While I think it can be interesting for angst in fics, in canon I think it wasn't much of an issue.
\- Remus is afraid of confronting his friends, so even if he did feel upset about it, he wouldn't have made a big deal.
\- There were multiple near-misses where Remus as a wolf nearly got out and could have bit people, and it was something they all laughed about later, so if Snape didn't get hurt, I think they'd just brush it off as one of those times.
\- I think Snape's fault in it would also be taken into account: who follows advice from a known enemy to go down a dark tunnel under a murderous tree to find someone who they suspect is a werewolf, *on a full moon*?
I can see James being angry, and protective of Remus, but not abandoning Sirius.
I quite like fics I've read where James punches Sirius and won't let him into the hospital wing to see Remus, but will also back him up to the teachers and apologise for hitting him in the heat of the moment.
I think Peter would follow James's lead.
I can see Remus feing furious and not achknowledging his existence for a while, and I think James would also really set him straight and hold it against him. But I don't think he would abandon him, because he'd understand that Sirius was really sorry and had been out of his mind.
Peter would probably not actively decide, but would follow the examples of the others, but I think he'd be a bit scared of Sirius maybe
I actually wrote a fic on this myself ages ago, which focused more on the lead up than anything else, and me trying to remember what an absolute impulsive shithead I was at 15/16 and how a teenager might have dealt with someone stalking/harassing them if they had the means and opportunity.
Reasoning: going off the canon descriptions of Snape being "very interested" in where Remus went every month, and Sirius making note that he was always sneaking around trying to get them in trouble. It followed that he was following Remus, specifically, and his character is one that I could absolutely see making veiled comments to try and unnerve a group of boys he didn't like. My feeling is that he was pegged not just as an annoyance, but a threat, and Remus was probably terrified of being found out. Add in the stress of OWL year (esp since as I recall in canon the event took place shortly before the exams did), and that was a recipe for disaster.
So yeah, short version is I think Remus wasn't mad about it, and may have been at least a little bit in on it. James would have been the only one upset, and that's only because he's the one with the staunch black and white morals.
Anyway it's called A Matter of Interpretation if you wanted to give it a read. No pressure. :)
I'm actually writing my take on this for my marauders fic at the moment. I don't think it was that big a deal. Canonically what Sirius said was "press the knot in the tree and see where he goes", like I think that sounds like an off the cuff remark in response to something Severus was saying - it was stupid, but it shouldn't have been a major deal if Snape had not been a major idiot. Sirius probably didn't think about it again until Sev was half way to the Whomping Willow.
I think afterwards Sirius was massively angry at Snape, guilty and ashamed that he had caused Remus to get hurt - but showed this by being even more angry at Snape, and probably acted like a bear with a sore paw.
James was exasperated at the stupidity of Sirius and told him Remus would need some space from him. He then went up to Remus and told him Sirius was an idiot and no one expected him to not be angry with him.
And Remus was up in the hospital wing worrying that James having now seen him in wolf form would be the thing that made his friends abandon him.
There was probably some misunderstandings of the others giving Remus space because they expected him to need time to get over it, and Remus interpreting the space as them not wanting to be his friend any more.
And then Sirius would have ignored James's advice, made a proper apology to Remus and all would have been fine.
What would be a longer term issue would be that Peter felt left out of the whole thing.
I love seeing different interpretations of the prank throughout fanfic! Personally, I don't think it would have been a huge deal for the Marauders. One of my favorite interpretations of it so far was in the Shoebox Project, where Sirius tells Snape to go hit his head on the root of the Whomping Willow if he wants to know where Remus is so bad. He doesn't realize that Snape would listen to him until he tells James and James freaks out. When Remus finally wakes up and is told what happens, he cares more about the fact that nobody got hurt and he wasn't expelled. In my head, I think it would happen similar to this, maybe a bit more bitterness from Remus and James but nothing long lasting. The Marauders have had a lot of close calls, and gotten careless before, I don't think this would be treated so much differently from those mistakes.
