Research Help (medium-long)

[Ellimist15 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 5188

Quin said:
I think that the paralleled couples are Harry-James, Hermione-Sirius, 
Ron-Pettigrew, and Neville-Lupin

Really? I thought of them as Harry-James, Hermione-Lupin, and Ron-Sirius.

Why? The Harry/James comparison is obvious. The first comparison is their 
near-identical appearances, so similar that Harry mistakes his 
past/future/whatever self for his father in the "Dementor's Kiss" chapter of 
Prisoner of Azkaban. They are also renowned for their Quidditch ability. 
Harry was allowed on the team as a first year, and people are constantly 
telling Harry that his father was an extrordinary flyer. "You fly as well as 
your father, Harry" --Sirius. "Your father would have been proud. He was an 
excellent Quidditch player himself." --McGonagall. They also seem to share a 
general dislike of everything that is Snape and have a knack for getting into 
trouble. But who am I trying to convince? I'm sure everyone here would agree 
that Harry and James are a paralleled group.

I chose Hermione/Lupin because Lupin seemed to be so studious, just like 
Hermione. Although Hermione's teaching style is more McGonagall-like than 
Lupin's, they both seemed to be obsessed with studying...Or have I been 
reading too much MWPP fanfic? Oh well. In PoA, they compare Hermione's 
sleep-deprived, stressed-out appearance to the eternally-tired face of 
Professor Lupin. Also, they both had a secret that they faithfully kept 
secret, although they eventually revealed it to their friends. Lupin, 
obviously, had his lycanthropy, and in Hermione's case, the time-turner. 
However, I'd love to hear your ideas on a potential Hermione/Sirius parallel. 
I'd never really thought of that before.

I had a harder time placing Ron, and I eventually settled on Sirius because 
he, like Ron, is the best friend of the Harry/James character. I consider 
James and Sirius to be more like Fred and George, though. McGonagall said in 
the Three Broomsticks that they were practically brothers and the most 
troublesome duo the school had ever seen. And I *can* imagine Fred or George 
being sent to Azkaban! :-) We know James played Quidditch, and I'm fairly 
sure Sirius did, too, even though there's nothing from the books to back up 
the assumption. He must know his broomsticks, though, to know about the 
superiority of the Firebolt, but I suppose nearly everyone in the wizarding 
world knows that (except maybe Hermione). Anyway, I always imagined James and 
Sirius being beaters, just like Fred and George, but JKR evidently decided 
that James was a chaser. Drat! Always fouling up my fanfiction plans... 
::goes off to plot evily, then comes back quickly::

Wait! I'm supposed to be talking about Ron! Well, he and Sirius both share a 
rather quick temper. I don't know. We don't really know that much about 
Sirius, considering that we only saw him for a brief segment in both PoA and 
GoF. I keep trying to insert fanfiction references! Gah, another reason why I 
can't wait for "Order of the Phoenix".

Then of course, last and *certainly* least of the Marauders, we have Peter 
Pettigrew. Who do I think he relates to? Colin Creevy. He and Colin were both 
drawn to the most powerful wizards their age; in Peter's case, James and 
Sirius, and in Colin's case, Harry. I think someday Colin is going to snap 
from Harry constantly ignoring his efforts. Harry constantly sluffs him off 
like an old coat, even though Colin puts such an effort into being Harry's 
friend. He brings (well, *attempts* to bring) food to Harry in the hospital 
wing in CoS, tries to get an autographed photo to prove to his father that he 
*met* Harry, and even ropes Dennis into trying to bewitch the "Support Cedric 
Diggory" badges. You never know, he may get into the loop with the 
"triumverate", just as Pettigrew became an animagus with James and Sirius. 
Colin could be dangerously close to the dark side of the force --sorry, got 
carried away there-- to the dark side, willing to hide in the shadow of the 
strongest wizard around.

I strongly disagree with your comparison of Ron and Pettigrew. Although he 
acted like an insufferable git for a lot of the school year, I doubt that he 
will truly betray Harry to the dark side, no matter how dwarfed he feels in 
comparison with Harry's accomplishments. What were your reasons for pairing 
the two?

Thoughts, anyone?

Ellie Rosenthal
http://www.geocities.com/cornishpixie7/harryp/