This scene is cringe-worthy and heartbreaking. Twelve years of wrongful imprisonment, followed by two and a half years as a fugitive, have kept Sirius in a state of arrested development. Snape has had the freedom denied Sirius, but when threatened by his least favorite bully from his past, he regresses to taunting Sirius about something that Gryffindors find intolerable: forced inactivity during crisis. Yet there is beauty in both men in this scene, too. Harry sees someone who cares about nothing in the world more than Harry’s happiness and is willing to fight for it. Snape gives Sirius a
...more
