Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs & The Servant of Lord Voldemort
chapters eighteen & nineteen of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin explain to Harry, Ron, and Hermione the story of the Marauders, and of Peter Pettigrew betraying James and Lily. After a brief interruption by Snape, Sirius and Lupin reveal Pettigrew, who admits to his crimes, and they bind him up, taking him back to the castle.
“I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did…. And that’s how we came to write the Marauder’s Map.”
(by Ani Bester)
“That’s right,” sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.
(by Tealin Raintree)
It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.
(by gerre)
A moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands.
“Remus,” gasped Pettigrew, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, “you don’t believe him, do you…? He tried to kill me, Remus….”
(by Ani Bester)
“You should have realized,” said Lupin quietly, “if Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter.”
(by Jenny Dolfen)
about the chapters
Something You May Not Have Noticed
It’s sort of funny, looking back on it, that the whole Marauder clan was in Gryffindor (Rowling has said in interviews that they were). Most Gryffindors who are contemporaries of Harry show their bravery at some point, although they each have their own ways of showing it. But Lupin is the first to admit to cowardice in neglecting to tell Dumbledore that Sirius Black is an Animagus, and Peter Pettigrew certainly seems to lack bravery in just about any sense at all. At least in Lupin’s case, we can see what the Sorting Hat was thinking, even though this won’t be the last time we see him acting cowardly. But what was the Sorting Hat thinking with Pettigrew?
The Power of Magic
It would be interesting to know just how difficult the Animagus transformation really is to learn. According to Hermione only seven wizards have registered as Animagi this century (including McGoangall) – yet James, Sirius, and Pettigrew were able to perform the feat when they were only fifth-year students. Lupin mentions that they were the brightest students of their time, but what would really be interesting to know is how many unregistered Animagi might be running around. It’s a little bit of a scary thought.
The Boy Who Lived
One thing Harry’s not always very good at is remembering critical information. Such as, in this case, Trelawney’s prophecy. Admittedly he doesn’t yet know whether it’s true or not, but if someone told me in a creepy voice that Voldemort’s servant was setting out before midnight to rejoin his master, I’d probably do my best to keep that in mind as I, you know, watch Voldemort’s servant get exposed and tied up. On the other hand, we’ll see another case where acting on a Prophecy caused more problems than it solved, so maybe it wasn’t worth it after all.
The Final Word
“Pettigrew is a very weak character. He’s not someone I like at all. He’s a weak person and he likes to gravitate to people who are stronger.”–J.K. Rowling, October 2007
I’m kind of torn about Lupin. I mean, Snape does have a point about Lupin: He did help Sirius the entire year, by not saying anything. At least he could’ve reminded Dumbledore that the Whomping Willow was still an entrance of Hogwarts. And why didn’t Dumbledore notice anything when the MArauders were in school? Did he really think that the closest friends of Lupin wouldn’t have known at all about his condition, whereas Hermione could find it out in a few lessons?
And what I also find weird is that if Sirius was wandering around the grounds as a dog, Lupin or Harry never saw HIM on the map.
I guess you can say it was a combination of dumb luck and coincidences that it went like it went…
kim said this on July 8, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Peter reminds me of a Slytherin, because he is brave when he needs to be to survive, rather than having the self sacrificing air of a Gryffindor. Perhaps it had to do with choice? Harry said it lets you choose,and maybe Peter felt intimidated by Slytherin’s reputation. Additionally, Dumbledore said he thinks they sort too early, so maybe being an eleven year old boy helped. Lots of preteen/teen boys have the “brave/noble, but stupid” complex that seems to be key with Gryffindor. I don’t really know. It’s a tough question.
On a totally unrelated note, Snape really ticked me off in this part. I’ve never been a huge Snape fan (at least as a person, as a character he is amazing), and this part just really ticked me off. He is so bitter and childish in his grudge against Lupin and Sirius. He tied up Lupin only because Lupin called him out on being a fool. Honestly, it just bugged me, as well as disturbed me. He really wants Sirius and Lupin to be kissed by a Dementor? To me, that’s just disgusting. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, so it’s not because Remus and Sirius just happen to be my two favorite characters. Even Peter doesn’t deserve that.
