The Marauder's Forays

[wynnleaf]

No: HPFGUIDX 168122


> Carol responds:
> Oh, boy. I'm going to regret getting caught in this thread. Let me
> just say that, code or no code, what the Marauders are doing is 
very
> dangerous, and Remus seems to be the one who recognizes this danger
> most clearly. He, after all, is the werewolf, the one who would do 
the
> biting, killing or creating a new werewolf if anything goes wrong. 
For
> the other boys, however, it's a great adventure. Note that Sirius
> says, "I'm bored. Wish it was a full moon" and Remus responds
> "darkly," "You might." He suggests having Sirius test him on
> Transfiguration, to which Sirius responds, "I don't need to study 
that
> rubbish. I know it all" (OoP Am. ed. 645). 
> 
> I don't know how you would react to a response like that, but I 
would
> consider it rude and arrogant. Sirius is bored. Nothing else 
matters,
> including Remus's feelings. It's not a full moon and studying is
> beneath him, as is helping his non-Animagus friend to study for
> Transfiguration. (I won't mention the antidote for boredom that 
arises
> later since I'm focusing on Remus, not Severus, at the moment.)
> 
> All of the interaction that we see, aside from that little remark,
> between Moony and his fellow Marauders relates to his being a
> werewolf. (He might as well not be a Prefect since he hides behind 
a
> book when his friends act in a way he disapproves of.) To begin 
with,
> there's his nickname. Then there's Sirius's and James's reaction to
> the DADA exam, which focuses solely on the werewolf question. Lupin
> joins in the joking, but "implores" James to keep his voice down 
when
> James says, "How thick are you, Wormtail? You run with a werewolf 
once
> a month?" (643). Sirius and James brag about their performance on 
the
> exam. End of exchange.
> 
> Now Remus may think that his friends became Animagi to keep him
> company and to lessen his pain, but it seems to me more likely that
> they did it to show off their talents and because it would 
be "cool"
> to run with a werewolf. Remus is in no position to criticize them, 
in
> case kindness to him is part of their motive, but he also no doubt
> feels that if they didn't have the midnight run with him once a 
month,
> they might treat him as the do Wormtail (not Sirius's contemptuous
> remark about Wormtai wetting himself). He doesn't have Wolfsbane
> potion (it has't been invented yet). Running with his friends is 
the
> only thing that makes his transformations bearable. He knows it's
> dangerous, knows he should tell his friends not to do it, but he
> can't. he feels that he owes them a debt of gratitude, and he 
fears to
> lose their friendship. As far as I can see, they don't know Remus 
at
> all. He hasn't shared in their self-taught Animagus lessons (and
> consequently doesn't share Sirius's attitude that he "knows it 
all").
> What does Remus, a quiet boy who fears the loss of friendship above
> all else have in common with the egotistical Quidditch star who's
> always showing off or the arrogant handsome Sirius, who can't be
> bothered to acknowledge a female classmate's smile? Would he be 
their
> friend if he weren't a werewolf? 

wynnleaf
Your recent post on Lupin and the Marauders was excellent.  I 
especially liked the way you analyzed the dynamics of the 
conversation in the Worst Memory scene.

As I've been thinking this through the past couple of days, I was 
especially struck by the fact that Lupin does not really remember 
those nights.  It really wasn't *him* that was getting a lot of fun
out of those jaunts with the animagi Marauders.  His main benefit 
from it is the sense of belonging, etc. that he gets *aside* from 
those nights.   It's James, Sirius, and Peter that are having a 
great lark running with the werewolf.

The more I thought about it, the more that Lupin seemed to be just 
used. 

I recall an incident when one of my daughters had almost no friends 
and was trying to do whatever possible to get "in" with a popular 
crowd.  A couple of the girls started to get her to do various things
for them, and after awhile I could tell that there was no true
friendship, they were just using her willingness to go along with 
them to their own advantage.  And she was going along just for the 
illusion of having friends.  Fortunately, there was no dangerous 
activity, but as my daughter got a little older, she could tell 
she was being used and dropped the relationships, finding more real 
friends.

Anyway, it's an interesting thought to the Marauder dynamic.  

<<Sherry
I totally disagree. As a person with a disability, I take the 
interaction
between Remus and the other marauders as the way friends act. I'm 
referring
only to the comments and attitude about Remus being a werewolf. 

wynnleaf
Sherry, while I see your point that friends can often kid around 
about things that would be considered rude by others, I think the 
Marauder dynamic was somewhat different.  Carol was suggesting that 
the Marauder's befriended Lupin *because* of his being a werewolf.  
They clearly did think that his being a werewolf was cool.  It 
wasn't just that they joked about it - they *liked* it that Lupin 
had this problem.  It was cool for James, Sirius and Peter, but not 
cool for Lupin.  

We don't know whether they because good friends first, and then 
discovered Lupin was a werewolf, or vice versa.  But the way Lupin 
tells it, it sounds like James and Sirius first figured out he was a 
werewolf and then went from just roommates to including him in their 
inner group.  Sirius and James were always closer friends than the 
rest.  We can see that in their actions as adults, as well as their 
detention records where Sirius and James were always acting together 
even if Peter and Remus weren't involved.  And we saw that in the 
Worst Memory scene -- Sirius and James as more of a duo, with Remus 
and Peter the supporting players.

It's pretty obvious that Sirius and James didn't think too highly of 
Peter.  Once again, the Worst Memory scene shows that, but also the 
very fact that Sirius and James thought that no one would suspect 
Peter as the Secret Keeper.  

What was Sirius and James' true attitude toward Lupin?  Hard to 
say.  But if you look closely at what both Lupin says, and the 
comments in the worst memory scene, it could easily be interpreted 
as two guys who don't really know Lupin as a person, but are mainly 
interested in taking advantage of his cool werewolf condition.

I will say that Sirius in OOTP does seem to count Lupin as a 
particular friend.  On the other hand, by OOTP, that's all Sirius 
has left, so he could have cultivated the friendship more deeply as 
an adult.  

Lupin's lack of strong emotional response when Sirius died has 
always been curious to me, especially now that we've seen him 
completely fall apart over Dumbledore's death.

wynnleaf