Sirius Black and Molly Weasley are two very important characters in the life of Harry Potter. Sirius is his godfather and his father’s best friend, although he sadly misses out on a chance to get to know him until later in life due to his wrongful imprisonment in Azkaban.
While Molly is Harry’s surrogate mother that immediately embraces him and takes care of him in ways that Petunia Dursley never did. Both Molly and Sirius are thrown together a lot when it comes to Harry’s wellbeing and their work in the Order of the Phoenix, but were they really friends?
They Could Never Agree On How To Treat Harry
A lot of the conflict between Molly and Sirius stemmed from the fact that neither adult could agree on the best way to raise Harry. Sirius had a tendency to treat him as more of a friend and a James-surrogate than as his godson and Molly could be overprotective to the point of shielding him from important information.
Even Dumbledore remarked that, in hindsight, it might have been wise for them to give Harry more intel before sending him off in the world.
Sirius Didn’t Respect Molly’s Place In Harry’s Life
It’s obvious that Sirius is somewhat jealous of Molly considering she had become a surrogate mother to him early on and spent a great deal of time with him, time that Sirius was robbed of after being wrongly imprisoned.
Some of that clearly affected the way he talks to Molly and belittles the established relationship that she has with Harry considering how much time they’ve spent together. He often makes comments about how she “mollycoddles” Harry but as Sirius wasn’t there to see how the Dursleys treated him and the Weasley’s protection over the years.
Molly Talked Down To Sirius Quite A Bit
Both Molly and Sirius had their faults and the two butted heads constantly because of their differing opinions on Harry’s wellbeing. But one thing that Molly did to Sirius that was somewhat uncalled for is her consistent belittlement of him as a guardian and of his relationship, both with Harry and James.
While Molly may not have been entirely wrong when she called Sirius out for treating Harry like he was James instead of his own person, she also could have gone about it a less condescending manner.
Sirius Made Molly Feel Like She Was Crazy
In the fifth book of the series, there is a scene where Molly tries to tackle the boggart living in the drawing-room desk at Grimmauld Place. Everyone discovers her in hysterics as the boggart continuously transformed itself into the dead bodies of people Molly loved most, Fred and George, Harry, Arthur, etc.
Sirius and many of the other members of the Order tried to make it seem like Molly was being foolish but in reality, her fears were extremely valid. They were headed into war with a powerful dark wizard, her fears were not unfounded and some even came true.
Sirius Undermined Molly’s Warnings To The Trio
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione were first beginning to plan Dumbledore’s Army, Molly sent a message to Ron that he was not to participate in the meeting whatsoever.
She had Sirius pass the message along and he undermined everything Molly said by implying that they should ignore her and go along with the defense group anyway. The DA became an important plot point but in this case, had Molly and Sirius been true friends, they would have been able to work out a happy medium instead of having Sirius be duplicitous.
Everyone Acts Like Molly Is Overreacting When She Warns Sirius Against Going To The Train Station
In the fifth book, when all the students are heading back to Hogwarts via the train station, Sirius decides to transform into his Animagus as a shaggy black dog so he can see Harry off on the Hogwarts Express.
Many of the adults, and students, treat Molly like she’s dumb for letting Sirius head to the train station with them in his dog form, but Molly turned out to be right in warning him against it as he was recognized by Lucius Malfoy.
They Had Fundamentally Different Parenting Styles
While normally it wouldn’t be a big deal for two people who aren’t related to have different parenting styles, it does affect the relationship between Molly and Sirius since they both have to look out for Harry.
Their conflicting feelings about what is best for Harry causes a great deal of conflict between them and has led to many serious arguments. The worst part is, Molly often gets treated like she’s overreacting but she makes a lot of valid points that get overlooked because Sirius is the “cooler” of the two.
Molly Believed Sirius Was A Murderer For Years
Almost all of the characters in the series believed that Sirius was a mass murderer until the truth came out thanks to Harry, Hermione, Lupin, Ron, and Dumbledore. But one has to consider how you can truly be friends with someone who you had no trouble believing was a killer for more than a decade.
It’s one thing if you’re a kid who doesn’t have much to go off beyond what the adults in your life tell you, but Molly had a hard time coming around to Sirius being innocent at first. That’s surely a strain on their relationship moving forward.
Molly Could Be Too Controlling With Harry Despite Him Not Being Her Son
Part of Molly’s charm is her willingness to take care of Harry and fully accepting into her heart as her son even if he isn’t related to her by blood. She was fully prepared to adopt Harry and let him live with the Weasleys full time before Sirius came into the picture.
However, the point remains that Harry was not her son, and James and Lily decided Sirius would be his godfather. Molly needed to respect that decision and she rarely did.
Sirius Sometimes Put Harry’s Life At Risk
Despite Molly’s shortcomings, she always had Harry’s best interests at heart, but the same cannot always be said for Sirius. There were several times in the series where Sirius was willing to put Harry’s life at risk because he needed something or he wanted to be adventurous the same way he was with James.
At times, Sirius could be passive-aggressive and even childish about the way he spoke with Harry so it’s not surprising that Molly would have issues with his status in Harry’s life and ability to make big decisions for him.
