So Why didn't Dumbledore Punish Sirius?

[pippin_999 <foxmoth@qnet.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 48289

> Angela said:
> 
> > > I am a Sirius-supporter to the end.  I'm glad that he was not 
> > punished for the prank, but I do not understand WHY he got 
away 
> > with it?  Maybe he didn't.  Maybe he was punished, but the 
> > punishment for something like that would probably be 
expulsion.  
> > <<
> > 
> Pippin [moi] replied:
> 
> > We don't know if Sirius admitted to  anything except telling 
Snape  how to get into the Willow.


Monika:
> 
> I always understood from what Lupin was saying in PoA that 
Sirius apparently didn't do anything else. It was up to Snape to 
use thisinformation like he did. Don't get me wrong, I don't think 
Sirius should have told him how to get into the Willow, but it's not 
like he dragged him there.<<

I see I've expressed myself with my usual lack of clarity. Let me 
try again. My [hypothetical] sequence of events goes like this.

Lupin tells his friends including Sirius all kinds of stories about 
why he is absent
Sirius, James and Peter eventually learn the truth
Snape spots Lupin entering the Willow with Madame Pomfrey.
The Marauders discover what Snape has seen
The Marauders fear Snape's spying will uncover more of their 
secrets and they will be expelled.
One [or more] of the Marauders, including Sirius, plan[s] the 
prank.
Sirius tells Snape how to get into the Willow.
Snape enters the Willow and sees Lupin transformed
James learns and/or gets cold feet about the Prank
James saves Snape
[Dumbledore questions Snape, James and Sirius about the 
incident, and later, Lupin]
Both James and Snape can testify that Sirius told Snape how to 
enter the Willow
Snape is warned never to reveal Lupin's secret 
Snape accuses James, Lupin and Sirius of conspiring to kill 
him.
Snape cannot prove that Sirius knew what was in the tunnel.

 Dumbledore's investigation wouldn't turn up the fact that Sirius 
knew Lupin was a werewolf unless one of the Marauders told 
him. Which I rather believe they did not. Dumbledore couldn't very 
well ask Sirius whether he knew Lupin was a werewolf or knew 
that there was a monster down the passage without giving the 
secret away himself. 
********
Dumbledore: Tell me why you did this.
Sirius:  (to Dumbledore's knees) James told me the passage 
was a secret way out of the school. I, er,  thought Snape would 
get caught out of bounds and get in trouble. (Shades of Draco in 
book one)
Dumbledore: And where was Mr. Lupin was at the time?
Sirius: He, er, told me he has to go to help his mother. She's sick 
and they've got a mooncalf farm, and you know, he thought it 
would be embarrassing if anyone found out that he was 
spending every full moon shoveling sh-- (FBAWTFT)
Dumbledore: (quickly) That will do, Mr. Black. Is there anything 
else you wish to tell me?
Sirius: No, Headmaster
******
Monika:
 As for not getting any punishment (which I doubt),
> I explained in a message I sent last week why they weren't all
> expelled IMO. Dumbledore did it to ensure Lupin could stay at 
Hogwartsand finish his education. And I still think he didn't take it 
forattempted murder. 
> 
> Think of the scene in PoA when Malfoy and his friends try to 
frighten Harry to death by playing Dementors during the 
Quidditch match. That could have very well killed him if 
Dumbledore hadn't slowed his fall.<<

You're confusing two incidents. The fall came from the *real* 
Dementors during the previous match.  Draco couldn't have 
possibly caused Harry to go into a trance and fall off his broom. 
The worst that could have happened was that  Harry would have 
been distracted and Ravenclaw would have gotten the Snitch.

> Where they expelled? No. If I remember well, they only got 
detention,and Slytherin lost 50 house points. Was this attempted 
murder? I don't
> think so, either. It was a very immature schoolboy prank (a bit 
like telling Snape how to get into the Willow), but it doesn't prove 
that Malfoy is capable of murder at the age of thirteen, to 
paraphrase what Snape said to Dumbledore at the end of PoA. 
<<

Well, risking a salvo from the Draco Apologists, Draco would 
*like* to be thought capable of murder. We overhear him wishing 
he could help the Heir of Slytherin and hoping that Granger will 
die.

However, even in the Wizarding World, merely wishing that 
someone would die is not a crime. Assuming the punishments 
at Hogwarts usually fit the crime, if not the guilty party, we can 
see a spectrum of punishments. 

Whoever deliberately set Slytherin's monster loose to kill people 
would be in Azkaban. The incident would be kept quiet. (Draco's 
statement to Ron and Harry in CoS. )

Hagrid, accused of keeping a dangerous monster which 
accidentally kills a student, is expelled from school but not sent 
to Azkaban. The incident was kept quiet.

Draco, pretending to be a dangerous monster, is given detention 
and loses house points. 

Draco wishes Granger would die. No punishment, not even one 
of JKR's karmic specials.

 I think Dumbledore would have been confident that he could 
keep things quiet, even if he had to expel somebody. And I think 
he would have done that, at least, if he could have proved that 
Sirius knew what Lupin was and deliberately planned for Snape 
to encounter him.

Me:
> > The realization that Sirius had indeed known about Lupin all 
> > along would give an additional reason for Snape to lose it in 
the  Shack and add some extra fire to Snape's "You haven't 
forgotten" 
> > speech in the Hospital Wing.

Monika:
> I think Snape must have known all along that Sirius knew 
about Lupin, or him suspecting Lupin to be in on the joke doesn't 
make a whole lot of sense to me. Why should Sirius tell him 
where to go if he didn'tknow what was waiting for him there?

My idea is that Snape *believed* that Sirius knew about Lupin, 
but couldn't prove it, and when he finally heard that Sirius admit 
that, yes, he did know about Lupin, Snape was illogically 
confirmed in his belief Lupin knowing about the prank. 
Interestingly, with Crookshanks there to spot lying, Lupin never 
denies having been involved.

Pippin