[HPforGrownups] when did the prank take place?

[liz]

No: HPFGUIDX 83297

on 21/10/03 1:22 pm, James Sharman at jamess at climax.co.uk wrote:

> jwcph wrote:
> 
> Kneasy raised an interesting point in his post # 83201.  I said that
> the prank happened sometime after pensieve 2, which would make it
> after 5th year.  But Kneasy pointed out that we don't actually have
> any canon for that.  I had assumed that it happened at least that
> late because of the way the story is told in PoA.  Remus says it
> took the Marauders the better part of 3 years to figure out how to
> transform.  Then he mentions Snape's suspicion that he (Remus) was
> helping Sirius get into the school after the escape.  At that point,
> the story of the prank comes out-or at least a somewhat expurgated
> version of it. Because of the order in which Remus tells about the
> Marauders, I made the assumption that the prank followed
> chronologically after the Marauders learned to transform.  But
> that's not necessarily the case, is it?  If it weren't for Remus's
> offhand remark about Snape, the prank might not have come up at
> all.  Furthermore, Sirius and James could have known where Remus
> went on full moon nights well before they learned the animagus
> spell.  So when *did* the prank happen?  And what, if any, are the
> differing ramifications of it happening before pensieve 2 or after
> pensieve 2?  Or do I just need to get a life?
> 
> 
> SilentJim:
> 
> Very Interesting! I'll have to go and do some reading but it certainly
> sounds plausible. It would also clear up another problem. We are told that
> James risked his life to save Snape from Remus and the issue has been raised
> that James didn't really risk his life because he could turn into a huge
> stag. 
> 
> If the prank took place after the Marauders found out about remus' secret
> but before they became Animagi (Is that the right pluralisation?) it would
> cast the event in a different light.
> 
> A possible supporting fact to this is that we are told Prongs/Wormtail &
> Padfoot prowled the forest and grounds with Remus on full moon nights but
> the prank is described with Remus alone in the shack.

I don't have the book in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that when Snape,
Remus and Sirius are talking about the prank in the Shrieking Shack Sirius
mentions that they were 16 when it happened, which would make it either late
5th year or more likely sometime in 6th year, which would be after they had
become animagi.

I'm going to go check if I'm remembering correctly.

Liz