Screenname: 07potterfan

Nickname: potterfan

Date: 19/11/07

Birthday: 26th December

First language: English

Age: 14

Gender: Male (I was made to join by my fried Ebony, but I can't get off this site now, for some reason)

A few nicknames have been suggeted, but I have no specifics. These are:
Potter (my favourite)
Fan
Otter (Please don't use)
Terf
07PF
and Seven (Please don't use)

1. What can be inferred about Sirius' childhood from his room when Harry visits it during DH? Explain your reasoning.


2. Was Sirius a good godfather for Harry? How so? Give examples of why or why not using scenes from the books.

Those are your questions. Please use correct grammar and spelling at all times, and be creative. Use as much detail as you can, use quotes, scenes, examples, whatever you want. You may use any and all of the books in your answers. WRITE A LOT! WRITE A LOT! There's no such thing as writing too much. Let's put it like this: You haven't got a shot unless you write your heart out. If you take a peek at the Notable Applications topic in this forum, you’ll notice that there’s a wide range of acceptable essay styles and length (ranging anywhere from 500-10,000+ words per question). There’s no such thing as writing too much, but it is possible to not write enough. Most importantly, be creative, be thoughtful, be organized, and again, write as much as you can. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the process of becoming one of the few who can call themselves a club member at Immeritus!

ife

*pokes head in*
Alright, Potterfan! You can do it! Hugs- for great luck!
*rushes out*

*sneaks in when the Spam Police are looking the other way*


Go potterfan! GO POTTERFAN! *does a crazy celebration and encouragment dance around the room until she realises that people are looking at her in a strange way*

*whispers* Go potterfan *then tiptoes out*

Ebony

xxx

Thanks for the suport Ebony and you Nintendo

Q1. What can be inferred about Sirius' childhood from his room when Harry visits it during DH? Explain your reasoning.

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Sirius childhood was OK, even if he didn't like it because he was allowed free will in the way that he was allowed to decorate it in any way he wanted and was always aloud to do anything he wanted with it, even if it annoyed his parents a lot. This however may not be true because it says

Quote::

“Sirius‘s parents had been unable to remove the permanent-sticking charm that kept them on the wall,…”

For example, he filled it with his many gryffindor coloured objects and photos of his friends. He

Quote::

“…had plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that little of the walls’ silvery-grey silk was visible.”

shows that he had disliked Slytherin and tradition so much that he had even covered over the walls so that he did not have to see the silvery-grey which is Slytherins other colour to green.

His parents must have had plenty of money and been good at transfiguration from nothingness, because in his room

Quote::

“There was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains and a chandelier…”

and

Quote::

“…the top of a large wooden wardrobe…”

This shows that his parents were either very rich or being good at transfiguration because they are very nice things and are also likely to be found in many rich muggle houses. However, I believe that the latter is the more believable because, we all know how anti-muggle his parents were and for that reason they would never have gone to a muggle shop and bought these things.

His childhood is shown as one who hated his parents (like any average teenager) and would do anything to get on their nerves. An example not mentioned above could be…

Quote::

“There were many pictures of motorcycles, and also (…) several posters of bikini-clad muggle girls;…”

This would annoy his parents because of their hatred of muggles more than their hatred of Gryffindors and would make them never want to go in their again.

The photos on Sirius’ wall show that he was happy at school, but when he got home he hated it so much he became rebellious and stuck pictures of Muggles and Gryffindors up to show his difference as best he could to the rest of the family, especially his parents. In particular the photo depicting Sirius and his three best friends shows that he was handsome and arrogant. Prof. McGonnagal also called them good students but the biggest makers of mischief Hogwarts had ever seen. The description also says that he was a lot happier and younger than Harry had ever seen him, but this may be because he was always locked up during this period, firstly in Askaban, then in his parents house, which brought back many bad memories.

He had three best friends, but the one was closest with, even in his adult life, was James. It shows that he did not find it difficult to make friends and get girlfriends if he wanted.

Nearly finished planning 1st essay. It may be a little repetitive, or at least be mostly describing one thing, with a few others in less detail. I will add it on to above.

The spam police are always watching, Ebony, allllwwwaaayyysssss.

[Sorry, Ife, had to do it. *fears Doom*]

Please don't chase away my supporters, although, I guess they shouldn't be spamming.

Could you perhaps write your essay in Word and then post it when it's completely done, rather than giving constant updates in here, please? It's unneccesary. And while it's lovely that you have support, could you also please not take that tone with my fellow Mods? Star was perfectly within her rights to ask them to stop.

ife

Sorry. I thought I had time to write the whole essay at once, but I was wrong. I had to come off so my Mum could go on. However, the essay is now finished.

Sorry Star, Ife is right, you were within your rights, but I would like some support. I've edited to make it more polite, Sorry.

Sorry again.
2. Was Sirius a good godfather for Harry? How so? Give examples of why or why not using scenes from the books.