Riley said this on July 8, 2009 at 6:20 pm
i think he did it because he believe one or both of them to have led to Lilly’s death…and right now he’s so angry he doen’t care which one of them it is… I think it’s desperation…
Amy Darlene said this on July 9, 2009 at 9:51 am
Yes, as far as he knows at that point, he has got a convicted murderer and traitor in there… and going to Azkaban and/or getting Kissed by Dementors is what passes for justice in the wizarding world. Even Lily’s death aside (which it really can’t be, not for Severus, but for the sake of argument), he’s got good reason to be very pissed off with Sirius and Remus: in school, Sirius nearly got Severus killed or infected with lycanthropy through either design or sheer recklessness, and now here is Sirius waving that in his face (“joke’s on you again”) at that place which was the scene of the incident!
As for tying up Lupin only because Lupin called him a fool, I’d say rather it’s because he suspects Lupin is going to transform (as in fact he does). Lupin waves him away seeming unconcerned about the whole thing in the scene were we see Severus delivering his Wolfsbane potion and urging him (my paraphrase here) to take plenty of it as he’s made a whole cauldron. So he may suspect that Lupin has not been conscientious about that. (And really it’s possibly very reckless of Lupin — why *hadn’t* he taken the potion? It should be just about the most important thing in the world, essential medication. If he was negligent, he was putting students’ and others’ lives in terrible danger.)
elethian said this on July 9, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I agree that Snape is a git, of course I must admit that I loathe him and cannot be objective no matter how hard I try. But he, though a grown adult, is a bully to children who have no recourse for his actions, and takes this opportunity to settle some ridiculous adolescent score. No one can argue that he’s trying to see justice done or whatever, he only wants to see Sirius and Lupin suffer as much as possible, and Harry too, if he can manage it. To me, Snape has never matured past the 16 year old kid who got bullied by the Marauders–he sort of stopped maturing that day we see in the pensieve.
Courtney Daniels said this on July 9, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I was thinking that maybe the reason Dumbledore hired Lupin this year was that he knew Sirius and could help prevent him from getting Harry. But then Dumbledore should have also remembered the Whomping Willow being an entrance (as mentioned by kim above).
Sirius: “Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus.” Indeed, JKR takes her time here and drags it out.
Kim said this on July 11, 2009 at 10:18 am
On a completely unrelated note, I’ve noticed how exceptionally unobservant Harry is about some things. Just like he doesn’t remember Trelawney’s prediction, he also doesn’t remember half the students in his year. I mean their are THIRTY NINE students he attends classes with and yet he doesn’t know Susan Bones’ name in his fifth year.
Seán said this on August 17, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I like what Courtney Daniels said: “He sort of stopped maturing that day we see in the pensieve.” I’m a huge Snape fan but I absolutely agree, in some ways he is never able to move past things that happened in his adolescence. In a similar vein, I’ve always felt like Sirius stopped maturing when he went to Azkaban (not his fault, really, but sadly true). This kind of explains Snape and Sirius’s relationship from this point forward: two eternal adolescents who can’t stop getting in pissing matches.
Emily Michelle said this on August 27, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Expanding on what Courtney said, I think Snape stopped maturing when he stopped being friends with Lily – she was a better influence on him than probably anyone realized. As for Sirius, I think he’s just inherently immature (not always a bad thing!).
In regards to the Animagus thing, that’s also very interesting. We know of four unregistered Animagi within one decade. No wonder, before DH, there were theories on every character and their mother being an Animagus! I remember at one point whenever I read an editorial I thought, “If this has ‘the only conclusion is that character X is an Animagus’ I’m gonna scream.” We had Snape as a spider or bat, we had Slughorn, we had Regulus, we had jsut about every character. Interesting side note, the first time I read about Snape flying off from Hogwarts in DH, I thought he HAD turned itno a bat and thought, “Dang it, they were right all along.”
