deathtocapslock | The Prank: An Utterly Reluctant Reconsideration

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The Prank: An Utterly Reluctant Reconsideration

I really, really hate to be fair-minded. But sometimes I just can’t help it.

Regarding the Prank, I’ve always dismissed Lupin’s claim that James had risked his own life to save Snape’s as a feel-good lie to make James look good to his orphaned son, on the same level as “Severus loathed James because James was talented at Quidditch, not because (heavens, no!) James was a nasty entitled little jerk who was talented at making life a misery for everyone not as rich and Pureblooded as himself.”

And really (going back to the Prank), James would always have had the option of transforming into a stag had Moony actually caught up with the two of them, right? Fierce debates on Snapedom years ago over the Prank, over whether a stag (with or without antlers) could have run or even stood up in that tunnel aside, we ended up agreeing that transformed-James could at least have lain down in it.

And he knew that when transformed, Moony wouldn’t bother him.

I mean, didn't he?

We know that the Prank happened before SWM, which happened at the end of Snape and the Marauders’ fifth year. And we know that sometime during that school year, the Marauders all learned to become Animagi and started letting Moony out to frolic, themselves immune to the danger they were exposing others to.

But someone (I don’t remember who, at this remove) once suggested that Sirius might have sent Snape down that tunnel as a prophylactic measure—to get rid of the sneak BEFORE he could inform on the Marauders’ seriously criminal behavior.

Perhaps, before they had even started engaging in the seriously criminal behavior of letting loose a class XXXXX dangerous creature in an inhabited area?

Perhaps… before they were actually capable of such behavior?

We don’t know for sure when exactly in fifth year James learned to transform, or when he verified that his stag-form wasn’t viewed as prey by the werewolf.

If Sirius sent Snape down that tunnel before James could reliably transform, or before James knew for sure that the werewolf would leave the stag alone, then James WAS risking his life in going after Severus.

Even though he still would have been motivated more by CYA (or C. Your Friends’ A.) rather than by any concern for Snape’s well-being, which to my mind would rather let Severus off the hook for a “life debt.”

Still, maybe I’ve been failing to give James his due for taking real risks to save his friends, at least.

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Did Dumbledore also put a magical compulsion on Severus?

Maybe the Marauders forced Severus to make an unbreakable vow.

It seems to me that the threat of expulsion might be enough to make Sev keep his mouth shut, despite any fears that he might have for Lily. Think about it: He's a poor, ugly half-blood with no influential family members, no money, and no future at all if he gets kicked out of school before he can finish his studies and take his exams. With that on his record, how could he ever hope to get a job? He'd end up as a street kid in Knockturn Alley.

----It seems to me that the threat of expulsion might be enough to make Sev keep his mouth shut

Possibly.... but then what stopped Severus from saying something after he was done at Hogwarts?

Right. Why not tell Lucius? Or Voldemort? Surely one of them would find a way to use it against Dumbles?

What about a combination: Snape was forced, or tricked, into some sort of vow, by the threat, overt or covert, of expulsion? He knew he'd keep a verbal promise, but Dumbledore, at the time, would have known about his friends and their ties, and might have insisted on some sort of magical oath.

For the timing vis the Marauders' marauding, it's possible that Snape didn't know about their releasing the werewolf, even if they did it before the 'Prank.' He knew they snuck out. That doesn't mean he knew they were Anamagi, or, if he suspected, that he knew what their forms were. And, it's been stated that the Forbidden Forest had werewolves in it, so even confirmation of Lupin's 'furry problem' wouldn't be as forthright, even if he saw the four of them dancing, transformed, on Hogwarts' lawn.

One thing that really bothers me about defenses of the 'Prank' - everyone assumes that Snape knew he'd end up in an enclosed space at the end of the tunnel. There's no reason to think that. For all he knew, the tunnel ended in the Forbidden Forest, or in a field outside of Hogsmeade, or anyplace but in a room with an untethered werewolf. Even if he suspected a werewolf, he had no reason to consider that he might end up right inside the 'cage' with the beast.

Well, we're told that Sev had seen POPPY take Lupin to the Whomping Willow.

If that tunnel did NOT lead to an enclosed space where the wolf was secured, Hogwarts staff were loosing a werewolf near Hogswarts/Hogsmeade. Committing the Marauders' crime, in fact.

(But you're right, the reader assumption is probably another case of "we all know this, so the character must have too". Sloppy readership.)

