[HPforGrownups] The 'Prank'? Was: Can Character Change: A Separate Post

[Pen Robinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 38872

Another thought: I've been referring to the Prank, as that seems to be its
name here... but listening to dear Stephen Fry only last night, I realised
that there was no reference whatever to a 'prank'.  Lupin referred to what
Sirius did as a 'trick'.

Is it a 'prank' in US editions?  Or is this a local designation used on
this list?

Does it make a difference in our interpretation?  I, partial as I am to all
kinds of fine shades of meaning, even when some of them are peculiar to me,
think so.  To my mind, 'prank' is 'lighthearted schoolboy stuff'.  If Remus
referred to what Sirius did as a 'prank', it implies (to me) that he
doesn't condemn it.  A 'trick' is a bit more thought out, and not quite so
excusable.  So the wording I was listening to yesterday gives Sirius a bit
more blame and Remus a bit less indulgence.

Pen