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author_by_nightFirst, the index.
Chapters 1-2
Chapters 3-4
Chapters 5-6
Chapters 7-8
Chapters 9-10
Chapters 11-12
Chapters 13-14
Chapters 15-16
Chapters 17-18
Chapters 19-20
Chapters 21-22
And the analysis.
Fandom tended to make this book the gospel of the Marauders' backstory. After the third movie pretty much kept that backstory to the bare minimum, some fans supposed the point really wasn't the Marauders anyway. Meanwhile, later books gave us a less... glorious vision of them.
But I'd argue we have that here, too, and not only from the Marauders but from Snape as well. Their backstory is indeed grand - even Snape gets to be a victim, and that shouldn't be taken lightly. Sirius could have gotten Snape killed. We later learn that before and after, the Marauders generally poked and prodded Snape. How provoked these pranks were is up for much debate, and while I generally think Snape probably did a lot of provoking, we don't really know.
We do know that while generally speaking, the Marauders were good guys, even guys with a sense of whimsy who kept everyone on their toes and probably caused a lot of laughter during a horrible time, they screwed up. As Remus puts it, they were caught up in their own cleverness. They roamed Hogsmeade with Remus in wolf form, and Remus himself chose to ignore how dangerous that was because he was so glad to have friends. Snape antagonized his peers, even calling his own best friend and crush a "mudblood." In the wizarding world, that's a serious dehumanizing slur. He can't decide who to give into - her, or the side he's more comfortable with.
In adulthood, they made other horrible choices - Sirius, in Dumbledore's words, failed to act like an innocent man (although I'm willing to throw Sirius a bone and say a lot of that was probably because of Azkaban), and Remus didn't tell anyone the truth about Sirius's powers, which could have ended terribly had Sirius not been innocent. Remus is so afraid of the truth, he can't handle it, so he launches himself into denial.
These things come up again, not only for Remus, Snape and Sirius (the scraps of the past), but for the trio. This means that fandom was actually right - PoA is not only significant to the build-up of the books, but to their individual characters.
Remus, Sirius and Snape are three characters who cannot escape their pasts, the nasty bits of themselves they'd rather weren't there, no matter what. Remus will always be a werewolf, and in the moments he realizes this, he panics and runs. I'm not suggesting he ever forgets, he has to deal with it once a month, but his arc is finding the balance between treating it lightly and treating it as though he's a danger to everyone 24/7. When Remus and Tonks fall in love, Remus believes on at least two occasions that it would be better to spare her of him. He believes leaving the woman he loves (and later his unborn child) is better than "burdening" her. When Harry won't let Remus run away with him, Ron and Hermione, Remus lashes out physically, which is a hard scene to read and yet very important for his character. (Some fans argue it could have been written better, myself included, but that's another issue.)
Sirius is forced to live in the past; in Azkaban, he's with Dementors who constantly remind him of it. When he escapes, he's not even sure how to be human anymore. Oddly for him, being reminded is in some ways a blessing - seeing "Scabbers" in the Daily Prophet prompts his escape. Remus shows up and tells him what he owes Harry the truth (without homicidal behavior). He's captured, but time is turned and he's able to escape. Except later on, he's forced to live in his old home, which he hated (and probably has horribly traumatic memories from). There Sirius is so hung up on Harry being his father, even Harry gets fed up with him. He cannot distinguish between who he was - because as much as it's about James himself, it's also about his own glory days, and having to face who and where he is now.
Snape is the most extreme example. Harry reminds Snape of three things he'd likely rather forget - James, Lily, and who he was when he was Severus. He lashes out at Harry, and later, Remus. Snape will not listen to reason when presented with the truth about Sirius. When Snape dies, his "gift" to Harry is memories of the past that will help Harry understand everything. Who Lily was. Who he was.
In other words, Remus, Sirius and Snape are slaves to the past, to the things they don't want to face. You could go as far as to say they're their own Boggarts and Dementors.
