Quote from Naaga on July 1, 2023, 1:37 am

Reading Marauders Dynamics in SWM

The fact that SWM happened after the werewolf prank lends an interesting colour to the dynamics we see in text.

We'd like to start with the two differing ways Remus responded to werewolf jokes. Number one:

Did you like question ten, Moony?' asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall.

'Loved it, said Lupin briskly. 'Give five signs that identify the werewolf.Excellent question.'

'D'you think you managed to get all the signs?' said James in tones of mock concern.

'Think I did,' said Lupin seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. 'One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin.'

Wormtail was the only one who didn't laugh.

To

I'm bored,' said Sirius. 'Wish it was full moon.'

'You might,' said Lupin darkly from behind his book. 'We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here ...' and he held out his book.

In the first instance, Remus feeds into the werewolf joke and laughs at his own dry joke - and in the second instance, he reacts slightly negatively.

We know from what Remus says in HBP that he is not averse to these jokes. He laughs when Harry says fiercely, "But you are normal - you've just got a problem!". Remus says in nostalgia-tinted affection, "Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression I owned a badly behaved rabbit."

The difference, especially given the light of what happened in the werewolf prank (James saves Snape and by extension Remus, Sirius endangers him), is the presence of James. (Reference our meta here as to understand why he sees James and Sirius as his protectors in wolf form, which James unconsciously still fulfills here)

Remus feeds into the joke when James is around, and the moment James is off doing his own thing with the snitch, Sirius' own reference is met slightly passive aggressively. Remus is simultaneously telling Sirius his boundary is being crossed while redirecting his boredom somewhere else (hey, test me?).

[An important addition by @dragonlordette here: The dark "you might" response could be seen as Remus remembering the prank. The first joke is a joke among friends about his condition, the second one is reminder that Sirius still doesn't truly grasp how much danger he put Remus in during the prank. Hence "you might" - like, reminders that Sirius Doesn't Get It aren't appreciated the way other jokes are. It serves as a marker of how Remus might feel Sirius has burned him before - he is forgiven, and still loved, but it's not forgotten. Whereas the way he talks about James forever demonstrates that he clearly feels James never let him down.]

Cat goes further to describe Remus handing the book to Sirius as "a handout before the other person can respond to the initial negative response". (Remus and his hyper awareness of social situations is underused in fics!)

The third werewolf reference looks very different in the light of POA:

'How thick are you, Wormtail?' said James impatiently. 'You run round with a werewolf once a month--'

'Keep your voice down,' implored Lupin.

Yes, Remus is reacting to his secret, but given he just made the joke about himself being a werewolf ("Three, his name is Remus Lupin"), his primary concern feels like something else. He seems more sensitive about the Animagus secret - it is the same fact he actively hides from Dumbledore in POA, manifesting in one of the worst things he did: not informing Dumbledore of that secret when he still believed Sirius to be a mass murderer.

Here is how he describes it in POA:

"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'd 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. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it.."

Moving on, it's also interesting that when Sirius declares he is bored, both Remus and James offer ways out.

Remus asks him to test him (which he rejects), while James offers going after Snape (which he accepts). This dynamic establishes Sirius as the instigator - he begins the werewolf joke ("did you like question ten, Moony?"), he is the one who is bored which both James and Remus try to address. However, when it comes to attacking Snape, after Sirius accepts, James takes the lead whereas Sirius falls back on a supporting role.

Peter also is exclusively attached to James through the scene - cheering him on, which James enjoys and doesn't challenge Sirius's disparaging, "Put that away, will you. Before Wormtail wets himself in excitement." (Peter turns pink, and James does put the snitch away with, "If it bothers you" xD)

Essentially, Sirius keeps pushing boundaries (begins werewolf joke, is bored, the prank), but it is James who sets them (joins in the first joke which makes Remus join in without any passive aggressiveness, offers the attack for boredom, and has his actions save his everyone from dire consequences in the prank).

James Potter is essentially the center of the Marauders, who is everyone's favourite. Sirius is James' favourite - which other two are aware of.