Prank question (Was: RAB case is broken)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 154153

Renee wrote:
> That's an interesting question: how will we get to know the truth
about the Prank? As you say, people who knew about it are growing
scarce. Only Snape and Lupin are still there. So is Wormtail, but we
don't even know if he had anything to do with it. 
<snip>
>

Carol responds:
I've snipped the parts of this post pertaining to Regulus, who, IMO,
had nothing to do with the so-called Prank. What's important, I think,
is Sirius's intentions, James's role (how much did he know and if he
didn't get "cold feet," how did he find out?), and Severus's reasons
for keeping quiet all those years. I'm curious as to whether Wormtail
was involved, but it isn't really important unless it has a bearing on
the contempt Snape shows for Wormtail in "Spinner's End" (which can be
accounted for by other causes, such as the betrayal of the Potters and
the murder of Cedric).

Unless DD left Harry a stock of bottled memories (Once more into the
Pensieve, good friends!), including some of Snape's, I think we'll
have to rely on Lupin, who was present, even though he doesn't
remember it, at least for the moment when Severus saw him in werewolf
form and James pulled him out of the way--or did whatever he did.
Seeing even that much of the incident would reveal how much danger
Severus was in (not necessarily whether he would have died or been
turned into a werewolf, but whether he was in what could safely be
considered "mortal peril"), whether he was really helpless and in need
of saving despite his extensive knowledge of hexes and curses, and
exactly what James did to save him. (He can't have transformed into a
stag without Severus knowing it--unless he Obliviated him afterwards.
Or did he Stun him from behind, step in front of him, and transform
while Severus was out cold? Of course, he would have transformed back
into a boy when he reached the part of the tunnel that was too narrow
for a stag to enter, and would have been in human form when he dragged
Severus out and restored him to consciousness, if that's what happened.)

The part that occurred within Lupin's sight and hearing would show up
in Lupin's memory even though he was unaware of it at the time. It's
even possible that parts which occurred out of his hearing would show
up, just as MWPP's unheard conversations showed up in Snape's memory.
The range of the memory, by which I mean the distance away from the
person it happened to that can be explored objectively, is unclear,
but at least Harry would be able to walk around and discover exactly
what happened in the tunnel and/or the Shrieking Shack (if Severus and
James got that far). What the Pensieve probably wouldn't show is what
Sirius said to Severus to tempt him into the tunnel, or any
conversation between Sirius and James before or after the incident
while they were outside the tunnel and Remus was inside. But if Lupin
was present when Dumbledore talked with them later, we might hear more
of the story from another of his memories, even though it would only
be there words and not "what happened" (to quote Mrs. Figg).

Carol, imagining an unconscious Severus being carried to the narrow
end of the tunnel on the horns of a dilemma--I mean, the antlers of a
stag--and wondering if Snape still has nightmares about it as of OoP