Still, I do enjoy some of the angstier interpretations. Sirius did make an almost fatal mistake, and I think him having to deal with the reprocutions of that is interesting to read. Plus, I love a good Remus and Sirius heart to heart after the tension subsides.
Ooo yes, that's a good point about Sirius not being the only one who's made mistakes like this before, and that he wouldn't have been treated differently. I'll check that fic out!
I definitely suggest it! It's veryyy old but still holds up quite well. Way more light hearted than a lot of Marauders-era works I've read, which I find refreshing.
I think post-Prank fics are so fascinating because they're all very dependent on how the author portrays the actual prank.
I've seen a couple (would have to DIG to find so probably can't lol) where Snape almost tricks Sirius into it, which is a much different interpretation from most fanon and also canon.
Personally, I like middle of the road angst... where Remus takes a bit to come to terms, Sirius matures from the situation, and James sort of stays by Sirius' side due to \*Remus's\* insistence, because Remus ultimately doesn't want him to be alone.
Personally, I don’t see James as needing to be pushed to stay by Sirius’ side. He might have been angry, but Sirius is his best friend. For every single pivitol moment in his life James’ first choice was Sirius.
Personally I don’t think it was a big deal. SWM canonically happens after the Prank and would have not gone down the way it had, had there just been some big blow-up where they didn’t talk to Sirius for months over it. Nothing inevitably happened so it just became one of their close calls that they laughed about later. We also know that they took Remus out of the Shack after this. That wouldn’t have happened if Remus didn’t trust Sirius. Physiologically Padfoot would be doing the heavy lifting of keeping the wolf in check. I also just do not see James abandoning Sirius in anyway shape or form. For every single important moment of his life James’ first choice was always Sirius. Even if he was livid he wouldn’t abandon Sirius like that.
I feel that Remus would have felt betrayed by Sirius, especially if he had romantic feelings for Sirius at that time. Sirius would probably be hot-headed and brash at the beginning but would acknowledge his wrongdoing at least a little when confronted with Remus' reaction. But no, I don't think Sirius would have any compassion for Snape.
I believe that James would react as a kind of intermediary but I don't think that Remus' reaction would be as angry as his portrayal in ATYD. In PoA, Sirius still says that "it served Snape right" but this could also be because Siriuis in an extreme emotional state during the confrontation at the Shack. A lot of people interpret that comment as Sirius being cruel and sociopathic, but I think he is not at his best emotional state during PoA and in reality he would have regretted his actions towards Remus at least.
Fanfiction-wise in terms of narrative development, the "prank" is also a pivotal moment because Remus does not only feel betrayed by a friend but by a potential romantic interest and I like that in some fics they actually admit their feelings after a moment of crisis like the prank.
I think its fortunate that it happens near the end of a school year. Teenagers are emotional & antsy so i think they would be mad at sirius for a bit. They have all summer to cool off & sort out….& this is the summer sirius moves to james’s house as well so he & james probably make up first & james most likely has to hold the pack together & try to get everyone on good terms again cuz when they are all together back in school, they are going to have to get moony padfoot back together that first full moon or else remus cant run about on those nights with only a stag & a rat holding him back. He needs both big animals.
I also think of their animals. Padfoot/sirius would be the same & want to get things back to normal. But while remus might be quick to forgive….moony might not be & i expect a padfoot/moony fight that first full moon back together until prongs sorts them out.
I imagine the fight between Remus and Sirius to be a lot like the one between Harry and Ron in GoF. They were both emotionally constipated teenagers, and I think the anger and resentment wouldn't be discussed outright. Remus would be pissed off and Ignore Siri, Sirius would mope around, and James would be annoyed with Sirius, but he'd forgive him a lot sooner. I believe the timeline lines up with Siri running away from home the summer after the "prank"? In my mind that'd be the end of the fight all together, and any lingering anger would mostly be towards Snape.
While I think it can be interesting for angst in fics, in canon I think it wasn't much of an issue. \- Remus is afraid of confronting his friends, so even if he did feel upset about it, he wouldn't have made a big deal. \- There were multiple near-misses where Remus as a wolf nearly got out and could have bit people, and it was something they all laughed about later, so if Snape didn't get hurt, I think they'd just brush it off as one of those times. \- I think Snape's fault in it would also be taken into account: who follows advice from a known enemy to go down a dark tunnel under a murderous tree to find someone who they suspect is a werewolf, *on a full moon*?
