Harry Potter Abridged! POA Chapter 18

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

Harry: Alright, alright- Peter Pettigrew’s supposed to be dead. How in the world can he be Scabbers?


Sirius: I didn’t kill him! Though I wish I had....

Lupin: Alright, let’s just talk through this calmly.

Sirius: Yeah, coming from you that means we get a long-winded exposition speech!

Lupin: Come on, just this once?

Sirius: Fine, fine, suit yourself.

Lupin: Ron, keep an eye on Peter for us while we tell you eeeeeverythiiiiing....

Ron: YOU’RE INSANE!

Harry: But, weren’t there witnesses who saw Pettigrew die?

Sirius: Well those witnesses were mistaken.

Lupin: Listen, you three! I thought Sirius had killed Peter too, until I saw him on the Marauder’s Map.

Harry: Maybe the Map was lying?

Sirius: Oh, but you see, the Map never lies.

Lupin: So, yeah.

Hermione: But, if Peter Pettigrew is an Animagus, then how come he isn’t registered? He’d have to be, wouldn’t he? I remember hearing about this in class.

Harry: Wow! I don’t know how you know all this stuff, Hermione! What kind of student are you?!

Sirius: Lupin, you haven’t even started with your long-winded exposition speech! Get a move-on, already- the sooner you start the sooner we can get this over with!

Lupin: Alright. So now thanks to Hermione Sue over there you know that I’m a Werewolf. I first got bitten before I even came to Hogwarts, and before the Wolfsbane potion existed, so naturally when I got old enough to go people started to worry that I wouldn’t be safe to have around a school, the meanies! Only the ever-so wise and noble Dumbledore was willing to look past that and admit me in. Isn’t Dumbledore the greatest?

Sirius: Save it, Lupin.

Lupin: Ah, right. So anyway, it used to be that I was transferred to the Shrieking Shack to transform every month. Oh, by the way, it isn’t haunted- the howls coming from it were made by me.

Ron: [sarcastic] How comforting....

Lupin: Yeah... Anyway, though, it was then that I met my friends Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and- get ready for this- James Potter!

Harry: No way!

Lupin: Yes! And they all became Animagi so they could keep me company whenever I transformed, since Werewolves are only dangerous to people. [Surrounded by bubbles and sparkles] They were such wonderful friends!

Hermione: Did it ever occur to you that you might have bitten someone?!

Lupin: Well, that is to say, we had a couple of close calls... but they always got away! See, nothing bad happened! Anyway, did you know that the only reason I hadn’t told Dumbledore this information is because I was a coward and couldn’t stand to betray my friends? So basically Snape’s right not to trust me after all.

Sirius: Snape?

Lupin: Yeah, by the way, he’s teaching at Hogwarts.

Sirius: LOLWHUT?!

Lupin: Yeah. [to Harry, Ron, and Hermione] You see, Snape went to school with us. He discovered what we were when he got involved with a potentially-fatal prank that Sirius played on him.

Sirius: Oh, come on! It was Snape, for crying out loud! He deserved every last thing he got for trying to make things difficult for a good bunch of Gryffindors like us!

Lupin: So yeah, basically, Snape decided to go to the Shrieking Shack after Sirius told him how to get down there. But your father, Harry, your great and noble father prevented him from ever coming face-to-face with a transformed version of myself!

Harry: Wow! I always knew my father was awesome! It’s too bad that mean Snape is out to get me, since he can’t comprehend things like forgiveness or charity at all!

[Snape sneaks up behind Harry.]

Harry: He’s right behind me, isn’t he?

Snape: SURPRISE!

Harry: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/Lupin: Yes! And they all became Animagi so they could keep me company whenever I transformed, since Werewolves are only dangerous to people. [Surrounded by bubbles and sparkles] They were such wonderful friends!/

I know that it was reprehensible for Remus to say and do nothing to stop the Marauders’ behavior. But I still feel bad for him because, let’s face it, they *were* his only friends and given his condition, he wasn’t likely to make any more if he ditched them.

