' powers *have* been affected by
"shock *or something.*" But Hermione suggests (psychoanalyzing a
character she doesn't know particularly well somewhat less accurately,
IMO, than she similarly analyzes Cho Chang and Sirius Black), that
Tonks is suffering from survivor's guilt and somehow feels that it's
her fault that Sirius died. That suggestion is a red herring (and a
rather weak one since it isn't reinforced by any evidence).
<SNIP>


Alla:
Is it a red herring though?  I am really not sure one way or another.

I mean, there is no question in my mind that Tonks is affected by 
Lupin's love. But I mean, shock, isn't it a bit too strong? What I am 
trying to say is not that I am rejecting the idea for her being 
affected of her beloved death or wound or anything like that, but 
what exactly does she have to be in shock about Lupin at the 
beginning of HBP? She can be worried, yes, but shocked?


Carol:
<SNIP>
Later,
Harry thinks that she's mourning for her cousin (first cousin once
removed) Sirius, and her reaction is confusion. She's left her post to
ask Dumbledore about Lupin's safety because she's heard that someone
has been killed by a werewolf. <SNIP>


Alla:

Well, yes, of course. Remember I am not rejecting her being worried 
over Lupin, it is after all canon, what I am wondering is whether 
survivor's guilt is here or not at all?

Because it seems to me that Hermione hints that Tonks has same thing 
as Harry has, and if Tonks does not have that, it sort of makes no 
sense to me as relates to Harry's story.

Because if the point here is to say that Hermione is wrong, well, 
then it is as if those words have no meaning for Harry either IMO.


Carol:
<SNIP>
Someone (Hermione?) points out that
Tonks didn't know Sirius all that well. He was some fifteen years
older than she was, closer to Andromeda's age than Nymphadora's, and
he was in prison for twelve years when she was a child and adolescent,
and in hiding for two years after that (PoA and GoF). She may have
seen him occasionally when she was a small child, but she essentially
met him for the first time when she joined the Order between the end
of GoF and the beginning of PoA. She would have met Lupin at the same
time, but it was the kindly, low-key werewolf and not the rash and
sometimes surly ex-prisoner that she fell in love with.
<SNIP>

Alla:

In my mind, the amount of time they knew each other (Tonks and 
Sirius) is more than enough to be upset about the death of family 
member. But that's not the only thing Hermione suggests, is it not? 
She is talking about survivor's guilt and you can have it about the 
person you are unrelated to, especially if she feels that as law 
enforcement member, she failed to save somebody. She did not fail of 
course, but it is just sounds very plausible and logical to me.

And you said it yourself; she met Lupin as an adult at the same time. 
She fell in love with him yes, but again – what shock?

JMO,

Alla