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

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 190426


> 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?
> 

Pippin:
I think Lupin is just bragging about the map. It does lie, at least by omission. It doesn't know about the Room of Requirement, or, apparently, the interior of Hagrid's Hut. 

As for dark magic, I doubt the map was ritually dark. I don't think it required unicorn's blood, or murder, or desecrating a grave, etc. James would've been repelled. But if its making required lots of tricky and  dangerous spellwork that could've injured its makers and innocent bystanders if it went wrong -- well, that is just the sort of thing that James and Sirius would have found irresistible. 

Another point -- as we've  heard lately, collecting information about people's whereabouts without their permission is not really nice.  The Marauders certainly objected to Snape collecting information about them!

Most important, the map  did try to lure Harry out of school, and into danger, and it did not care that the danger was much worse than normal. As Lupin said, the map makers would have thought that was amusing. Lupin himself thought the map was too dangerous for Harry to have as long as there was real danger around. So I think that Harry is right to regard the map with a certain dubious appreciation. 


> 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?

Pippin:
IIRC, I wondered how it could be possible. I certainly didn't think of his being the rat!


> 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?


Pippin:
I think Sirius's superior skills spoiled him -- he seldom got into a  situation he couldn't charm or magic his way out of, and so he never thought much about how to avoid them. I agree that all the blame does not belong to Sirius. But if Snape had discovered and stopped the Marauders from turning a werewolf loose among the villagers of Hogsmeade, they would have justly considered him a hero, IMO.

I don't think Snape had any idea that the Marauders were actually leaving Hogwarts with the transformed Lupin, though. I believe he thought they were just daring themselves to get close to the werewolf while it was transformed, but still confined. 

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
I think I was pretty sure by that time that it was suspicious we had heard so much about Snape's feelings about James and nothing at all about his feelings towards Lily. Also, Snape didn't seem to be that passionate about Quidditch, so I wondered.

> 
> 5. Were you shocked to see Snape appear in the room?
Sure!
> 
> 6. To what extent Snape's belief Lupin was involved in the Prank was rational?

Pippin:
Even some of Sirius's fans have had a hard time believing that he would have involved Lupin in a prank that could, even if it went as planned, have  resulted in Lupin's expulsion or death.  Or that if Sirius had done so, that Lupin would still be on speaking terms with him afterwards. 

So certainly it was reasonable for Snape to be suspicious. He didn't know how dependent Lupin was on the Marauders for relief during his transformations, so he must have wondered what hold they had on him. Complicity in a plot to murder him would explain it nicely.

Of course he jumped to the wrong conclusion -- and then stuck to it despite what anyone could say. It must have validated something for him. Of course Snape didn't want to think about the *real* reason that he hated everyone who had something to do with James. 

Thanks, Alla. I enjoyed the questions, especially the one about the Map.

Pippin