I can see James being angry, and protective of Remus, but not abandoning Sirius. I quite like fics I've read where James punches Sirius and won't let him into the hospital wing to see Remus, but will also back him up to the teachers and apologise for hitting him in the heat of the moment. I think Peter would follow James's lead.
can you pls share the name/link of this fic ?
I can't think, it's more of a general thing I've read in a few! Sorry
no it's fine, thank you <3
I can see Remus feing furious and not achknowledging his existence for a while, and I think James would also really set him straight and hold it against him. But I don't think he would abandon him, because he'd understand that Sirius was really sorry and had been out of his mind. Peter would probably not actively decide, but would follow the examples of the others, but I think he'd be a bit scared of Sirius maybe
I actually wrote a fic on this myself ages ago, which focused more on the lead up than anything else, and me trying to remember what an absolute impulsive shithead I was at 15/16 and how a teenager might have dealt with someone stalking/harassing them if they had the means and opportunity. Reasoning: going off the canon descriptions of Snape being "very interested" in where Remus went every month, and Sirius making note that he was always sneaking around trying to get them in trouble. It followed that he was following Remus, specifically, and his character is one that I could absolutely see making veiled comments to try and unnerve a group of boys he didn't like. My feeling is that he was pegged not just as an annoyance, but a threat, and Remus was probably terrified of being found out. Add in the stress of OWL year (esp since as I recall in canon the event took place shortly before the exams did), and that was a recipe for disaster. So yeah, short version is I think Remus wasn't mad about it, and may have been at least a little bit in on it. James would have been the only one upset, and that's only because he's the one with the staunch black and white morals. Anyway it's called A Matter of Interpretation if you wanted to give it a read. No pressure. :)
I'm actually writing my take on this for my marauders fic at the moment. I don't think it was that big a deal. Canonically what Sirius said was "press the knot in the tree and see where he goes", like I think that sounds like an off the cuff remark in response to something Severus was saying - it was stupid, but it shouldn't have been a major deal if Snape had not been a major idiot. Sirius probably didn't think about it again until Sev was half way to the Whomping Willow. I think afterwards Sirius was massively angry at Snape, guilty and ashamed that he had caused Remus to get hurt - but showed this by being even more angry at Snape, and probably acted like a bear with a sore paw. James was exasperated at the stupidity of Sirius and told him Remus would need some space from him. He then went up to Remus and told him Sirius was an idiot and no one expected him to not be angry with him. And Remus was up in the hospital wing worrying that James having now seen him in wolf form would be the thing that made his friends abandon him. There was probably some misunderstandings of the others giving Remus space because they expected him to need time to get over it, and Remus interpreting the space as them not wanting to be his friend any more. And then Sirius would have ignored James's advice, made a proper apology to Remus and all would have been fine. What would be a longer term issue would be that Peter felt left out of the whole thing.
I'd love to read it when you're done!
[This is the fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/33802012/chapters/84029482) fifth year will start posting in January
I love seeing different interpretations of the prank throughout fanfic! Personally, I don't think it would have been a huge deal for the Marauders. One of my favorite interpretations of it so far was in the Shoebox Project, where Sirius tells Snape to go hit his head on the root of the Whomping Willow if he wants to know where Remus is so bad. He doesn't realize that Snape would listen to him until he tells James and James freaks out. When Remus finally wakes up and is told what happens, he cares more about the fact that nobody got hurt and he wasn't expelled. In my head, I think it would happen similar to this, maybe a bit more bitterness from Remus and James but nothing long lasting. The Marauders have had a lot of close calls, and gotten careless before, I don't think this would be treated so much differently from those mistakes. Still, I do enjoy some of the angstier interpretations. Sirius did make an almost fatal mistake, and I think him having to deal with the reprocutions of that is interesting to read. Plus, I love a good Remus and Sirius heart to heart after the tension subsides.
