Sirius & Remus in the Shrieking Shack

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 30322

Lucy wrote:

> In the Shrieking Shack, how were they planning to kill Wormtail? 
Surely they wouldn't be using Avada Kedavra - Sirius would be cleared 
of one offence and put straight back in Azkaban with Remus for 
company!! <snip>
> 
> Also, having decided just to capture him, why were they stupid 
>enough to forget 'Stupefy!' Then Wormtail couldn't have transformed 
>and escaped. 

Lucy,

I am just as bugged by the Shrieking Shack scene as you are (although 
it remains one of my favorite scenes.)  The problems are the ones 
everyone has already identified:  Harry doesn't have an obvious way 
to kill Black, and Lupin and Sirius might have a problem if they use 
Avada Kedavra on Pettigrew.  (Although they certainly have a viable 
defense that they had to kill Pettigrew-the-evil-murderer to protect 
Harry, Ron and Hermione.)  Then there's the fact that Snape tells 
Lupin that he forgot to take his potion, and this doesn't jog Lupin's 
memory and cause him to take this full moon problem into account in 
forming the plan.

But worst of all to me, Lupin and Sirius know that Pettigrew can 
transform and is highly motivated to escape but don't do any number 
of rather obvious things.  Like stun him and then carry him just like 
Snape.  Or if necessary, just have Sirius stand guard in the 
Shrieking Shack while Lupin fetches reinforcements.  Instead, we get 
this weird thing where a 13-year old boy with a broken leg is chained 
to an escaped murderer.

Yes, I suppose there is no real proof that Lupin and Sirius know how 
to perform the stunning spell.  I guess it is possible that they 
somehow missed out on learning it, but that is really quite a 
stretch, since Harry, Cedric and Dumbledore all use it in GoF, and 
Sirius is supposed to have been one of the most clever students at 
Hogwarts.  So Sirius must know how to use it.

But the reason I have to give JKR a pass is that, given that we have 
to let Pettigrew escape, I really can't think of a better way to do 
the scene.  If they incapacitate Pettigrew properly, he doesn't 
escape, so that doesn't work.  So what is the most 
plausible "mistake" that Sirius and Lupin might make to allow 
Pettigrew to escape?  Maybe it would be better if Hermione had helped 
Ron limp out, and Lupin had tied Pettigrew's hands and then marched 
him out covering him with his wand.  I really don't have a good 
answer.

So given the "degree of difficulty" inherent in finishing off the 
Shrieking Shack scene, JKR probably does the best that can be done.  

Unless someone has a better idea?

Cindy (remembering that, in addition to bouncing Black on his head to 
kill him, Harry was mad enough to just blow him up like Aunt Marge 
until he exploded all over the Shrieking Shack)