And as for his "lack of growth", this is completely false. Sirius does have a small amount of growth comprable to his small amount of screentime. He's about as impetuous as he ever was, yes, but he mellowed out quite a bit as he aged. He was willing to heed Remus and Harry when they told him not to kill Pettigrew when a less mature Sirius would have done committed this act without hesitation, and he got over his personal differences with Snape. Compare this to Severus, who never got over his grudges against Sirius or James, to the point that he verbally and emotionally abused the latter's offspring on many different occasions when Harry had (at the time this behavoir started) done absolutely nothing to incite it. How's that for "lack of growth"?
I'm afraid I'm not getting the "incompetent" argument either. Every time Sirius was overcome in the books by anyone other than Bellatrix, it had been because he was caught off-guard (a la Pettigrew's diversion), or malnourished and weak (in Book 3 by Harry). Not exactly a fair judgment in his competence when there are other factors at work there. The only time he was straight up overpowered was when he wasn't taking his opponent seriously- a fatal flaw, as Bellatrix commands respect. Beyond the Veil and the subsequent chapter provide some of the most powerful scenes in HP. He died in his effort to keep Harry alive, and as this badass quote proves, he wouldv'e done the same for his father:
Sirius: "What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard that ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!"
Peter: "You don’t understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"
Sirius: "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"
True loyalty. Sirius is the best.
So there you are, w_c. I do hope Cloud and Squall's and my own assessments have swayed you, but if not, no biggie. Snape was bound to stomp everything in his path anyway and I'm glad Sirius is losing to a worthy opponent.
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Courtesy of fr0q - http://img.imgcake.com/gensagajpgqe.jpg
Punny worked hard on this! - http://img.imgcake.com/Punny/Gennypngas.png