answer - Viewing the Map.

[Christi]

No: HPFGUIDX 60541

While I agree with substantial segments of your arguement, I could 
not help but point out that Lupin din't notice Harry and Hermione 
using the time turner because he was a wolf at the time. He could 
have noticed two Hemiones at an earlier point, as could have the 
twins or Harry, but I have always contended that the map only shows 
you the things you are looking for (clear passageways, secret 
tunnels, etc.). 

Christi

 
> srb:
> 
> I'm in agreement with you on the map being cluttered.
> 
> Let us take a look at the map.
> 
> But first, let's look at the castle. If you research castles on the
> internet, you will see that Hogwarts is a castle of unprecedented
> (mammoth, huge, gigantic) size. You might find some castles that 
have
> towers that are 7 commercial stories high, but you will not find
> castles that have 7 floor main buildings. Hogarts, in my imaginative
> view, has several wings all 7 floors high with very high ceilings, 
and
> it's many towers are much much higher than that. Given that castles
> always have very high ceilings, I can picture the main 7 floor wings
> of Hogwarts being as high as a 12 to 14 story commercial or
> residential building. That would make the high towers in the range 
of
> a 20+ floor high common building. That is ONE BIG MOTHER of a 
castle.
> 
> Now picture that castle's complete floor plans draw in standard
> architectural format. That is many many extremely large documents. 
But
> the Marauder's Map is a single piece of parchment. Even if it is 3
> feet on a side, the floor plans plus the castle grounds have to be
> drawn at microscopic size to fit in that space. 
> 
> I've always had the idea that the castle floor plans were layered on
> top of each other, and when you wanted to see a specific floor it 
came
> into sharp relief while the remaining overlapping floors fade to a
> pale unobtrusive grey. Even if that speculation is correct, the
> drawing would still have to be very tiny.
> 
> That one factor alone could easily explain why Fred and George never
> saw Peter/Wormatail, and why Lupin never saw the second Harry and
> Hermione on the map during their time travels. The only thing you 
see
> clearly is the thing you are intensely concentrating on. Everything
> else fades to a miniscule blur. Harry constantly refers to 
everything
> on the map as minute (as in tiny, not 60 seconds).
> 
> Next, many have speculated that in order to keep the map from being
> too cluttered to even use, it is selective in what it shows. For the
> moment, let's say it is not selective. Now picture looking at
> Gryffindor tower on the map, what are you going to see? A hopelessly
> undecipherable jumble of overlapping names. That would certainly 
make
> it difficult to pick Peter Pettigrew out of the crowd. 
> 
> Next, Fred and George are at school, the context of the situation
> control how they will interpret what the see. In the context of the
> school, seeing the name of some underclassmen (Peter P. or P.
> Pettigrew) in close proximity to Ron would mean nothing to them. In
> that context, where they are conditioned to expect to see the names 
of
> teachers and kids, I seriously doubt that one of them would see the
> name and go, 'Hey, isn't that the obscure dead guy that we have some
> vague knowledge of?". I don't think so.
> 
> Reading the map takes effort and concentration, anything you are not
> concentrating on and making an effort to see, fades into the 
background.
> 
> Just at thought
> 
> srb
> 
> PS: I always thougth a minute owl was a 60-second owl.