The Prank -- A New Thought

[persephone_kore]

No: HPFGUIDX 80841

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bohcoo" <sydenmill at m...> wrote:
>
> melpomene, you also make a chilling point about the consequences of 
> The Prank. It is the horrific nature of the consequences that makes 
> me (want to) believe that Sirius thought or knew that Snape could 
> transform -- if not into a bat, then into something that could stay 
> away from Werewolf! Lupin's jaws. Otherwise, what Sirius did was so 
> heartlessly evil it cannot be seen as anything other than cold-
> blooded attempted murder. And I just can't see Sirius in that dark a 
> light. 

Actually, what I've found odd about "the prank" -- about nearly any
version of the logistics for it I've ever seen presented, in fact --
is Snape's behavior. My bewilderment has only grown since OotP. 

Leave aside, for the moment, the question of whether Sirius was being
mindblowingly stupid, careless, heartlessly evil, or some other
peculiar state of mind involving the belief that the consequences
wouldn't be all that bad. This is, granted, something of an important
question, but it doesn't necessarily bear on another interesting one....

Why did Snape GO there? Why in the world would Snape go somewhere that
SIRIUS BLACK of all people on the planet appeared to want him to go? 

Somehow I can't see it as having been disguised as an overture of
friendship. As a matter of fact, unless Snape's thought process went
something along the lines of "This is clearly a trick, but I shall be
more prepared than he expects and thwart his foul plan and get him
expelled," I find it very puzzling why Snape would have gone to the
tree at all if he thought Sirius wanted him to. 

And if he calls it a prank now, then either Snape is lying or he
honestly believes Sirius was pulling something on him. Lupin and
Sirius themselves support the latter interpretation and, in fact, that
Snape is right about it. Forget lying; discard the possibility that
there was no intentional trickery.

So... what did Sirius *do*? And this does matter. 

Did he somehow force Snape down to the Willow? This seems a bit
unlikely somehow; there's no mention of frogmarching or the like, and
it seems as if Snape would have mentioned it if "Black cast Imperius
on me!" -- though I suppose you could make an argument for ego. 

Did he let something slip, pretending it was by accident? (Did he
accidentally let something slip in such a way that nobody believes it
was an accident, even his friends, and now he's not sure himself? Does
this have anything to do with not wanting to be the Secret-Keeper?)

Did he tell Snape to go? Did he do so in such a snarky, sarcastic way
that Snape decided it was worth going just to show him up? Is Snape's
ability to goad Black into dangerous behavior an echo of schoolboy
taunts that ran the other way? (Sniveling... coward?) 

Did Sirius perhaps tell Snape exactly where to go on the theory that
"even Snivelly wouldn't be stupid enough to do what I tell him!" --
and get his bluff called when Snape either *was* that rash or saw
through the act, concluded correctly that Sirius was actually hoping
and assuming he wouldn't go, and found more being hidden than he
bargained for? (I rather like this one, to tell the truth... and not
just because of the amusing mental image of James snarling under his
breath about stupid... scheming... second-guessing... Slytherin gits
and Slytherin-get... while he runs out to the tree, which just came to
mind. It seems to feel right, somehow. The whole muddle of rashness,
cleverness, temper, and stupidity. On both sides, thanks.)

It's probably also worth noting that MWPP evidently did not take the
danger Remus could present as a wolf as seriously as they probably
should. Remus says himself it was stupid and careless, I believe, and
that they were lucky they never hurt anyone on those full-moon runs.
It seems likely, however, that their heedlessness on this point was
somewhat reinforced by the fact that the wolf *was* -- comparatively
speaking -- docile in their company; the other three might have become
used to the idea that he wasn't *as much* of a danger as generally
believed, and carried that too far, rather than genuinely going
through some thought process along the lines of "Well, it doesn't
really *matter* if he gets far enough to bite somebody"! 

Not that this would have helped if he ever had....