Which brings us to the new era: The era of the trio and their peers. While I hesitate to draw exact parallels, I will say that the trio strikes me as who the Marauders could have been. They don't have the same sense of whimsy and mischief, but they are a group of friends who fight a whole lot together. And like the Marauders, they face testy times where there is distrust - but instead of changing plans or keeping secrets from each other, they come back from it. Ron leaves Harry and Hermione in the middle of nowhere, and he finds them again. They remain a solid unit in a way the Marauders never did.
There isn't really a "Peter" in their group, but there are people who come close. Neville could have been Peter, but instead of tagging along, he remains reserved, almost too reserved. When Neville does decide to open up to the trio, he truly opens up, demonstrating the powerful and smart young man within. Neville not afraid to stand up to them, as we see in book one - but he does this up front, rather than getting McGonagall (as Peter might have done, had he supposed it would have been more beneficial). The same is true for Ginny - when she realizes Harry just isn't that into her, she lets herself come into her own, and is accepted naturally as opposed to forcefully. They realize they don't need protectors or strong people to protect and idolize, they need themselves, and to be accepted by others for that. Peter never came to this realization, and he ended up retaliating.
So in short, I would still say Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is one of the most important books - not because it has two of my favorite characters (Remus and Sirius) in it, but because of its function in the series overall.
Chapters 1-2
Chapters 3-4
Chapters 5-6
Chapters 7-8
Chapters 9-10
Chapters 11-12
Chapters 13-14
Chapters 15-16
Chapters 17-18
Chapters 19-20
Chapters 21-22
And the analysis.
Fandom tended to make this book the gospel of the Marauders' backstory. After the third movie pretty much kept that backstory to the bare minimum, some fans supposed the point really wasn't the Marauders anyway. Meanwhile, later books gave us a less... glorious vision of them.
But I'd argue we have that here, too, and not only from the Marauders but from Snape as well. Their backstory is indeed grand - even Snape gets to be a victim, and that shouldn't be taken lightly. Sirius could have gotten Snape killed. We later learn that before and after, the Marauders generally poked and prodded Snape. How provoked these pranks were is up for much debate, and while I generally think Snape probably did a lot of provoking, we don't really know.
We do know that while generally speaking, the Marauders were good guys, even guys with a sense of whimsy who kept everyone on their toes and probably caused a lot of laughter during a horrible time, they screwed up. As Remus puts it, they were caught up in their own cleverness. They roamed Hogsmeade with Remus in wolf form, and Remus himself chose to ignore how dangerous that was because he was so glad to have friends. Snape antagonized his peers, even calling his own best friend and crush a "mudblood." In the wizarding world, that's a serious dehumanizing slur. He can't decide who to give into - her, or the side he's more comfortable with.
In adulthood, they made other horrible choices - Sirius, in Dumbledore's words, failed to act like an innocent man (although I'm willing to throw Sirius a bone and say a lot of that was probably because of Azkaban), and Remus didn't tell anyone the truth about Sirius's powers, which could have ended terribly had Sirius not been innocent. Remus is so afraid of the truth, he can't handle it, so he launches himself into denial.
These things come up again, not only for Remus, Snape and Sirius (the scraps of the past), but for the trio. This means that fandom was actually right - PoA is not only significant to the build-up of the books, but to their individual characters.
Remus, Sirius and Snape are three characters who cannot escape their pasts, the nasty bits of themselves they'd rather weren't there, no matter what. Remus will always be a werewolf, and in the moments he realizes this, he panics and runs. I'm not suggesting he ever forgets, he has to deal with it once a month, but his arc is finding the balance between treating it lightly and treating it as though he's a danger to everyone 24/7. When Remus and Tonks fall in love, Remus believes on at least two occasions that it would be better to spare her of him. He believes leaving the woman he loves (and later his unborn child) is better than "burdening" her. When Harry won't let Remus run away with him, Ron and Hermione, Remus lashes out physically, which is a hard scene to read and yet very important for his character. (Some fans argue it could have been written better, myself included, but that's another issue.)
