PoA Chapters 18-20 Summary

[Monika Huebner]

No: HPFGUIDX 21775

Chapter 18: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Harry, Ron and Hermione have just learned that Scabbers, Ron's pet rat, is not a
rat but a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew. They don't want to believe
either Black or Lupin and say Lupin and Sirius are both mental, because
Pettigrew has been dead for twelve years now. Sirius loses it and throws himself
on Ron's broken leg to get at Scabbers, and Lupin tries to restrain him. He
insists that they all have a right to know the truth, especially Harry, and
Sirius finally gives in but urges Lupin to make it quick, because he wants to
commit the murder he was imprisoned for.

Hermione tries to convince Lupin that Pettigrew can't  be an Animagus, because
she  looked them up for her homework when they had done them in class, and
Pettigrew  wasnt on the list. Lupin then tells them that there had been three
unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts while he was at school there. Then
they suddenly hear a loud creak behind them, as though someone had come in. But
there is no one there. Ron says that the Shrieking Shack is haunted, but Lupin
tells them that the noises the villagers were once hearing were made by him
during his transformations. He then tells them how he had been bitten as a young
child and how Dumbledore had nevertheless admitted him to Hogwarts . Harry
learns that Lupins three friends, Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter
Pettigrew had all become Animagi to be able to keep him company during his
transformations, because a werewolf is only dangerous to people, but not to
animals. Lupin tells them that from this time on, his transformations were no
longer the worst, but the best times in his life, although he sometimes felt
guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust. He says that he was also feeling
guilty all this past year about not telling Dumbledore that Sirius was an
Animagus.

Sirius then learns that Snape is also teaching at Hogwarts. Harry finally finds
out why Snape doesn't like Lupin and that Sirius once pulled a prank on Snape
that could have cost his life, but that his father had saved him. At that
moment, Snape pulls off the Invisibility Cloak and points his wand at Lupin.



Chapter 19: The Servant of Lord Voldemort

Snape tells them that he found the Invisibility Cloak at the base of the
Whomping Willow when he was on his way to bring Lupin a goblet of Wolfsbane
potion, because Lupin had forgotten to take it this evening. He ties Lupin up
and then points his wand at Sirius, first threatening to kill him and then to
feed him to the Dementors right away, even though Sirius says that he would come
quietly up to the castle as long as they took Scabbers with them. But Snape
doesn't want to hear of it, nor does he want to listen to Harry, Ron or
Hermione. All three of them then decide to disarm Snape, and the blast of the
spell is so violent that it knocks him out cold.

Although he disarmed Snape, Harry tells Lupin and Black that he still doesn't
believe them. Sirius says that it is time to offer them some proof now. Hermione
then asks Sirius how he could have known it was Peter when he had been locked up
in Azkaban. It turns out that Fudge had given Sirius his paper when he had come
to inspect Azkaban a year before. On the front page was a photo of the Weasley
family in Egypt, and Scabbers had been there, too, on Ron's shoulder. Sirius
then tells them the story about how Peter had fooled the wizarding world that
day in London by cutting off his own finger and transforming into a rat, taking
the opportunity to vanish into the sewer with the other rats. We also learn that
Crookshanks has been helping Sirius the whole year and that it was he who stole
the passwords from Neville's bedside table because he hadnt managed to bring
Scabbers to Sirius.

Harry still doesn't believe Sirius and accuses him directly of having murdered
his parents, even though Lupin assures him its not true. Sirius then explains
with tears in his eyes what happened the night when James and Lily were killed
and how guilty he feels about his own role in their deaths. Lupin decides that
it is high time to force Pettigrew to show himself. With amazement, Harry, Ron
and Hermione watch Scabbers transform and assume his true shape. Pettigrew tries
to convince them all of his own innocence and of Sirius' guilt. He flinches when
Sirius says Voldemort's name and tells him that he hasn't been hiding from him
for twelve years but from the Death Eaters. Pettigrew denies everything and
tries to convince them that he wasn't after Harry.

