Harry Potter Stuff

[mamadeb]

So.

I'm kinda pushing my way through Cybele's The Boy Cannot Know, which is not easy considering my teacher/student squick and the greater one about a man being sexually attracted to a fifteen year old boy, but the plot is intrigueing and jacquez rec'd it, so I'm trying.

And something I've glossed over elsewhere, but have noticed in both posts and fic - the characterization of Sirius Black as a "psychopath" or otherwise as other than a good person to be Harry's godfather. Prior to the movie, Black was, in fact, a BSO, usually slashed with Lupin and both as good guys. This has changed, and this must be due to Snape being reimagined as a sympathetic character. Snape hates Sirius, therefore Sirius *must* be bad (no matter that Snape feels the same way about Harry, who cannot be bad.)

I see nothing in the books to support such a characterization of Sirius, and I'm wondering where it really comes from.

The other was a more general slash problem - discounting a rival woman. In this story, Lily is called "the most uninteresting woman in the world." Now, we dont' know *much* about Lily, except that James loved her very much, that she had green eyes and that she was talented in Charms (much like her son.) Oh, and that she loved her son more than life itself, that she was able to defend him to her death and that she was as much a target for Voldemort as her husband.

This does not strike me as being uninteresting. I want to know more about this rather remarkable mudblood.

Comments

sirius

[axiom_of_stripe]

sirius did cut up the fat lady in the gryffindor portrait very badly -- and largely out of frustration that she was doing her job as hogwarts security. also, he (and lupin!) did plan to murder another person. one, this is murder. two, this is stupid, since only the testimony of that person can clear sirius' name. sirius has a history of impulsive, anger-based actions which have or nearly have terrible consequences.

then again, so do many of the "good guys" in this universe, although sirius does seem to be the unluckiest with consequences....

Re: sirius

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I will agree that Sirius did not act *wisely* in his destruction of the Fat Lady, although perhaps that could be attributed to twelve years of imprisonment and the knowledge that he contributed to the deaths of his best friends. It was, in fact, a grave error in both judgement and ethics, but anger and guilt are a potent combination, especially if left to fester for twelve years. Black is amazingly sane even if one does not count the Dementors and the sheer boredom.

His attitude towards Peter Pettigrew, otoh. I can see that. Again, not wise, but it would be only human to spend those years of near hell plotting his revenge on Wormtail, who after all, betrayed *everyone's* trust. He also probably wasn't looking to get cleared at this point - who would believe him?

And he turned out to be right. And, while Harry was perhaps morally correct in not letting Sirius kill Peter (and showed tremendous strength of will in doing so), one does wonder how much grief could have been spared if he had permitted the killing.