Now, if there actually were a werewolf pack in the FF, it could be assumed that the tunnel loosed RL to join them. Maybe (one would hope!) with some barrier at the other end preventing all the werewolves from surging back up the tunnel and invading the Hogwarts grounds....

But, was there really a pack? Or would Severus have believed there to be? Or was that a rumor started by Lupin's and Black's howling? Even if there were, given what werewolf packs seemed like in HBP, would you want a teen boy exposed to and acculterated by them? And would they accept said teen, stinking of wizards as he did?

Of course, would teen!Severus have thought of any of this?

Regarding defenses of the Prank, however, whatever Severus knew or believed, SIrius knew the truth: that he was sending Snape down a tunnel with no escape routes or defensible side rooms, to face an unconfined werewolf in a restricted space.

Sorry, just now re-found this.

If that tunnel did NOT lead to an enclosed space where the wolf was secured, Hogwarts staff were loosing a werewolf near Hogswarts/Hogsmeade...
(snip)
Of course, would teen!Severus have thought of any of this?

I was imagining more of a scene where the suspected werewolf would be led to a secret location and locked inside a cage. This would prevent him from coming back through the tunnel once he was left on his own, and would prevent him from savaging whoever took him down the tunnel if the timing wasn't right.

Interesting thought about the rumored pack of werewolves in the FF actually being started by Lupin's and Sirius's howling. If a pack actually existed in the FF, wouldn't they have been all over Hogwarts grounds on full moon nights?

And, no, I don't think a teenage boy bent on being a knight in shining armor would think logically.

Well, he was later prepared to betray all his fellow-DEs and risk murder and torture when Voldemort was going after Lily, so I think he'd probably risk expulsion if he thought she might be in danger. Although of course it might just be that the greater danger of having Voldemort trying to kill you compared to simply being friendly with a werewolf spurred him on.

True, everyone. Points taken (no, not House points; you know what I mean). I hadn't thought it through.

I was thinking that after Hogwarts, he'd be too busy being a brand new DE to bother about Lupin, but of course he's want to give that info to Voldie. He would gain points with Voldie, and get some revenge on Dumbles, too. So there must have been some serious compulsion involved.

I do think he'd fear expulsion, though, and I wonder why he seemed to be obsessed with getting Harry expelled, since that would interfere with the objective of protecting Harry so he could eventually destroy Voldie.

"and I wonder why he seemed to be obsessed with getting Harry expelled, since that would interfere with the objective of protecting Harry so he could eventually destroy Voldie. "

Dumbledore wanted Harry to be willing to lay down his life for the WW, which would be less likely if the boy's memories of wizarding life all revolved around being punished in nasty ways. Making empty threats of expulsion (and I don't think Severus would have believed that Harry would actually be expelled, since as you say this would make it harder to protect him) would have been a good way of making it look like Severus hated Harry without having to make his life in the wizarding world too unpleasant.

Exactly. It's also a very handy way for Severus to harmlessly blow off steam. If Harry ever stopped to think for a moment, it would be clear to him that Severus (obviously) doesn't have the power to unilaterally expel him. If he paused for another second, he'd notice that there's never any hint of Severus even attempting to carry through on his threats and perhaps (assuming he thinks about it at all) conclude that they are, in fact empty and not to be taken seriously. Indeed, with even a slightly more reflective and less CAPSLOCKY student, the repeated making of empty threats would be a quick way for Severus to *lose* any sense of respect they might have had for him. I think Severus does it because he knows *Harry* will buy it as a credible threat (and thus hopefully start *obeying* him), and because it's a release valve - he'll take them where he can find them. He's not actually obsessed with expelling Harry, as his conduct with Fudge in POA illustrates: it's his one major opportunity to go over Dumbles' head and really punish the boy, and he immediately says Harry and co. aren't responsible for their actions. He's letting off steam in a safe (and probably somewhat amusing to him) way while still attempting to make Harry recognize him as an authority figure. If Fudge or Dumbledore or Umbridge, etc. ever actually tried to expel Harry, he'd never allow it.

That makes sense. Thanks!

his conduct with Fudge in POA illustrates: it's his one major opportunity to go over Dumbles' head and really punish the boy, and he immediately says Harry and co. aren't responsible for their actions.

It is strange to me that people take Snape's threats to expel Harry seriously. Obviously Dumbledore would never let Harry be expelled.

For all of Snape's supposed hatred of Harry and how Harry thinks Snape is out to get him, look at what happens when Snape really could get Harry in serious trouble. Snape doesn't assume the worst about Harry.

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The Prank: An Utterly Reluctant Reconsideration

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