Hermione then asks Sirius how he managed to break out of Azkaban, and we are
told a truly amazing and somewhat horrible story about how he fooled the
Dementors by transforming into his Animagus form to get out of the fortress. He
tells Harry that he would have rather died than betray his friends, and finally
Harry believes him. Pettigrew begins to plead for his life, but everyone is just
disgusted by what he has done and by his lack of courage. Lupin and Black decide
to kill Peter, but Harry prevents them from doing so by saying that his father
wouldn't have wanted his best friends to become killers for scum like that. They
finally give in and respect Harry's decision and settle for bringing Pettigrew
up to the castle to hand him over to the Dementors. They also take Snape with
them by putting the Mobilicorpus charm on him.


Chapter 20: The Dementor's Kiss

A strange group consisting of Crookshanks, Pettigrew who is chained to Ron and
Lupin, Snape drifting in front of Sirius, and Harry and Hermione makes their way
downstairs and then into the tunnel leading up from the Shrieking Shack to the
Whomping Willow. Sirius tells Harry awkwardly that he is his godfather and
offers him a home once his name will have been cleared. Harry is thrilled by the
idea, and for a brief moment, Sirius is recognizable as the laughing man on the
Potters' wedding photo.

Then things deteriorate, a cloud shifts and they are suddenly bathed in
moonlight. Since it's the full moon, Lupin begins to transform, and Harry knows
immediately that he is not safe because he hasn't taken the wolfsbane potion
that night. Sirius tells them to run and to leave it to him. Pettigrew manages
to pull himself free and gets hold of Lupin's wand. He curses Ron and then
transforms into a rat and runs away. Sirius follows him despite his bleeding
wounds which are a result of a fight with Lupin. Shortly after this, Harry and
Hermione hear a yelp telling them that Sirius is obviously in trouble.

The yelp seems to be coming from near the lake, and when they approach the
scene, they can see that Sirius has transformed back into a man and that he is
surrounded by more than a hundred Dementors. They watch him plead and then lose
consciousness. Harry tries to conjure up a Patronus, but there are too many
Dementors around and he doesn't succeed. One of the Dementors then lowers its
hood and tries to administer the kiss to Harry. But suddenly Harry feels himself
falling to the ground, and the Dementors are leaving. Something has driven them
away, and Harry glimpses a huge silvery animal galloping across the lake and on
the other side, someone whom he thinks to be his father. Then he faints.


Questions:

1. Do you think it was all right that Lupin didn't tell Dumbledore about Sirius?

2. Did you have any suspicions about Scabbers not being a rat? After all, we
already knew that he had been in the Weasley family for quite some time.

3. What did you think when Harry, Ron and Hermione disarmed Snape? Do you think
they did the right thing or should they have waited for something actually to
happen?

4. When did you start to believe Sirius? When you heard that Scabbers was
actually an Animagus or did it take you as long as it took Harry?

5. When Sirius told them about the night when James and Lily died, he had tears
in his eyes. Did this scene have some kind of effect on you and deflected a bit
from the evil wizard he was supposed to be?

6. Why do you think has Sirius waited so long before he escaped from Azkaban?
After all, he could have gotten away years ago, since it couldn't have taken him
twelve years to get thin enough to pass through the bars?

7. When Sirius accused Pettigrew of having sold James and Lily to Voldemort, he
was shaking all over. Why do you think did he have this kind of reaction?

8. We know Lupin as a very kind and calm person. Why do you think was he almost
as eager to kill Pettigrew as Sirius was?

9. Now that you know what happened at the end of Book 4, do you think that Harry
would have been better off if he would have let Lupin and Black kill Pettigrew?

10. Did you feel any kind of sympathy for Pettigrew?

11. When Sirius offers Harry to live with him, Harry immediately says yes. Now,
we know that there aren't many adults Harry trusts. Why do you think does he
trust Sirius to the point of going to live with him, even though he has known
him only for about an hour or so?

12. Did you think that Harry really saw his father, or the ghost of his father
across the lake, or did you think someone else must have cast the Patronus?

13. Do you think it was an accident that this Dementor tried to administer the
Kiss to Harry, or do you think the Dementors aren't as loyal to Fudge as he
would like them to be?

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