/Sirius: Oh, come on! It was Snape, for crying out loud! He deserved every last thing he got for trying to make things difficult for a good bunch of Gryffindors like us!/

Back when I first read this, I didn’t think that this was such a big deal because A) I was younger and wasn’t critically thinking and B) this was before OotP and DH, where we learned how horrible the Marauders really were and how horrible the Prank was. I hated Sirius’ characterization and fate in OotP because they were unfair to the character and so inconsistent with how I had viewed him in PoA and GoF. But then I re-read lines like this and all of the fans’ talk about how Sirius was much nobler than Snape and about how he grew up and changed from how he was as a kid starts to look a little more unconvincing.

/Harry: Wow! I always knew my father was awesome! It’s too bad that mean Snape is out to get me, since he can’t comprehend things like forgiveness or charity at all!/

And apparently Harry is still unable to comprehend things like gratitude and recognition, even after what happened in PS/SS. *sighs*

[granatapfelrot.livejournal.com]

I know that it was reprehensible for Remus to say and do nothing to stop the Marauders’ behavior. But I still feel bad for him because, let’s face it, they *were* his only friends and given his condition, he wasn’t likely to make any more if he ditched them.
I can cut boy!Lupin a whole lot of slack for exactly that reason.
What gets me is adult!Lupin obviously thinking his pretty much non-existent reputation more important than keeping a bunch of children in his care safe from somebody he himself thought was a mass-murderer.
That I find pretty much unforgivable. And not Rowling-style unforgivable either.

In my first reading Sirius kind of fell flat for me. Really, his house was more interesting than him and his pointless death made me only shrug.
I don't know why that was. Maybe because his character was so inconsistent.
I only started to dislike him, when I saw other fans raving about his greatness.
It's Dumbledore who I would fault for Harry's ingratitude. He basically told him, that Snape only did it because of that 'life-debt'.
So why should Harry feel grateful? Since his daddy was so awesome, he simply has a right to be rescued.(Not that who your parents are makes any difference for the 'good guys')
And it's Snapes fault anyway. Does he have to be so surly about the whole being the the Chosen One's bodyguard thing? HE is the one who should be more grateful to even be allowed to save Harry, filthy, unpleasant Slytherin that he is.

[sunnyskywalker]

There's also the worry that if he made them mad, Lupin's "friends" could be a danger to him since they knew his secret. He seems to have suppressed this idea as a possibility, but it's another reason I'm more forgiving of kid!Lupin.

But adult!Lupin, no.

[granatapfelrot.livejournal.com]

Well, of course that too.
And when push came to shove they did ditch him in a way. Thinking he had to be the spy because he's a werewolf.
Lupin had to do a lot of suppressing to think as fondly of his 'friends' as he did.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

But adult!Lupin, no.

Also what is ignored is the fact that Remus' "good friend" Sirius endangered Remus with that attempted prank against Severus as much as it endangered Severus.

Sure, Severus could have been maimed and/or turned into a werewolf, or even killed. But there would have been terrible consequences for Remus in the aftermath. Even if Severus was only maimed and not turned into a werewolf and then subsequently recovered from his wounds, Remus at the very least would have been expelled from school, and possibly sent to Azkaban. That would surely have happened had he killed Severus.

But adult Remus treats Sirius like his BFF...like you said, it was perhaps understandable when they were boys, Remus needed Sirius' and James' protection. But you'd think adult Remus would at least be wary of Sirius, keep on friendly terms with him but also keep him at arm's distance...

[sunnyskywalker]

Not to mention, now that we know SWM came after the Prank, you have to wonder if the reason Lupin is frowning over his book is because his "friends" are antagonizing an enemy who knows his secret. In public. Unless Snape has been magically bound to silence - and we don't know that he has - what's to stop him from blurting it out in revenge, damn the consequences for breaking his promise not to tell? (And if he is magically bound, and they know that... ugh. And I'd still worry that he'd find a clever way around it. Dobby gives that a shot, so why couldn't Snape?)