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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Chapter Eighteen:
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
"But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."
EXCEPTIONAL CHARACTER MOMENTS
SPELLS | LINKS & RESOURCES | MEMORABLE LINES | STRICTLY BRITISH
Synopsis by William Silvester
Notes and links by Michele L. Worley
US hardcover edition: pages 349 - 357
UK paperback edition: pages 376 - 385
Timeframe:
6 June,
1994
[Y14]
In which Lupin tells the story of his becoming a werewolf and of his school days with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape, the last of whom now appears.
Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:
This chapter is mostly exposition, as Lupin fills in the background of the Marauders.
Lupin broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him.
Severus Snape has just entered the room under Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which Harry dropped under the tree outside.I am able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again.
This statement, and Lupin's monthly absences from teaching during the days of the full moon, suggest that the werewolf state lasts during the entire full moon phase. However, this doesn't seem consistent with the fact that the day after Lupin's transformation - the day after the action of this chapter - Lupin is clearly in human form.Characters introduced in this chapter:
none
Characters returning in this chapter:
Pettigrew, Peter (as Scabbers, Wormtail)
Characters mentioned in this chapter:
Greyback, Fenrir (not referred to directly as the werewolf who originally bit Lupin)
Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. (Remus' parents)
(name unknown) witnesses to what happened between Pettigrew and Black
(name unknown) six other Animagi of the twentieth century
Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:
Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:
Exceptional character moments:
Dumbledore, who encouraged rumours about the Shrieking Shack being haunted to deflect people from learning the truth.
The Marauders, three of whom went to the trouble of illegally becoming Animagi to keep the fourth, Lupin, company during his monthly transformations.
Sirius Black, who to this day doesn't seem to see anything wrong with the "practical joke" he played on Snape that very nearly got both James and Snape killed.
Lupin, who couldn't bear to admit to Dumbledore that he had betrayed Dumbledore's trust as a student by circumventing the safeguards installed to allow him to attend Hogwarts.
Snape, who kept his mouth shut about Lupin on Dumbledore's orders when a word could've blighted the rest of Lupin's school days.
Animagus Transfiguration (mentioned)
magical items and devices
"But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..." [Sirius Black]
"All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I had betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am." [Lupin]
The entire action of this chapter takes place later on the same evening as that of the previous chapter.
