THE MAP...... Again

[Talisman]

No: HPFGUIDX 89385

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "tonyaminton" 
<TonyaMinton at h...> wrote:
>
After the lastest rereading of POA <snip> [a] new quesiton occured 
to me about the map. When Lupin showed up in the shack he said he 
had been watching the map because he thought that they (Harry, 
Hermione & Ron) were going to go see Hagrid right... ok at the same 
time Harry and Hermione were also on their way to save Buckbeak 
after using the timeturner. SOOOOO will Harry and Hermione show up 
twice on the map?? "Because the Marauder's Map never lies" Quote 
Lupin POA (page 295 I think, don't have the books at work)  What do 
you think?? I think they showed up twice, Lupin was focused on the 
original set of Harry and Hermione.
Tonya

Talisman, setting aside some little wizard marionettes, replies:

I like your observation Tonya.  Subject to my beliefs about time 
travel (post # 79635) But, I certainly do think Lupin would have 
seen two sets of Harry and Hermione. 

And,  I think he did. And, I don't think it surprised him,
because,like Snape, he is old Order and an active agent of 
Dumbledore's. And, this is fine example of Dumbledore's management 
of events.

Let's back up a little.  There are at least 11 days between the
time Lupin confiscates the map (POA, U.S. edition, p.290) and the 
date scheduled for Buckbeak's execution. 

Harry's Quidditch euphoria lasts a week (p.314) during which they 
practice for exams, and his last exams and the hearing/execution 
date occur on Thursday of the following week (pp. 318-20, 327.) 

 I find it hard to believe that during those ~11 days Lupin
didn't spend time looking at the map, including specifically 
checking out HRH (with Pettigrew in tow) and Gryffindor tower.  This 
out of sheer nostalgia, if not for security purposes. 

And yet, he gives no indication of seeing this supposedly dead 
friend and hero of the wizarding world. 

Good evidence, I suggest, that Dumbledore is orchestrating the 
action, including selecting the right DADA professor to work with 
Snape in managing events for Harry, Sirius, and Wormtail. Events 
that were to culminate in a controlled reunion in the Shrieking 
Shack, and Wormtail's subsequent return to Voldemort. 

We don't know the *exact* time Lupin began monitoring the map, on 
the day of the Shrieking Shack showdown, but we have some good 
parameters.

Lupin says "I was watching it carefully this evening, because I
had an idea that you, Ron and Hermione might try and sneak out of 
the castle to visit Hagrid *before* his hippogriff was executed."
(347 my emphasis)

Lupin would have been aware, as we are, that the execution was 
scheduled for sunset. (320)

If he expected the trio to go to Hagrid's *before* sunset, then
he surely was watching from the time they set off through the 
entrance hall,  for, as they exited the castle "the sun was already
sinking behind the Forbidden Forest. (327)


Therefore, he would have seen the infamous "footsteps in the
hall" scene, where HRH (and Scabbers) are under the invisibility 
cloak, while time-traveled H & H are in the broom closet. (327 and 
395)

Again, though we have no specifics regarding the scale of the map, 
we do know that in order to show the castle and grounds, it is quite 
small.  From a map-readers' perspective the distance between HRH& S 
and TT H&H must have been less than an inch.  I mean, they would 
have been right in front of Lupin's gaze.  

If he missed them there, he could have seen TT H&H, following behind 
HRH & S, then dashing toward the perimeter around the greenhouse, 
where they would have been moving dots on grounds that were largely 
unpopulated. (401)  Again, because of scale, the moving doubles 
would have been in close proximity.

Lupin apparently didn't stop looking at the map until after
Sirius pulled Ron under the Whomping Willow. (347)

That means he was watching while TT H & H  move from the edge of the 
FF, to within hearing distance of Hagrid's hut (402), where they 
listen to the unfolding of events (including the *amused* 
Dumbledore).

Again, doubles movement in close proximity to HRH & S--*very* close 
from a map-reader's view--which it seems unlikely Lupin would
miss.

Then, while HRH & S head for the WW,  TT H & H move across the 
grounds to a clump of trees close to the WW (where the Sirius action 
that Lupin acknowledges seeing, takes place). (403)  Again, movement 
on an open plain that is likely placing the doubles within an inch 
of each other. 

It is just too hard to believe that Lupin doesn't get quite an 
eyeful.

Now, read the Shrieking Shack scene again, and tell me who is acting.

Talisman, who loves good theatre.