He isnt coming back

[Sacred Guardian]

i think it is very clear that Sirius will not be back in human form, he is dead
i do like the idea of a picture though and maybe there will be multiple copies and the order can use him as a spy

[pallas artemis]

We know that there are pictures of Sirius. Harry has one of him at his parents wedding. The question is, can any of Sirius's pictures communicate with people or are they all mute, waving, snapshots.

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

From what I can surmise, pictures can't talk, they mostly just wave up at you.
As for Sirius coming back, I don't think he will come back to life. But I'm sure we haven't heard the last of him.

[Athena Appleton]

so far, there is not one single photo picture (non-painting) that we've seen that can communicate... they all just wave, or make faces, or fly, or whatever they're doing at the time the picture was made (which makes me think that the movement is kind of on a loop... like there isn't much variation in what they do)

As far as there being multiple pictures of Sirius, and him being a spy... there's not even really any evidence that there is a single painting (able to communicate) of Sirius... so thinking that there are more than one, and that Sirius's image would be a spy for the Order, is really far-fetched.

If Sirius had had a normal life, I would say, yeah, since he's from this old family, there would probably be a portrait of him somewhere. But he didn't. He angered his family so much by not being a jerk that they burned him off the family tree. A mother who burns her son off the family tree wouldn't keep a portrait of him around. Then he went off to Azkaban for this horrible crime. Not many folks would want to have a portrait of him hanging over their mantlepiece, it would look REALLY suspicious. He gets out of Azkaban, and he was on the run until the time of his death (more people knew about him in OotP, but a very very few, compared to the whole of the wizarding community.) When would he have had a portrait made? Who would have made it? Who would have it? I just don't think it adds up.

[Alice I]

OK Sirius probably does not have a portrait somewhere but as to his never being cleared I am not sure that that would still hold true.

You see when Harry told his story about the Voldemort's return he told how Peter Pettigrew helped to bring old moldy Voldy back and after it was published a lot of people believed him, then at the end of book five when the ministry officially recognized that fact the Harry and DD had been telling the truth all along Sirius would have been essentially cleared as the murder that he was imprisoned for never actually happened.

This is defiantly one of the issues that I genuinely hope that JKR addresses in the next book, because now would be the time to publicly clear the mans name.
If not for Sirius because obviously he is dead but for Harry's sake. Sirius was his God Father and the only wizarding family he had.

[Athena Appleton]

I wasn't saying that Sirius wasn't innocent, or that his name shouldn't have been cleared...

Up until the night Sirius was killed at the Department of Mysteries, the ministry was still looking for him, still holding to their story that he was a criminal. That's why he was confined to Grimmauld Place, because he was a wanted man. The ministry wouldn't have agreed to clear his name until after he died, and a few minutes later, Fudge saw Voldy with his own two eyes.

As far as the ministry publicly clearing his name, it should happen, it would certainly be the most fair, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. That doesn't seem to be how they do things. Hagrid was accused of setting the baselisk out from the Chamber of Secrets and consequently killing a girl at the tender age of thirteen, and as far as I know, there has been no public apology on the part of anyone, mostly they just let him back as though nothing had ever happened. It would be nice if they'd do that, because it would make Harry's life a little easier, but so far, Rowling hasn't been overly concerned with making Harry's life easier, has she?

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

If they do decide to clear sirius name and apologize, I wonder if it will just show an article from the daily prophet. Or if it will be a major event. I was wondering the same about getting a new MoM.

[dancinquyn]

I think it would be a good thing if there were a portrait of him somewhere, but kind of unlikely. First of all, his mother probably got rid of everything she had of him when he left his family. Second, I highly doubt the Potters would have made a portrait of him.

[Athena Appleton]

EWPZ: I think that with the possible clearing of Sirius's name, which I think is in itself far-fetched, it would have already shown up in an article in the Daily Prophet, but if they did clear his name publicly, there wouldn't be a lot of hoopla around it

With the new Minister of Magic, I think that that would be an event that would have some unfolding, particularly if it were someone close, like Arthur Weasley (who is the most likely candidate, I think)... It may start with an article in the Daily Prophet, but there will be some leading up to it, and it won't just be a passing comment...

dancin: I definately agree with you... I only included James's parents in my list of possible places because they took him in like a son when he was a teenager... but I find it unlikely that there would be a portrait of just Sirius... only if it were Sirius and James, or all four of the Marauders... but if there ever was one, I think it's long gone by now

[Dumbledores Master]

I agree with everything that has been said and would like to point out that there is already a thread on the new MoM thing.

[Athena Appleton]

*simply turns and stares at Dumbledore's Master*

you've got some gall, don't ya? EWPZ and I both know there's a topic about the new MoM, in fact, we've both discussed this in more detail in that thread. making a comment relating back to another theory is not wrong, especially if it doesn't completely throw a conversation off track.

anyway... so, no, Sirius isn't coming back (Rowling's said so in the chat earlier this year) and it's possible, but not probable, that there's a portrait for him to "come back" that way...

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

lol, you're cracking me up Athena

I definately agree, Sirius has kicked the bucket and won't come back. People want to believe he's still alive or in Limbo or something like that just because he went through the "veil" and didn't get straight up Avada Kedavrad. I don't want to believe Sirus isn't coming back but I just have to face the facts. Like I've said before, we will hear from him again through Harry's dreams or something similar.

[Dumbledores Master]

And what about your moaning and groaning about me starting off new threads when I had only done like 3 posts you could have just said dont start threads about things that have been discussed.

[Athena Appleton]

I believe that's what I did...

in my opinion, mentioning another thread in passing, while not getting off-topic for more than two threads, is different than starting up several new threads about something that's already been discussed.

in any case, lighten up here, have an ice cream and cool off.

[Dumbledores Master]

Sorry nice ice cream though