Harry Potter: Sirius Black's Status of a Wanted Criminal Was Horribly Misused by the Order of the Phoenix
The Order of the Phoenix could have used Black’s notoriety to its advantage instead of locking him up to escape the tragedy and gain a lot of leverage in the process.
Sirius Black’s life was far from perfect. From growing up in an abusive family and running away from home to fighting in a war since school and losing his best friends and being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit…yeah, this man had it rough. And as if all this wasn’t enough, he spent the rest of his life locked up even after escaping Azkaban.
While the rest of the events were kind of set in stone, the latter part was just unfair. Sirius didn’t deserve to be locked in his hated childhood home after spending a dozen years in the worst prison in the world — and this decision actually led to his tragic death later down the line. The worst part is, it was a completely pointless decision, too!
The Order of the Phoenix was not keeping Sirius safe to protect him from Lord Voldemort. While the Dark Lord knew about Black and his connection to Harry, he was not interested in killing or even kidnapping the man until the very end, and there were no Death Eaters on the hunt for Sirius specifically. From them, he was safe.
It was the Ministry the Order tried to hide Sirius from since he was still considered a convicted murderer, a Death Eater on the loose, and the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant. But considering all this, there was a far better way of using Black’s notoriety!
Kingsley and Tonks, two professional and rather influential Aurors who were part of the Order, should have used “Sirius Black sightings” as an excuse to investigate non-convicted Death Eaters, Knockturn Alley’s darkest establishments, and other places and people who served Lord Voldemort. This excuse would’ve been perfect.
Not only would this have allowed the Order to gain considerable leverage on the most influential Death Eaters like the Malfoys, but it also would’ve likely prevented Sirius Black’s tragic death. Harry’s Godfather would’ve been doing actually useful fieldwork with little to no risk, and he would’ve been way happier than he was when he was locked up.
This would’ve been such a win-win strategy for the Order, and we can’t believe that neither Dumbledore nor Kingsley thought of it. Talk to us about using the Ministry’s propaganda against itself and the Death Eaters again, you slowpokes.