Chapter Discussion: Prisoner of Azkaban Ch 18: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Pron

[Joey Smiley]

No: HPFGUIDX 190424

> Questions
> 1. Lupin says the Marauders' map never lies, could this be a support for the
> argument that the map does not have dark magic in it? Do you agree or disagree
> with it?

Joey:

I disagree. I think he only meant to compliment the robustness of the magic that went into the map.
 
> 2. Did you believed Lupin and Black (if you remember of course) when you were
> reading the book for the first time that Peter was in the room?

Joey:

I think I did. I was frowning but Lupin sounded so very confident that I had started trusting him.

3. As some of you may know as a Sirius' fan, but first and foremost as a reader,
> I absolutely refuse to place all the blame for the prank on Sirius. I happen to
> feel that just as Sirius had no business telling Snape about Remus' secret,
> Snape had no business whatsoever of going to the Shack and nobody actually
> forced him to go there. However as the very same reader, I am still racking my
> brain what the hell was Sirius thinking would have happened to Remus if he were
> to bite Snape, or if Snape would simply uncover his secret. So what was he
> thinking? Was he thinking anything?

Joey:

Er, did he ever *bother* to *think* at all? :-) It was indeed a huge risk that he seems to have taken (both from Lupin's and Snape's perspective). Going by Harry's observations in OoTP SWM chapter, looks like Sirius never took *anything* seriously and was way too reckless along with a yeah-so-what attitude to care about the consequences of his actions. Only James's death, a friend's betrayal, stay in Azkaban where he seems to have seen the fate of many and godfather's responsibilities seem to have contributed to his personality changes. Not a startling change but a noticeable change all the same.
 
> 4. When Lupin was telling his interpretation of the Prank, were you curious
> whether "
" after him saying that Snape was jealous of James' Quidditch talent
> meant that there was more to the story?

Joey:

No, really. :-) I was too busy absorbing the revelations of these chapters.
 
> 5. Were you shocked to see Snape appear in the room?

Joey:

Oh, yes. :-)

> 6. To what extent Snape's belief Lupin was involved in the Prank was rational?

Joey:

Here again, going by Harry's observations in OoTP SWM chapter, a light frown in your face when your friends are busy humiliating an individual may not be noticed by the one being humiliated. What might have disappointed Snape is that Lupin did not even try to prevent his friends' bullying while he did have the Prefect badge. He might have thought that Lupin meekly agreed to the planned joke. Yet Snape cannot pretend that he didn't notice that Lupin never hurt him directly and never enjoyed what his friends did to Snape (unlike Pettigrew). But I do think Snape's hatred for Lupin is much toned down when compared to his hatred for James / Sirius / Pettigrew. 

As an aside, I wonder what kind of a Prefect Lucius Malfoy was to Snape.
 
Thanks a lot for the nice summary and questions!

Cheers,
~Joey :-)