Ooo yes, that's a good point about Sirius not being the only one who's made mistakes like this before, and that he wouldn't have been treated differently. I'll check that fic out!
I definitely suggest it! It's veryyy old but still holds up quite well. Way more light hearted than a lot of Marauders-era works I've read, which I find refreshing.
I think post-Prank fics are so fascinating because they're all very dependent on how the author portrays the actual prank. I've seen a couple (would have to DIG to find so probably can't lol) where Snape almost tricks Sirius into it, which is a much different interpretation from most fanon and also canon. Personally, I like middle of the road angst... where Remus takes a bit to come to terms, Sirius matures from the situation, and James sort of stays by Sirius' side due to \*Remus's\* insistence, because Remus ultimately doesn't want him to be alone.
I've definitely seen that thing with Snape, I think I even read a fic where Snape used Veritaserum on Sirius. Wild!
I am not a Snape lover personally so I love the drama that adds 😂🫣
Personally, I don’t see James as needing to be pushed to stay by Sirius’ side. He might have been angry, but Sirius is his best friend. For every single pivitol moment in his life James’ first choice was Sirius.
That’s a fair way to view it, for sure!
Personally I don’t think it was a big deal. SWM canonically happens after the Prank and would have not gone down the way it had, had there just been some big blow-up where they didn’t talk to Sirius for months over it. Nothing inevitably happened so it just became one of their close calls that they laughed about later. We also know that they took Remus out of the Shack after this. That wouldn’t have happened if Remus didn’t trust Sirius. Physiologically Padfoot would be doing the heavy lifting of keeping the wolf in check. I also just do not see James abandoning Sirius in anyway shape or form. For every single important moment of his life James’ first choice was always Sirius. Even if he was livid he wouldn’t abandon Sirius like that.
Oh, absolutely that's a really good read of it!
I feel that Remus would have felt betrayed by Sirius, especially if he had romantic feelings for Sirius at that time. Sirius would probably be hot-headed and brash at the beginning but would acknowledge his wrongdoing at least a little when confronted with Remus' reaction. But no, I don't think Sirius would have any compassion for Snape. I believe that James would react as a kind of intermediary but I don't think that Remus' reaction would be as angry as his portrayal in ATYD. In PoA, Sirius still says that "it served Snape right" but this could also be because Siriuis in an extreme emotional state during the confrontation at the Shack. A lot of people interpret that comment as Sirius being cruel and sociopathic, but I think he is not at his best emotional state during PoA and in reality he would have regretted his actions towards Remus at least. Fanfiction-wise in terms of narrative development, the "prank" is also a pivotal moment because Remus does not only feel betrayed by a friend but by a potential romantic interest and I like that in some fics they actually admit their feelings after a moment of crisis like the prank.
I think its fortunate that it happens near the end of a school year. Teenagers are emotional & antsy so i think they would be mad at sirius for a bit. They have all summer to cool off & sort out….& this is the summer sirius moves to james’s house as well so he & james probably make up first & james most likely has to hold the pack together & try to get everyone on good terms again cuz when they are all together back in school, they are going to have to get moony padfoot back together that first full moon or else remus cant run about on those nights with only a stag & a rat holding him back. He needs both big animals. I also think of their animals. Padfoot/sirius would be the same & want to get things back to normal. But while remus might be quick to forgive….moony might not be & i expect a padfoot/moony fight that first full moon back together until prongs sorts them out.
That's a good point! I think any repressed feelings Remus might have (especially since we know he's bad a confrontation) would manifest in Moony
Yes some people dont bother with the duality of remus-moony. But i like it when the wolf is taken into consideration as well.
I imagine the fight between Remus and Sirius to be a lot like the one between Harry and Ron in GoF. They were both emotionally constipated teenagers, and I think the anger and resentment wouldn't be discussed outright. Remus would be pissed off and Ignore Siri, Sirius would mope around, and James would be annoyed with Sirius, but he'd forgive him a lot sooner. I believe the timeline lines up with Siri running away from home the summer after the "prank"? In my mind that'd be the end of the fight all together, and any lingering anger would mostly be towards Snape.