Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Marauders

Overview
The Marauders were four Hogwarts students in Gryffindor House starting the same year: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter. Like Fred and George Weasley, they excelled at getting into trouble and causing mayhem of the less harmful variety.

Prisoner of Azkaban
This book reveals the group's existence, although two members are already known separately. It was the Marauders who created the Marauder's Map that was given to Harry by Fred and George Weasley. Three members are reunited in the Shrieking Shack when Lupin and Black combine forces to unmask Pettigrew.

Black and Lupin explain the reason behind the group's nicknames. After discovering that Lupin was a werewolf, the remaining three secretly became Animagi to support their friend during his transformations. They adopted the nicknames Moony (Remus Lupin), Wormtail (Peter Pettigrew), Padfoot (Sirius Black), and Prongs (James Potter); the nicknames were derived from their altered shapes: a werewolf, a rat, a black dog, and a stag, respectively.

James Potter, of course, is dead at this point; however, when Harry Potter is called upon to produce a Patronus, it assumes the same shape as James' Animagus form. This prompts Professor Dumbledore to comment, "Make no mistake: Prongs rode again last night."

Goblet of Fire
Although two individual members appear in this book, as a group they do not play any role in this book.

Order of the Phoenix
In Snape's Pensieve, Harry sees a Marauders episode, one where his father acts rather cruelly towards Severus Snape. This disturbs Harry, damaging his opinion about his father and causing him to take risky measures to communicate with Sirius and Lupin about it.

With the death of Sirius occurring later in this book, there are two Marauders left alive.

Half-Blood Prince
Although the two remaining Marauders (Lupin and Pettigrew) appear in this book, they are on opposite sides of the battle lines and do not interact.

Deathly Hallows
Although the two Marauders are present in this book, they do not interact. We see Pettigrew in Malfoy Manor twice, the second time resulting in his death; and Lupin appears at The Burrow several times, Grimmauld Place once, and finally falls in the battle at Hogwarts.

Strengths
It is shown several times in flashbacks and memories that all four Marauders were skilled wizards. James was particularly good at duelling, as was Sirius; Remus was a good student and became a Prefect; Peter was more intelligent than he seemed. As a whole group, they were adept at causing magical mayhem.

All four were able to transform into animals and gained, through their wanderings, a huge knowledge of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the surroundings, putting them at a definite advantage.

Weaknesses
The Marauders are shown at several points to have a rather inflated opinion of themselves - indeed, in Snape's memories, they are shown in a rather negative light: attacking him with no warning after their Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL, and making fun of him and Lily on the train just before their first year.

Relationships with Other Characters
The Marauders seem to consider themselves somewhat a group apart. The one time we see them directly, they are largely discussing a test just past between themselves. When they do interact with others outside the group, it is primarily playing pranks on Severus Snape, though they do also speak briefly with Lily Evans on that occasion.

Analysis
In many ways, the Marauders - as children - as presented as the stereotypical "naughty child gang"ː they are pranksters; difficult to control; bully a child of their own age; yet they are intelligent enough to know not to cross too many lines, in the same vein as Fred and George.

This may be seen in comparison to the Trio's development at Hogwartsː none of them get into too much trouble, and even when they do so, it is often accidentally. We will note, however, that while the Marauders mostly come from advantageous backgrounds, Harry is from an abusive household and Ron is poorː this presents them with a disadvantage at the start, which they work through together. James and Sirius, at least, appear to have an easier ride from the start.

As adults, the Marauders are usually recalled positively by characters that knew them (with the obvious exception of Severus Snape). Dumbledore, Rosmerta, Fudge and Hagrid all have something nice to say about them. This may be wistful nostalgia on their part, of course, or just thinking of them once they had matured and graduated.

Questions

 * 1) How did the Marauders get away with so much and yet manage to stay at Hogwarts?
 * 2) Which Marauder is depicted as the most positive? Why?
 * 3) All four Marauders die during the course of the story. Why did the author do this, and why is it important to Harry's development?

Greater Picture
The Marauders throw a little light onto one of the key themes of the booksː friendship. They all play a part in their little group and show a definite strong bond. Of course, this eventually proves a detriment, as their friendship causes them to put too much trust in Wormtail, with tragic results. One can draw parallels between their friendship and that of the Trio.

It may be interesting to note that the Marauders die in reverse order. They are referred to almost exclusively as "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs" - and yet, in the other of their deaths, they are Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony. This may, of course, be coincidence, but it is notable nonetheless.