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In my opinion, the first two books acted as though Sirius was not a good godfather to Harry because he was in Askaban all that time. By that I mean, for the first twelve to thirteen years of Harry’s life. It didn’t mention him once and thus makes it seem like he didn’t exist. I think that if Sirius knew that he was Harry’s godfather, he should have decided against killing Peter because he should have known that he would go to Askaban. The purpose of not killing Peter would to have been able to look after Harry and not allowing him to be raised by muggles and to let him learn magic before Hogwarts without being taught. This means the basics of how wizard life is different to normal life and help him to control his emotions for when he is a teenager, to help prevent any bursts of magic that would get him in trouble with the Ministry of Magic. However, all past doings change the future, so, can we imagine a future where Harry knew he was a wizard from the start? I can. He would not be alive. Voldemort would have came soon after he moved in with Sirius and both would have been killed, because his mothers protection only worked when he was staying with blood relatives. There is only the slightest chance that he would survive because of Voldemorts power being broken.

In the third book Sirius was still not a very good godfather to Harry because he kept getting him in danger. For example, the dementors, the whomping willow and the werewolf attacks plus many others. This makes him extremely bad because this is not what a godfather is meant to do. They are supposed to keep the child out of danger. However towards the end, he started to get better by offering Harry another place to stay by asking Harry to live with him. Another thing that makes him bad in this book is that Harry believes that he was the cause of his parents death and that Harry would have killed him if Remus hadn’t stopped him. It would have been better for Harry, in this book alone, if he had not found out that Sirius was his godfather, as it would have put him in much less danger.

In the fourth book he was getting a lot better. He was giving Harry advice and getting him into a lot less danger than he had been in the previous book. However, he played a lot smaller roll in this book, than in the books that he appears in previously, so it is hard to tell if he was a good godfather from this book.

In the last book that Sirius is in, he is finally a really good godfather as he runs to Harry’s aid as well as advice in the Ministry. Unfortunately, he dies in the last part of this book and the other books don‘t let us forget this. This means he can no longer be a good godfather and Harry’s last fatherly type figure is gone.

In conclusion, Sirius could have been a good godfather if he hadn’t been locked up in Askaban or a falsely convicted murderer. However, for most of Harry’s life he was not for reasons mentioned throughout.

Well, I think you're off to a nice start, but I'd like to see more on both questions. I can't help but think that you've done the bare minimum necessary, and that just won't cut it. Indeed, I checked your word count, and both essays barely total up to our minimum 500 word requirement each. That's not to say that good essays have to be hugely long, but I really think that you could elaborate a lot more.

I know the first of your questions seems rather limiting, but while you do have to refer back to his room, you can use evidence from all the books to support your theories. You could also elaborate more on the specifics that you already mention. There's also a wealth of information you could use for your second question. You mention each book, but give no canon evidence to support why you think what you do.

If you decide you want to keep trying, put all edits in a different font color so I can tell what you've changed. And take your time! A good essay is usually a marathon, not a sprint.

good luck,

ife

I have decided to repost instead of editing in the colour on the new bits and trying to go through my originals. I will however, do Q2 first this time, as it is the easier of the two to expand on. I have deleted some bits and written the new in blue. I have gone from 553 words to 847 app.

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2. Was Sirius a good godfather for Harry? How so? Give examples of why or why not using scenes from the books.

---

In my opinion, the first two books acted as though Sirius was not a good godfather to Harry because he was in Askaban for a very long time. By that I mean, for the first twelve to thirteen years of Harry’s life. In all that time, he was never mentioned once and that makes it seem like he did not exist.

I think that if Sirius knew that he was Harry’s godfather, he should have decided against killing Peter. This is because he should have known that he would go to Askaban for life, as he already looked like one of Voldemorts supporters, because of Lily and James‘ death. The purpose of not killing Peter would have been to be able to look after Harry and not allow him to be raised by muggles, so Harry could learn basic magic before Hogwarts, without being taught. This basically means how a wizards life is different to a normal life and how to control his emotions properly, ready for when he becomes a teenager, so as to help prevent any bursts of magic that could/would get him in trouble with the Ministry of Magic. However, all past doings change the future, so, can we imagine a future where Harry knew he was a wizard from the start? He probably would not be alive. Voldemorts supporters that were still at large would have came soon after he moved in with Sirius and both would have been killed. This time his mothers protection would not work, and Dumbledore would not have been able to put the protective charm on Harry because it only works when he was staying with blood relatives, from his mothers side as it was her protection that helped him the first time. There is only the slightest chance that he would survive because of Voldemorts power being broken, causing his supporters to flee and either forget about or leave Harry alone until their master came back.

