Thoughts on the Marauder's Map

[beccafran <rbroeker@hotmail.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51968

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sam2sar <sam2sar at c...>" 
> I always thought that the map only should people who were moving.
> 
> 1.  Harry didn't see himself on the map until he stepped out of the 
> classroom.
> 
> 2.  On pair of Harry/Hermione was hiding in the closet while the 
> other pair was going to Hagrid's hut with Ron under the 
invisability 
> cloak.
> 
> 3.  Scabbers slept alot and therefore didn't appear on the map 
until 
> he was moving.  He struggled with Ron after they left the hut.

Kary says: "...it shows so many different things to different people."

I think Kary's brief statement that the Map shows different things to 
different people is key here. Fred and George never saw Peter 
Pettigrew on the map, because his presence there was irrelevant to 
them. If they had noticed his name, they would have just disregarded 
him, not understanding the significance of his true identity. The map 
seems to show only the people that are relevant to the viewer: There 
should be hundreds of students & teachers running around Hogwarts, 
but Harry only sees those that are relevant to his own "mischief": 
Snape, Dumbledore, Peeves, Mrs. Norris, etc. (note that the map shows 
not only humans but ghosts & animals as well)

Regarding sam2sar's point #1 above: In post #51905 (the beginning of 
this thread), Tom suggested that there might be "properties of some 
Hogwarts *rooms* that prevent people from showing up on the map." 
Firstly, from Lupin's statement in PoA, 
"I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty 
minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. 
But you were now accompanied by somebody else." (PoA, US paperback, 
Ch. 17, 347)
It seems clear to me that Lupin cannot see what is going on *inside 
Hagrid's hut,* but only sees the Trio enter and then exit 20 minutes 
later. Secondly, Harry does not see himself on the map when Fred and 
George initially give it to him- he shows up once he steps outside of 
the classroom. So for some reason the map does not always show people 
*inside* of certain spaces, including this classroom and Hagrid's 
hut, only when they step outside of those spaces. Why could this be? 
Another possibility is that Hagrid's hut was not built at the time 
when the map was made. This makes sense to me, but still doesn't 
explain the classroom. Tom asks: "Did the Marauder's have to have 
*been* in a room for its inhabitants to show themselves on the map?" 
This is the idea that appeals to me the most. 

So basically, my point is this: The Map does not show everything 
going on at Hogwarts. It only reveals selected information. How is 
this information selected? Are there certain people it always shows, 
certain areas it never shows? Are these hot and cold spots related to 
the Marauders, or to the individual activating or viewing the map? 
Where *does* the Map keep it's brain?!?

BeccaFran

Who realizes she's only succeeded in asking more questions, and hopes 
more will be revealed about the mysterious Map in Book 5.