TBAY: Snape and the Prank...some thoughts

[dicentra63]

No: HPFGUIDX 47051

Dicentra hesitates at the door of the tavern.  She wants to go home
but she's afraid to leave.  A bunch of people are frolicking with a
large black dog named Prank just outside the door.  Dicentra has
developed a distinct distaste for that particular dog: he always has
that wet dog smell, he is overly boistrous, knocking people over and
covering them with muddy paw prints, and he always, *always* overstays
his welcome.

She hears one of the frolickers call out, "I've been wondering where
all the Sirius Apologists are--I've been expecting them!"  That's
Judy's voice, a known Snapefan.

Dicentra mutters to her companion, Stoned!Harry. "If they're expecting
us, that means we can't show up, doesn't it?"  Stoned!Harry nods,
though it's unlikely he understood what Dicentra was talking about.

"Besides, the conversation isn't taking place in The Bay, so I can't
wear these nifty red robes, and worse--I can't bring young Harry with me.

"But if you want Sirius Apologetics, I've got enough here to choke a
horse."

*********

33857
Eileen

Not to scare him, as his defenders insist. Not to kill him, as Snape
insists. But to have Lupin bite him, making Snape a werewolf. Maybe,
Sirius thought that arrogant, bigoted Snape deserved to see the world
from the point of the down and out like Lupin. This could especially
work if Snape was close on Lupin's track, and had almost figured it
out. Now, that's a way of silencing somebody. And to Sirius's mind,
it's not as bad as we might think. After all, his best friend, Lupin,
was a werewolf, and that didn't spoil HIS life. (Though, of course, we
know that it did... later.) Think about it.

*********

33886
Tabouli

S.T.A.T.I.C.S.A.P. (Sirius' Trick Aimed To Instruct Callous Snape
About Prejudice)

*********

25196
Kelly the Yarn Junkie

When discussing the 'joke', I think most people fail to take into
consideration Sirius' opinion of *Lupin*.

I think that Sirius never believed that Snape would be in physical
danger because, in the teenaged mind of Sirius Black, Lupin was 'under
control'. We're explicitly told that under the influence of his
friends, Lupin's time as a werewolf was becoming less savage.

By the time the trick was played Sirius was probably so used to
dealing with Lupin's lycanthropy that he came to think of it as a sort
of wolf-animagus transformation and not as something highly dangerous.
This happens every day: people get accustomed to doing something
dangerous and fail to practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE resulting in
sometimes fatal tragedy. So, when he told Severus how to get past the
Whomping Willow,  the young Sirius figured Snape would be *scared* but
not hurt.

*********

25186
Gwen

I don't know exactly what triggered Sirius to act that way (and I
don't think it was a woman, Lily or otherwise), but he was obviously
very cheesed with Snape over something. Perhaps it was simply a moment
of weakness, or a cumulative frustration at Snape's constant
badgering, but for whatever reason, I think Sirius snapped.

Without thinking about it, he gave Severus the information he sought.
"You wanna know? Fine. I'll tell you. Press the knot...."

I believe that the moment Snape left him, he realized what he'd done,
and regretted it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he went and told
James out of shame and fear. He knew, at that point, that he couldn't
stop Snape--Snape would not have believed him. ("Wait, Snape! Don't.
It's a trap. I was hasty. I shouldn't have told you." Yeah, right.
That would have stopped him.) James's horror rivaled _Sirius's own_ at
what he'd just done, and the implications for both Snape and Lupin
(though I believe Sirius continued not to care about Snape, it was
Lupin's fate that worried him).

It was a stupid, foolish, unthinking, childish thing to do. I believe
that as soon as it happened, Sirius slapped his forehead and thought,
"Holy crow. What am I, an idiot? A murderer?" and ran to James to help
make it right.

I think it's one of the biggest regrets of his life, and one of the
hardest things he had to come to terms with--realizing that he is the
kind of person who would put two people's lives at risk so callously.
It made him grow up quick. And to think that he _could_ betray a
friend like that is what made it so much easier for him to lose his
mind when James and Lily died. I think it's another motivation behind
his initial offer of Secret Keeper--to prove to himself he can keep
the confidence of his friends. Then he screws it up again by giving it
to Peter.

I believe that next to losing James and Lily, this memory was the one
that replayed itself in his mind most constantly in Azkaban. And I
think it's something that still bothers him, that he's conscious of in
making decisions to help Harry. He has a lot to make up for, and it's
not just for trusting Peter. I think he is terrified that he will
betray again. It's what makes him such an upstanding guy when he gets
out--he's committed to making sure justice is done, even if that
justice initially is a little insane and skewed.

***********
20900
Monika Huebner

It seems that [Sirius] was quite immature at 16 when he told Snape
about the Whomping Willow (but he did *not* drag him into the tunnel,
Snape's own behavior was just as immature, let's face it), but I am
still convinced that Sirius' violent outbursts in PoA have *nothing*
to do with overall poor impulse control. (If I bore you, just don't
read on.) They look way more like a pretty classic symptom of
post-traumatic stress disorder. I'd like to see the individual that
would go through what Sirius has gone through and get away without
being traumatized. But then, I might be biased because he is my
favorite. I just can't see him as a violent git, and the fact that he
didn't lose it any more in GoF after recovering for a few months seems
to corroborate the theory that his losing control is more likely a
symptom of PTSD than a character trait.

************

28290
Sara

[Sirius] was a 16 year old boy when he did that and 16 year old boys
do not think before they act. If it was the other way round, do you
really think Snape would have been mature enough to think before he
acted? I doubt it. He probably would have carried it off as well, and
thought it was really funny too. Maybe he might have thought better of
it at the last moment, maybe he wouldn't.

I think in way, Snape's showing his immaturity in not being able to
let it drop (yeah I know, it was a big deal, he could have died/ended
up a werewolf, he could have ruined Lupins life even more as well...
but again, if the boot was on the other foot etc.) by holding a grudge
against Harry for the actions of Harry's father. He's acting
incredibly childish by doing that.

*************

28298
Cindy

Sirius did a dreadful thing with the prank, abusing his friendship
with Lupin for personal reasons, putting his friend at risk, risking
Snape's life, all without receiving any significant consequences for
his conduct. On the other hand, he has been the victim of a dreadful
betrayal at the hand of his friend Pettigrew, which cost him 12 years
in Azkaban and a lifetime of guilt. Sirius badly abused a friendship,
and he was badly abused by a friend.

It kind of evens out when you look at it that way, so I figure Sirius
has more than paid for what he tried to do to Snape.

*************

28313
Carole

I'm amongst the crowd that think "the prank" was something a foolish
16 (do we know he was even *that* old?) did. And remember...Sirius did
not tell Severus to go to the whomping willow, tap the knot and go
in." All Sirius did was tell Snape where Lupin went each month. Snape
took it upon himself to act on that info. Now given Sirius knew Snape
was the type that probably would...but no one compelled Snape to sneak
out of the school one night act on the info provided. I can really
hear a teen guy saying "yeah I'll tell you where he went you nosy git"
and really not consider the consequences of that statement.


*************

Oh yeah, and what Penny said in 47039.

And that's all I have to say on THAT subject.

--Dicentra, who is making full use of the newly posted SiriFAQ at
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/faq/