Sirius is forced to live in the past; in Azkaban, he's with Dementors who constantly remind him of it. When he escapes, he's not even sure how to be human anymore. Oddly for him, being reminded is in some ways a blessing - seeing "Scabbers" in the Daily Prophet prompts his escape. Remus shows up and tells him what he owes Harry the truth (without homicidal behavior). He's captured, but time is turned and he's able to escape. Except later on, he's forced to live in his old home, which he hated (and probably has horribly traumatic memories from). There Sirius is so hung up on Harry being his father, even Harry gets fed up with him. He cannot distinguish between who he was - because as much as it's about James himself, it's also about his own glory days, and having to face who and where he is now.
Snape is the most extreme example. Harry reminds Snape of three things he'd likely rather forget - James, Lily, and who he was when he was Severus. He lashes out at Harry, and later, Remus. Snape will not listen to reason when presented with the truth about Sirius. When Snape dies, his "gift" to Harry is memories of the past that will help Harry understand everything. Who Lily was. Who he was.
In other words, Remus, Sirius and Snape are slaves to the past, to the things they don't want to face. You could go as far as to say they're their own Boggarts and Dementors.
Which brings us to the new era: The era of the trio and their peers. While I hesitate to draw exact parallels, I will say that the trio strikes me as who the Marauders could have been. They don't have the same sense of whimsy and mischief, but they are a group of friends who fight a whole lot together. And like the Marauders, they face testy times where there is distrust - but instead of changing plans or keeping secrets from each other, they come back from it. Ron leaves Harry and Hermione in the middle of nowhere, and he finds them again. They remain a solid unit in a way the Marauders never did.
There isn't really a "Peter" in their group, but there are people who come close. Neville could have been Peter, but instead of tagging along, he remains reserved, almost too reserved. When Neville does decide to open up to the trio, he truly opens up, demonstrating the powerful and smart young man within. Neville not afraid to stand up to them, as we see in book one - but he does this up front, rather than getting McGonagall (as Peter might have done, had he supposed it would have been more beneficial). The same is true for Ginny - when she realizes Harry just isn't that into her, she lets herself come into her own, and is accepted naturally as opposed to forcefully. They realize they don't need protectors or strong people to protect and idolize, they need themselves, and to be accepted by others for that. Peter never came to this realization, and he ended up retaliating.
So in short, I would still say Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is one of the most important books - not because it has two of my favorite characters (Remus and Sirius) in it, but because of its function in the series overall.
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no subject
Date: 2014-12-17 01:31 am (UTC)I believe a quote from Sirius at some point was that Snape "gave as good as he got", or some variation of that. Really pro-Snape anti-Sirius people tend to regard Sirius as an unreliable narrator, though, in this sense.
When Harry won't let Remus run away with him, Ron and Hermione, Remus lashes out physically, which is a hard scene to read and yet very important for his character. (Some fans argue it could have been written better, myself included, but that's another issue.)
God, I don't even remember this. I really need to hurry up with my re-readings. There is so much about the later books that has totally slipped from my mind...
So, I fucking love Sirius. He is one of my personal favorites from the series. I find his story so tragic in a really amazing way, and I love his personality and character. I love everything about him, even (and maybe especially) his flaws. Gah... !!
I love this:
In other words, Remus, Sirius and Snape are slaves to the past, to the things they don't want to face. You could go as far as to say they're their own Boggarts and Dementors.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-17 01:51 pm (UTC)So, I fucking love Sirius. He is one of my personal favorites from the series. I find his story so tragic in a really amazing way, and I love his personality and character. I love everything about him, even (and maybe especially) his flaws. Gah... !!
I love Sirius for those same reasons. He's such a fun character.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-09 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-09 11:48 pm (UTC)