Hey, Nyx! Sirius Fangirl debate
Re our interrupted chat, first point to you: I'd forgotten that Sirius's first action out of Azkaban was to see Harry, and also that he'd tried to take Harry in 1981 before going after Pettigrew. So yeah, he does care for Harry.
I disagree with your comment that you can't judge a character's ethical development by his obligations as a plot point. Yes, of course the character acted the way he did because Jo's plot required it--but we have to judge a literary character by his actions and words, if we're going to bother talking about him at all.
"Sirius did not act like an innocent man." Neither during POA nor when he was arrested.
If the story he tells Harry is true, he went to Azkaban knowing that no one else knew that Peter was a traitor, a Death Eater, a rat Animagus, and alive. He probably couldn't have saved himself--but he does nothing to alert anyone to the danger Harry, and everyone, face, until he saw that Pettigrew was actually rooming with Harry.
The Red Hen's hypothesis: Sirius attempted to kill Pettigrew and THOUGHT HE'D SUCCEEDED--until he saw that Prophet. He'd suggested Pettigrew be Secret Keeper; he'd succeeded in his vengeance; he did deserve prison. No point in warning anyone about Pettigrew's hidden loyalties or abilities, since Peter was dead. Sirius might have cast the spell that blasted the Muggles, or he might have thought Pettigrew's defense had done it. I don't think he'd have cared much, either way.
Now, that doesn't mean I think he was a psychopath. Any more than I think a soldier who lobbed a grenade at an enemy and took out 12 civilians is necessarily a psychopath. Some returning soldiers who've killed bystanders commit suicide, some have nightmares the rest of their lives, some apparently put it out of their minds. I think Sirius would fall into the last category.
After all, Sirius was a hardened criminal who repeatedly nearly killed people by criminal negligence and who tried to kill an enemy in malice. The Marauders used their criminal Animagi powers to let a werewolf loose on an unprotected population. If they'd stopped letting Lupin out when they first realized they were risking others' lives (not their own!), I'd feel differently. But Lupin says there were "several" near-misses--that means at LEAST two after they knew better. And Lupin is "haunted" by the thought; Sirius is not.
Then Sirius's considered judgment on the Werewolf Caper 20 years later: Snape deserved it. Someone deserved to be torn into pieces because he believed, correctly, that you were engaged in criminal behavior, and he was trying to catch you at it???
No, Sirius doesn't show signs of considering the effects of his actions on others, or remorse for nearly killing people. So I don't see that he'd care about taking out 12 Muggles to kill Pettigrew.
Vengeance vs. protecting Harry: fine, he had to act that way for Rowling's plot. But he DID act that way--he did nothing to alert anyone to the danger Harry faced from Voldemort's TRUE agent. He spent his energy trying to kill Peter. If his story is true, he left Harry at Pettigrew's mercy for 11 years before doing anything at all. Then at the end, he had run Lupin off--but Lupin could have circled back the moment Sirius left.
Parallel to Snape: Severus, when he regained consciousness, believed Sirius to be Lily's traitor and Remus his accomplice. His temptation? He could have immobilized everyone, fetched the Dementors to Kiss Sirius, and/or gone to bag--or kill--Remus too. Instead he conjured stretchers and brought everyone up to the Castle: putting protecting the children ahead of his own desire for vengeance for Lily's death.
Back to Sirius: I do think that Harry had reason to love him, if only because Sirius showed him such affection. As to Harry's comments that Sirius was a reckless godfather--well, he was. I think Harry blamed Sirius most for getting himself killed.
Looking forward to a refutation... none of my local friends are Sirius fans!
I disagree with your comment that you can't judge a character's ethical development by his obligations as a plot point. Yes, of course the character acted the way he did because Jo's plot required it--but we have to judge a literary character by his actions and words, if we're going to bother talking about him at all.
"Sirius did not act like an innocent man." Neither during POA nor when he was arrested.
If the story he tells Harry is true, he went to Azkaban knowing that no one else knew that Peter was a traitor, a Death Eater, a rat Animagus, and alive. He probably couldn't have saved himself--but he does nothing to alert anyone to the danger Harry, and everyone, face, until he saw that Pettigrew was actually rooming with Harry.
The Red Hen's hypothesis: Sirius attempted to kill Pettigrew and THOUGHT HE'D SUCCEEDED--until he saw that Prophet. He'd suggested Pettigrew be Secret Keeper; he'd succeeded in his vengeance; he did deserve prison. No point in warning anyone about Pettigrew's hidden loyalties or abilities, since Peter was dead. Sirius might have cast the spell that blasted the Muggles, or he might have thought Pettigrew's defense had done it. I don't think he'd have cared much, either way.
Now, that doesn't mean I think he was a psychopath. Any more than I think a soldier who lobbed a grenade at an enemy and took out 12 civilians is necessarily a psychopath. Some returning soldiers who've killed bystanders commit suicide, some have nightmares the rest of their lives, some apparently put it out of their minds. I think Sirius would fall into the last category.
After all, Sirius was a hardened criminal who repeatedly nearly killed people by criminal negligence and who tried to kill an enemy in malice. The Marauders used their criminal Animagi powers to let a werewolf loose on an unprotected population. If they'd stopped letting Lupin out when they first realized they were risking others' lives (not their own!), I'd feel differently. But Lupin says there were "several" near-misses--that means at LEAST two after they knew better. And Lupin is "haunted" by the thought; Sirius is not.
Then Sirius's considered judgment on the Werewolf Caper 20 years later: Snape deserved it. Someone deserved to be torn into pieces because he believed, correctly, that you were engaged in criminal behavior, and he was trying to catch you at it???
No, Sirius doesn't show signs of considering the effects of his actions on others, or remorse for nearly killing people. So I don't see that he'd care about taking out 12 Muggles to kill Pettigrew.
Vengeance vs. protecting Harry: fine, he had to act that way for Rowling's plot. But he DID act that way--he did nothing to alert anyone to the danger Harry faced from Voldemort's TRUE agent. He spent his energy trying to kill Peter. If his story is true, he left Harry at Pettigrew's mercy for 11 years before doing anything at all. Then at the end, he had run Lupin off--but Lupin could have circled back the moment Sirius left.
Parallel to Snape: Severus, when he regained consciousness, believed Sirius to be Lily's traitor and Remus his accomplice. His temptation? He could have immobilized everyone, fetched the Dementors to Kiss Sirius, and/or gone to bag--or kill--Remus too. Instead he conjured stretchers and brought everyone up to the Castle: putting protecting the children ahead of his own desire for vengeance for Lily's death.
Back to Sirius: I do think that Harry had reason to love him, if only because Sirius showed him such affection. As to Harry's comments that Sirius was a reckless godfather--well, he was. I think Harry blamed Sirius most for getting himself killed.
Looking forward to a refutation... none of my local friends are Sirius fans!