Just like Slughorn, Albus Dumbledore collects people. Only, instead of focusing on those with influence, he looks to the outcasts.
The expelled half-giant. The young werewolf. The repentant Death Eater.
He protects them and gives them a second chance. All he asks in return is their loyalty.
And, if on occasion he requests that they undertake a certain task, invoking their debt of gratitude – well, that is no more than he is owed.
He once thought to add a certain disowned Black to his collection, but quickly realised his mistake.
Sirius is not an outcast, but a rebel. He knowingly chose his path, and chooses what price he is willing to pay for it. He refuses to be used.
So Albus Dumbledore abandons him.
Who gave you the RIGHT?
Dumbledore knows Sirius’s loyalty lies with Harry instead of him, and he has no use for someone who is not willing to follow his orders without question.
Ooooohoo if there’s ever a post that fits my aesthetic…
okay but then where does Harry himself fit into this collection? Is he an outcast because he is “the Boy Who Lived”?
Nooonono, my friend, that’s what makes this post so beautiful. Because it fits the meta I’ve been trying to get people to accept for years.
Harry was an outcast due to a childhood filled with abuse and neglect.
Vernon made him an outcast by dismissing his claims of magic, berating him, locking him in a CLOSET and putting bars on his window, and let’s face it, even though her editor made her cut it out, Jo intended for there to be physical abuse.
Petunia made him an outcast by enabling and contributing to this abuse, as well as making Harry do dozens of chores while doting on Dudley.
Dudley made him an outcast by bullying him and threatening any students at school who wanted to be his friends.
And the rest of the wizarding world made him an outcast when they bullied him for being an outsider.
Harry James Potter became an outcast the moment he was placed with The Dursleys.
And who put him there in the first place?
THIS POST IS WHAT WE WHERE LOOKING FOR
Sirius recognizing this behavior because of how he grew up.
Sirius knowing that Dumbledore would trade any of them to defeat Voldemort, that if Dumbledore had complete control, his best friend’s family would only be safe as long as it was tactically advantageous.
James Potter insisting that they use one of his friends because Sirius sat him down and discussed hard pills to swallow: dumbledore edition.
Six days later, well connected Dumbledore, who is the wizard equivalent of both UN ambassador and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, lets Sirius be sentenced to life in Azkaban. Without a trial.
Over a decade later, when Sirius is about to be executed and DOES need him, Dumbledore arranges for him to be rescued and thinks he has succeeded where he failed before: Sirius owes him his life.
But even then, Sirius only going along as long as it’s in Harry’s best interest. So Dumbledore puts him in a box and ignores him.
Mage Rights or Mage Fights 