hpboy13 said this on September 12, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I think it’s important to think from Snape’s perspective as to exactly what he had overheard. Lupin, who Snape had suspected all year, had just confessed to deceiving the Headmaster with crucial information regarding how a (supposed) mass murderer and Death Eater had been entering the school. Lupin was about to become a werewolf. Snape had reminded Lupin, almost immediately upon revealing himself, about the neglected Wolfsbane and Lupin did nothing. One might almost imagine that Lupin didn’t care that he hadn’t taken the Wolfsbane. Then there was Sirius, as far as Snape was concerned a mass murderer, Death Eater, and betrayer of Lily, not to mention one-time would-be murderer of Snape (once again, in Snape’s opinion), and Sirius had just finished showing his continuing satisfaction with the Prank that could have killed Snape. Further, Snape could see one child already seriously injured by Black. Snape hadn’t heard any of the evidence about Peter and thus was faced with, as far as he knew, two extremely dangerous individuals, one a crazed mass murderer and Death Eater who had already injured a child and the other a duplicitous werewolf, possibly in league with the mass murderer, and about to transform. Snape’s adolescent grudge, while still active, was probably the least of the motivating factors in his reactions.
wynnleaf said this on September 28, 2009 at 9:24 am
wynnleaf, I totally see where you’re coming from, but I don’t agree. If you read from the moment Snape enters the Shack, he listens to a whole lot of backstory in what is clearly a very calm environment. He has plenty of time to realize that Lupin is expressing regret for running around as a werewolf, and plenty of time to notice that the kids still have their wands, the adults don’t, and the kids pretty clearly aren’t Confunded. No matter how angry he may have been upon first encountering the scene, I think it’s completely irrational and irresponsible for him to watch as much of the conversation as he does and still draw his conclusions.
John Kearns said this on September 28, 2009 at 11:29 am
I completely agree with Emily, Snape and Sirius are eternal adolescents, thus the relationship they have.
I believe that in this particular book Snape looses all the presence he may have, I mean, he gets so mad about what happened during their years at Hogwarts that he doesn’t think straight.
This is an excellent chapter. I love it.
Paula said this on October 27, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Re:Something you may not have noticed, I feel the value of Lupin’s bravery is that it doesn’t come easily to him. He has to struggle with himself and make a real effort to be brave. In this sense it is similar to Ron’s loyalty to Harry. Ron struggles with his jealousy / envy of Harry, but ultimately puts all those feelings aside to be there for his friend.
Valeria said this on November 1, 2009 at 4:21 am
I alaways wondered if Spapes dislike of Harry was more because he reminded him of James or that he remended him more of Lily. Lupin commented on how much Harry was like his mother. It must have pained Snape a good deal to see Harry every day and be reminded of both the girl he couldn’t have and the man who got her.
Sarah 'LeStrange' said this on January 15, 2010 at 9:09 pm
A couple of things….
First, there’s a HUGE contradiction, and I can only think that Jo wasn’t thinking too far ahead when she wrote it. In PS, Hagrid says something along the lines of ‘there wasn’t a wizard who went bad that wasn’t in Slytherin’, but Peter was in Griffindor. Even then when they thought that it had been Sirius, he was a Griffindor, too.
The second is about Snape. I think I’m the only one here that actually likes him. He’s one of my favourite (if not my complete favourite) characters in the entire series for the simple reason that he’s so complex. Double, triple, quadruple agent, and everything he’s done from the time he was like, 8 years old has been out of his love for Lily, whether it be trying to help her, or reacting out of jealousy of James. When he looks at Sirius and Lupin, he sees the person who he believes caused Lily’s death more than himself, and the person helping him. Even his loathing of Harry is, I believe, for the reason Sarah pointed out, and out of pain of losing her, both to James, and her death.
Adele said this on March 10, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Adele, I always assumed that Hagrid’s statement about Slytherin was intended to show his prejudices and stereotypes much more than to serve as a statement of actual fact. Hagrid would be very familiar with Slughorn, for instance, and he steadfastly believes in Snape’s goodness above and beyond any other character in the books, save Dumbledore.
Oh, and for what it’s worth – BELIEVE me, you are NOT the only one who likes him. I would say he has more fans than any other character in the series, for all the reasons you stated. I just don’t happen to be one of them, and my opinions are a little more represented here than most, given that I’ve written the entire site. ;)
John Kearns said this on April 2, 2010 at 10:27 am