The Prank in DH (was Re: Predictions for the End (what I think, hope and know)

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 167322

zgirnius:
> > Snape is just not trusted by most readers as a reliable source on 
the Marauders (quite reasonably, I know *I* would not trust his 
interpretations of their actions). 

Alla:

> At the very least it is quite clear to me that Snape sincerely 
believes that Marauders tried to kill him. Unless he lies through his 
teeth
obviously...

*(snip)*

So, I would say that I have not seen Snape judged as unreliable 
information source much. I mean, no, I did, but by the fans who are 
not fond of him. And vice versa is true of course.

zgirnius:
> > The Marauders tend to be (quite unreasonably, in my view) 
considered as reliable sources on their own activities, and even 
Snape's,
though the latter observation is not relevant to my argument.
<SNIP>

Alla:
> Quite unreasonably? I guess we have to agree to disagree right away 
if we are going into Marauders are liars argument.

Ceridwen:
I can't speak for zgirnius, but I think that what people mean by 
either of these statements is that Snape and the Marauders are seeing 
the Prank subjectively.  We can believe that the Prank could have had 
tragic consequences if James had not intervened (Snape's view), but 
we can also believe that perhaps Sirius didn't mean for it to be 
anything more than a really funny joke against a school rival 
(Marauder's view).  Of course we take sides if we like one character 
above another.  But I expect that, if the Prank will be important in 
DH, we'll find that it's somewhere between the two views.

We heard about Snape's dislike of James very early in the series.  
It's mentioned in PS/SS.  Since we see Snape's unfair treatment of 
Harry in the story's real time, we are led to believe that Snape is a 
petit villain, the adversarial teacher who doesn't like Our Hero, as 
well as a vengeful, duplicitous person who would lie about something, 
or blow it up out of all proportion, in order to make himself seem 
wounded and deserving of sympathy.  We see scenes between Sirius and 
Snape which reinforce that view.  When the big revelation of the 
Pensieve incident is unveiled, we are caught off-guard because of 
everything we thought JKR was telling us about Snape, and about the 
Marauders.

Sirius and Remus aren't lying about the Prank, or about the Pensieve 
incident, either, but their recollection is different from Snape's.  
While the Pensieve shows an objective record of events (per JKR), we 
don't get to see inside people's heads, and we don't get to see the 
history of a relationship.

And for Remus, given DDM!Remus, his low-key words on the subject are 
from hindsight: nothing happened, no one was hurt or killed, there is 
no blood on his fangs, and he and his friends were not expelled.  
All's well that ends well, Remus's view.

Which doesn't take into account Snape's feelings, but is a true 
representation of Remus's view.

I think the only way we're going to get an objective reading of the 
Prank is if we see it narrated objectively, in its own time, as if it 
was real-time.  That's what I would really like to see in DH, if the 
Prank is going to play more than a background role in the dynamics 
between Snape and the Marauders.

All in my opinion, of course.

Ceridwen.