In the third book Sirius was still not a very good godfather to Harry because he kept getting him in danger. For example, the dementors around the lake where they almost sucked out both Harry and Sirius’ souls, the whomping willow when Harry was trying to follow Ron into the Shrieking Shack to help him, and the werewolf attack when Harry and Hermione saved Sirius by getting it to follow them using the time turner and by distraction when Harry, also with the help of Hermione trying to calm down and get Remus back from inside the savage beast, stops it attacking Sirius by going near it, as well as many others. This makes him really bad because this is not what a godfather is meant to do. A godfather is supposed to keep the child out of danger, and keep them safe, which is the opposite of what I have just said he should, but James and Sirius always did get in trouble and danger together at school, so maybe Sirius thought that Harry would be the same as he looks and mostly acts like his father, (except on an odd occasion). However towards the end, he started to get better by offering Harry another place to stay, to live with him. Another thing that makes him bad in this book is that Harry believes that he was the cause of his parents death, which even Sirius says was partly his fault, and that Harry would have killed him if Remus hadn’t stopped him. It would have been better for Harry, in this book alone, (he needs him a lot in the following books), if he had not found out that Sirius was his godfather, as it would have put him in much less danger.

In the fourth book he was getting a lot better. He was giving Harry advice about the triwizard tournament and getting him into a lot less danger than he had been in the previous book. However, he also played a lot smaller roll in this book, smaller than in the books that he appears in previously, so it is hard to tell if he was a good godfather from this book. If, like in the previous section, I/we imagined what it would be like if Harry did not know Sirius, it would seem that Harry would not manage without his godfathers help in the 1st tournament and would not have made it to the next round.

In the last book that Sirius is in, he is finally a really good godfather as he runs to Harry’s aid, as well as giving advice, in the Ministry. Unfortunately, he dies in the last part of this book and the other books don‘t let us forget this. This means he can no longer be a good godfather and Harry’s last fatherly type figure is gone forever (sorry about reminding you of this).

In conclusion, Sirius would have been a good godfather if he hadn’t been locked up in Askaban for being a falsely convicted murderer. However, for most of Harry’s life he was not for reasons mentioned throughout.

Here is my new post too Q1. All edits are in blue, however, I have not highlighted the punctuation and spelling changes that are not important. I have gone up from 506 words to 612 app. This is the one that I found most difficult. Do quotes count as part of your essay?

---

Q1. What can be inferred about Sirius' childhood from his room when Harry visits it during DH? Explain your reasoning.

---

Sirius childhood was OK, even if he didn't like or appreciate it because he was allowed free will. He was given this free will in the form of being allowed to decorate his room in any way he wanted and was allowed to do anything he wanted with it, even if it annoyed his parents a lot. This however may not be true because it says;

Quote::

“Sirius‘s parents had been unable to remove the permanent-sticking charm that kept them on the wall,…”

For example, he filled it with his many gryffindor coloured (red and gold) objects and photos of his friends. He

Quote::

“…had plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that little of the walls’ silvery-grey silk was visible.”

shows that he had disliked Slytherin and tradition so much that he had even covered over the walls so that he did not have to see the silvery-grey, which is Slytherins other house colour, compared to the main green.

His parents must have had plenty of money and/or been good at transfiguration from nothingness, because in his room

Quote::

“There was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains and a chandelier…”

and

Quote::

“…the top of a large wooden wardrobe…”

This shows that his parents were either very rich or being good at transfiguration because they are very nice things and are also likely to be found in many rich muggle houses. However, I believe that the latter is the more believable because, we all know how anti-muggle his parents were and, for that reason they would never have gone into a muggle shop and bought these things.

His childhood is shown as one who hated his parents (like any average teenager) and would do anything to get on their nerves (with no line to cross), doing anything he wants to annoy. An example not mentioned above could be…

Quote::

“There were many pictures of motorcycles, and also (…) several posters of bikini-clad muggle girls;…”

This would annoy his parents because of their hatred of muggles, which we can assume they have because they thought that Voldemort was right to kill and torture Muggles and Muggle-borns. It would probably annoy them even more than their hatred of Gryffindors and would make them never want to go in the room again.

The photos on Sirius’ wall show that he was happy at school, but when he got home he hated it so much that he became rebellious and stuck pictures of Muggles and Gryffindors up to show his difference as best he could to the rest of his family, especially his parents. The photo on the wall of Sirius’ bedroom, that depicted Sirius and his three best friends, shows that he was handsome and arrogant. Prof. McGonnagal or Hagrid once called them good students, but the biggest makers of mischief that Hogwarts had ever seen, but the Weasley twins were getting close. The description also says that he was a lot happier and younger than Harry had ever seen him look, but this may be because he was always locked up, or on the run during the period that Harry knew him, firstly in Askaban, then in his parents house. This also brought back many bad memories from the childhood that he had disliked so much.

He had three best friends, but the one he was closest with (even in his adult life) was James. This shows that he did not find it difficult to make a lot of friends and even get girlfriends if he wanted to. This should have made him happier just by thinking of them, but unfortunately, the thoughts never worked.

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If it needs any more, don't hesitate to say, although, it will be difficult.

Okay, I've given your application another read-through, given it some thought and...



Congrats! The effort and thought you put in to the whole application process, your improved posting on the boards and your willingness to jump through all my hoops convinced me that you should be a member here. Grab a banner if you want and enjoy being a club member!

ife