Marauder's Map Folly?

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 150776

Rachel wrote:
> In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to see Hagrid 
before 
> Buckbeak's execution.  While they are in his hut, Ron finds Scabbers 
(a.k.a. 
> Peter Pettigrew).  Lupin becomes aware of the fact that Pettigrew is 
still 
> alive based on the Marauder's Map he is looking at at the time.
> 
> My question is - when Harry and Hermione use the Time-Turner to save 
> Buckbeak and Sirius, why does Lupin not see two Harrys and two 
Hermiones?  
> Snape as well does not notice this when he arrives to give Lupin his 
potion 
> and sees the map.  Is there any explanation for this?


Ginger:

I read PoA last night for the first time since Sirius died.  I just 
didn't have the heart until now.  This has been discussed before, so I 
did my reading with this in mind. 

Tammy's response was very near the mark.  She said she didn't have her 
books with her, but I bet if she had, she'd have hit it dead on.  
(She's a pretty sharp cookie;o)  So I'll elabourate.

First, let's look at what the Map shows.  When Harry first gets the 
map, he is in a classroom, and doesn't appear on it.  When he steps 
out into the corridor, he appears on it.  So we know all the places in 
the school don't appear, only the ones the MWPP "programmed" into the 
map.

Hagrid's hut doesn't, the Forest doesn't seem to, and I'd be willing 
to bet broom closets don't either.  

Now let's go to Lupin's POV that night.  The original Harry, Ron and 
Hermione (HRH) go down to dinner, and then wait in a chamber off the 
Entrance Hall until they hear a last pair of people scurrying across 
the hall and a door slamming.  That last pair of people was Harry and 
Herm, time-turned (HH) running into the broom closet.

So, Lupin is at supper, then goes back to his office to stare at the 
map and wait for HRH to go see Hagrid.  By the time he gets back to 
his office, HH are hidden in the broom closet, therefore, off the map.

Lupin sees HRH go to Hagrid's.  Once they are inside Hagrid's house, 
they aren't on the map anymore, but he knows where they are.  All he 
has to do is keep a close eye on Hagrid's and he will see when they 
come out.  This means that when they make a run from the castle to the 
Forest, his eyes are focused on Hagrid's.  He is watching out for 
them, not anyone else, and has no reason to believe that they are 
anywhere other than Hagrid's.  

Later, when HRH leave Hagrid's, Ron has Scabbers with him.  Scabbers 
reads as PP on the map.  Lupin later states that he couldn't believe 
his eyes, and we can assume that he is, therefore, transfixed on that 
spot.  He watches as HRH and PP go from Hagrid's to the WW, and Sirius 
drags Ron and PP into it.

During this time, HH are still in the Forest, although keeping to the 
edge so they can see what is going on.  HH see HRH and PP leave 
Hagrid's and go back towards the castle.  Lupin would be watching that 
foursome, not the area around Hagrid's.  Time-turned Harry releases 
Buckbeak and they head straight back into the Forest.  TTH would have 
been on the map, briefly, but Lupin would not have been paying 
attention to that spot at that time.

>From their hiding place in the Forest, HH see HRH, PP and Sirius go 
into the WW, and a few moments later, Lupin comes sprinting out of the 
castle.  He is obviously not watching the map at this time.  A few 
minutes later, Snape joins the WW party.  HH were in the forest at the 
time Snape would have been looking at the map as well, so would not 
have been seen by him either.  After that point, no one is watching 
the map at all.  Lupin is in the Forest as a Werewolf, and Snape is 
busy conjuring stretchers for everyone and getting them all up to the 
castle (which was mighty nice of him, considering how he felt about 
all involved).

All of this assumes that the Forest can't be seen on the map, but I 
think we have reason to believe this.  First of all, we have canon for 
blank spots on the map (the classroom, Hagrid's) and secondly, we know 
that Sirius was spending his time in the Forest during the school 
year.  Since we know that even as Padfoot he shows up on the map, 
(Lupin sees him when he drags Ron and PP into the WW) and since Lupin 
later tells Harry that he watched the map for signs of Sirius from the 
time he, Lupin, confiscated it, we know that Lupin didn't see Sirius 
in the Forest on the map.  Since we know that's where Sirius was, and 
that Lupin was looking for him, I think we can assume that the Forest 
simply doesn't register on the map.

Did that help any?  Or was I too confusing?

Ginger, glad she read PoA again.  It really was a good book.