okay so often i see it in fics where sirius is really ignorant to muggle inventions and i suppose just the muggle lifestyle and i think that’s wrong.
i think that sirius HATES magic like he fucking HATES IT– he hates that he comes from a pure blood family and he hates that every single one of his habits revolves around magic and he hates how he was raised to view magic as the be all end all– and this all stemmed from the beginning of time, way back in 1973, where he was in the middle of this insane phase where he would recklessly do everything that would make his parents hate his guts. like he would purposefully try and deteriorate what little of their relationship was left because he was done–and fair e-fucking-nough, right? so he joined muggle studies. and he got hooked.
and suddenly sirius had this epiphany where he realised that muggles–people without all the divine, wonderful powers that he was blessed with–could do things that no wizard could even dream up without the help of magic. he realised that wizarding buildings were all just occupied muggle creations, and that wizarding china was modelled from the original, muggle version. and this rocked his world.
so you have tiny, rough elbowed, fourteen year old russian and pakistani sirius black who realises that not only is there a whole other culture that is on most levels superior to his own–but there is one intrinsically linked to him on the other side of the world. and he realises, with his red-gum, dragon heartstring, 8 inch wand, that he doesn’t need it at all. he doesn’t need magic to get by. and so he blatantly and openly rejects it.
and now suddenly sirius black has become this reclusive magical failure, who delves into muggle culture and researches muggle-wizard relations and fascinates himself with the concepts of engineering and electricity and he knows it all, eventually. he becomes close with the hard headed lily evans who is all too glad to teach him about the muggle world–she talks his ear off about her home and her family for hours because jesus christ that’s her culture! and sirius is all too willing to learn and he’s quick to learn too, and so lily keeps going until sirius knows completely all there is to know. and then he moves on, researching the history and the culture of pakistan–learning that there is a lot more to his home country than the sprawling castle hidden in the mountains where he grew up. he moves on to russia, then, and learns about his mother’s mother and the emancipated serfs, and rasputin and alexandra, and it fascinates him. and, what fascinates him most, perhaps, is how muggle culture is not a monolith. it grows and evolves and changes and muggle lives and all influence one another– and so suddenly muggle society comes with this new nuance that sirius is all too pleased to delve into.
yet, surprisingly, through all of this research- his marks in his magical subjects don’t drop. in fact, they improve. because what sirius comes to realise–and which few before him have–is that once you can grasp the concept of how muggle inventions are the way they are, subjects like charms and transfiguration–which are fundamentally just methods of altering muggle inventions–become so much more fascinating. and so sirius researches this and experiments with this and starts making top of the class because he’s realised that you cannot be a good wizard without also being a muggle.
and now along comes the map which is sirius’ doing and james’ idea. it’s remus who comes up with the spells, sure, but it’s sirius who makes them as effective as they are on what was once just muggle ink and muggle paper.
and so now you have seventeen year old sirius black who draws connections to muggle civilisations all over the earth, and who bravely flaunts the inextricable link between the muggle and magical worlds. he’s vastly more unpopular–the wizards don’t like their beliefs being challenged– and certainly not by this gay enigma. but sirius doesn’t care. he proudly partakes in muggle punk culture, and listens to david bowie and the rolling stones.
and in conclusion, sirius knows about the muggle world, and he likes it far more than the magical one. he stops using his wand to make tea and calls people on the phone, not the floo. he drives a beat up mustang and wears leather coats, and one day–when thé war is all over–he snaps his wand, and removes himself from magic all together.
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