I agree 100%. His time in Azkaban has to have damaged his psyche terribly, and I'd imagine that the REASON he was sent to Azkaban--betrayal at the hands of one of his best friends, one of the people he valued and trusted above his own family--probably hurt him as much or even more than the dementors could.
However, I seem to be in the rare boat that says that Sirius was probably never truly happy. His family had to have cast a shadow over his youth. Trying to lure another student to their death in the jaws of a werewolf (who happens to be one of your best friends) as a prank is not the action of a stable and happy individual--it is actually more the act of a sociopath, though I think that is much too strong a description for Sirius taking other factors into consideration. I know a lot of people dismiss the Shrieking Shack incident as evidence of recklessness (and reckless it most certainly was), but I think it points to deeper problems that Sirius was suffering even in his youth.
There certainly seems to be a predisposition toward madness in the Black family, and while I'm not saying that Sirius was crazy in his youth (though he's probably pretty close after 12 years in Azkaban), I think it's safe to say that he wasn't the most emotionally well-off boy at Hogwarts in his day, either. I'd guess that he was actually worse off in some ways than Snape, just better at charming people and hiding his unhappiness. There has to be a reason no one seems to have stood up and defended Sirius... no one seemed to think him incapable of doing the things he went to prison for. I find myself dissatisfied with most young MWPP-era stories for this reason. Sirius is a tricky character to write at any age, I think.
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Date: 2004-08-25 11:13 pm (UTC)However, I seem to be in the rare boat that says that Sirius was probably never truly happy. His family had to have cast a shadow over his youth. Trying to lure another student to their death in the jaws of a werewolf (who happens to be one of your best friends) as a prank is not the action of a stable and happy individual--it is actually more the act of a sociopath, though I think that is much too strong a description for Sirius taking other factors into consideration. I know a lot of people dismiss the Shrieking Shack incident as evidence of recklessness (and reckless it most certainly was), but I think it points to deeper problems that Sirius was suffering even in his youth.
There certainly seems to be a predisposition toward madness in the Black family, and while I'm not saying that Sirius was crazy in his youth (though he's probably pretty close after 12 years in Azkaban), I think it's safe to say that he wasn't the most emotionally well-off boy at Hogwarts in his day, either. I'd guess that he was actually worse off in some ways than Snape, just better at charming people and hiding his unhappiness. There has to be a reason no one seems to have stood up and defended Sirius... no one seemed to think him incapable of doing the things he went to prison for. I find myself dissatisfied with most young MWPP-era stories for this reason. Sirius is a tricky character to write at any age, I think.