House assumptions and the Marauders friendship (long)

[m.bockermann at t-online.de]

No: HPFGUIDX 45256

Hi there!

Richelle wrote:
>>>My theory has James in Gryffindor, Lupin in Ravenclaw (though the
two could be switched, but I doubt it), Sirius in Slytherin, and Peter
in Hufflepuff. (You know, the loyal one, "logical" choice for a secret
keeper, the one both Sirius and James would agree could be the safest).<<<


Richelle, the more I think about it, the more I like your idea. JKR *has*
said that James was a Gryffindor but the others are all open.

About support from canon, how about this idea: Snape disliked (as fas as we
know) James from saving him and blames Sirius for endangering his life. Now,
if both James and Sirius had been Gryffindors, when and why would Sirius
talk to Snape? After all, most students socialize mainly with other students
from their house and especially the Slytherins tend to be elitist. So why
would Snape chat with somebody from another house (I guess we can safely
assume that Snape was a Slytherin)? Why with a Gryffindor when the rivalry
between Slytherin and Gryffindor seem to be a long standing tradition? It
would simply not make sense for Snape to trust Sirius' advice - unless
Sirius were a fellow Slytherin and Snape had absolutely no reason to
mistrust a house brother.

After all, between their cunning and ambition, friendship and loyalty are
*very* important for a Slytherin - that much we know from the Sorting Hat.
They stick together and support those that belong to their circle. If Sirius
broke that code by first befriending James and the the others and then by
tricking Snape, that would explains Snapes hatred toward him. Snape must
have felt betrayed, causing him to plan to bring Sirius to a dementor
without a prior trial.

So if Sirius were a Slytherin, that would explain why people, especially his
*friend* Lupin, would believe him to be the murder and traitor. Would people
assume that so easily about a courageous Gryffindor, strenuous and
straightforward Ravenclaw or loyal Hufflepuff (even loyal to the death as
with Peter, as far as the people know)? Between the Slytherin's traditional
elitist behaviour and the fact that many of them supported LV people would
be quite suspicious of a Slytherin and condemn him without a fair trial. It
would even explain why Lupin was so ready to believe in Sirius' guilt -
something that always baffled me. According to McGonagall, James, Remus and
Sirius were close friends. So why would Remus blame Sirius without giving
Sirius the chance to defend himself or proof that he had been framed (could
you picture that happening to Ron and Hermione for example?) ? Possibly the
fact that Sirius was a Slytherin was always a sore point for the Marauders,
something that could be ignored and forgotten as long as they were all kids
but that became quite important when they grew older and when LV began his
terror reign? Remus would have believed that his friend was a "good
Slytherin" until he was proven wrong (as he believed). James was the
stabilizing factor in their friendship and when he died, the bond between
Remus and Sirius broke.


Much has been said that the Marauders seem to be older "mirror" images of
our present friends: Harry of course resembles his courageous father,
Hermione learned Lupin, Ron the temperamental Sirius and Neville the equally
untalented Peter. When you set James (Gryffindor), Remus (Ravenclaw), Sirius
(Slytherin) and Peter (Hufflepuff) then you have a representative of every
house. Our present friends are *not* in different houses, but some show
distinct talents for another house: Harry (Slytherin because of his need to
proof himself and his Parseltongue ability), Hermione (Ravenclaw because of
her love for learning) and Neville (Hufflepuff because that is the house
where the weaker student usually end up). So they *do* feature the ability
of the four houses, too. Coincidence? Or did the Sorting Hat decide that he
should put these four together to prevent an earlier mistake that ended in
tragedy?


Barb wrote:
>From the books we
see that cross-house friendships are extremely rare.

But they are also not impossible. And you assume that the separation between
the houses has always been like this. That might be. It is even very likely
that the Slytherins traditionally distance themselves the most. But it might
well be that the focus on one's own house was a side effect of the "bad
years" when nobody could trust each other, from a time where you could only
rely on your own house. The Marauders lived in an unquite time. Possibly,
when they arrived at Hogwarts (before LV's rise), the relationships between
the houses was more open and friendships between the houses unusual but not
unthinkable. James and Lily died not to long after they left Hogwarts so one
can assume that the Dark Lord was rising during their school time and that
the houses driffted more and more apart the more powerful the Deatheaters
become. That would put a strain on the Marauders' friendship, a strain that
it survived for a long time. When it finally cracked (through Peter's
treason) the result was desaster. Maybe the key to overcoming LV this time
is to use the abilities of our four friends without committing the mistake
of the first time?


Another reason I like this theory is that it would explain how the
Marauder's could create their map. Each of them added something from their
own house, either knowledge or ability or both. Then they could create the
map only because all the four houses were represented.
If it is not so - then why is the map so rare and special? Such a practical
device for making mischief would attrack more people besides the Marauder's
or Harry and his friends. Even the fake Moody was impressed by it. It might
be that the Marauder's friendship was extremely rare but that does not make
it impossible.


Greetings,
Ethanol