Wilful Misconceptions About Wolfstar #2
"Wolfstar doesn't make any sense because of The Prank, Sirius cannot care about Remus all that much if he would use and/ or betray him so easily."
"The Prank" is one of the key things that we know about the marauder's era, it is a bit of a lynch pin in any marauders fic and so has taken on a quasi-mythological status in the minds of the marauders fans.
But "quasi-mythological" is the key here. Because "The Prank" is never actually referred to as such in canon, it is purely a fanon name and a fanon way of thinking about the events. It frames our perspective on what happened, shapes the way we envision it, but doesn't actually come from the books themselves. So when it comes to talking about "The Prank" we have to separate the fact from the fanon.
And when it comes to looking at whether or not wolfstar and "The Prank" can co-exist, or whether one fundamentally undermines the existence of the other, I will be looking at four things.
The facts - the quotes from the books that give us the information we actually know.
The inferences - what information we can extrapolate from these quotes.
The headcanons - that mythological element the fandom has run away with.
What this means for wolfstar.
The very first mention of "The Prank" actually appears in Philosopher's Stone, right near the end, when Dumbledore says:
"And then your father did something that Snape could never forgive... He saved his life."
This is not mentioned again until Harry brings it up to Snape himself in Prisoner Of Azkaban.
"I know the truth, alright? He saved your life. Dumbledore told me. You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my dad."
And Snape, realising Harry is light on the details, fills him in:
"Have you been imagining some glorious act of heroism? Then let me correct you - your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death had your father not got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine."
Later, Remus gives us the fullest account of "The Prank" that we ever get:
"You see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me... Severus was very interested in where I went every month... had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me to the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be - er - amusing to tell Snape that all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick and he could get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it... but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life ... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden to tell anybody by Dumbledore."
Sirius tells us his own feelings about the whole situation:
"It served him right... Sneaking around trying to find out what we were up to ... hoping he could get us expelled."
And Snape and Dumbledore refer to it in a later conversation:
"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen... You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?"
"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus"
There are no more references to "The Prank" until book seven, though there is a hint of their continued animagus adventures in Snape's Worst Memory:
"I'm bored. Wish it was the full moon."
And finally, from The Prince's Tale, we learn that Snape already had a strong suspicion of what Remus was, prior to "The Prank" and that he had shared those suspicions at least with Lily.
"There's Something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"
"He's ill, they say he's ill."
"Every month. At the full moon?"
"I know your theory."
We know this conversation actually takes place after "The Prank", because Lily references it:
"And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there."
This conversation is how we know that "The Prank" took place before Snape's Worst Memory (as Snape and Lily are still friends, while discussing The Prank but their friendship breaks after SWM) while Snape's reference to Sirius being sixteen tells us it happened somewhere within their fifth year - as any year prior to that Sirius would not have been 16.
So, factually, we know that Snape saw Remus cross the grounds with Madam Pomfrey and was interested in where he went. He had a theory about this which he shared with at least Lily. Sirius told him "prod the knot and you can follow him". Snape did exactly that. Depending on who you listen to, James either heard about it and raced after Snape to save him or was in on it the whole time and got cold feet. James saved Snape. Snape was hushed up by Dumbledore.
That's it for what we know. And it's not much. Which leads to:
2. What We Can Extrapolate
Although facts are light on the ground there are inferences we can make:
What Snape Knew Beforehand - Snape knew Remus went missing a lot and, by fifth year at least, had figured out that every absence coincided with the full moon. He had come to the conclusion that Remus was a werewolf, but he had seen Remus cross the grounds with Madam Pomfrey so must have been vaguely aware that Remus's condition was not a secret from the staff and that - whatever Remus was doing in the Whomping Willow - he wasn't out of bounds and wouldn't get in trouble for being there. And yet he keeps sneaking around trying to get the marauders expelled and seemingly focused on this mystery in particular. If Snape suspects Remus is a werewolf and that the staff know, then he is not hoping to expose Remus's condition to Dumbledore and thus have him expelled but is hoping that exposure to the rest of the school will be enough to force him to leave. Which leads to:
What Snape Said Beforehand - Now, we know for a fact that he is sharing his theory with Lily at least. However we can extrapolate that he is spreading his ideas wider than that. There are 2 reasons to believe this 1) It is Remus who tells us Snape was interested in where he went and had seen him with Madam Pomfrey. Remus is not inside Snape's head therefore, in order for him to know this, someone must have told him. Maybe he heard Snape himself making insinuations, maybe it was reported back to him by a third party - but Snape is asking questions out loud and that has got back to the Marauders. 2) If we look at Snape's behaviour as an adult, the way he tries to out Remus's condition to the students by teaching a lesson on werewolves and making them research it, we can see that he is a man who likes to make sly insinuations, and tries to get people to understand what he is thinking by giving them just enough information to figure it out for themselves. We see this again in The Prince's Tale when he doesn't just come out and say Remus is a werewolf but - for someone sworn to secrecy - skates very close to the truth with his "every full moon" hint. It is therefore perfectly reasonable to assume that Snape, having almost figured everything out for himself, is now asking questions out loud in the hope that everyone else will cotton on. After all, he doesn't actually have to prove Remus is a werewolf; the rumour going the Hogwarts equivalent of viral would be enough to force Remus out of the castle - and that would be one marauder down. He has both motive and form for making snide accusations in public which could get Remus into real trouble. Which leads to:
What Sirius Said and Why - we know Sirius said something along the lines of "Prod the knot in the tree trunk with a long stick and you can follow him" (Remus tells us what was said, and presumably Remus wasn't there, so this may not actually be verbatim). Now, I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like the answer to a question, or at least a reply to a comment. It does not sound like something Sirius just went up to Snape and said apropos of nothing and totally out of the blue. It is a response. And we have already extrapolated that Snape is talking publicly about where Remus goes and that the marauders know he is doing so. This, to me, sounds like Sirius has overheard Snape asking questions or making comments and he gives an (admittedly stupid) response but it doesn't sound premeditated or like it's being said with any expectation that Snape would actually follow his instructions. After all, we also know that Snape knew Remus was a werewolf before "The Prank", it's reasonable that Sirius might suspect he at least suspects, and only an idiot would follow a werewolf into their lair on the night of a full moon. Sirius has essentially told Snape to go jump off a cliff, the fact that Snape then goes and does that does not make Sirius's words attempted murder.
I've mentioned that this whole episode is never referred to as a "prank" in canon, and that's true. Remus refers to it as "playing a trick" but that isn't really a fair word to use, because a trick implies deceiving someone, giving them misinformation in order to get them to do or believe something wrong. But Sirius is not giving out misinformation, he is spitting straight facts. He doesn't trick Snape into the tree - he tells him what to do and leaves him to it.
Snape, himself, refers to it as "playing a joke" and I think that is (ironically) a slightly fairer characterisation of what happens. Sirius is telling the truth, but he is not serious in his intention for Snape to actually follow through. He is joking.
It's still stupid, it's still thoughtless, it's still dangerous and it nearly ended in tragedy (if you consider the death of Snape tragic) but it was a smart remark said to shut up someone who was getting dangerously close to the truth and trying to bring others along with him. It wasn't attempted murder. Which leads to:
How the Other Marauders Reacted - we know that even twenty years later Sirius still feels no remorse, but it also seems to be true that the other marauders didn't seem to think it was a big deal either. Remus, who is the main victim in all this besides Snape, is the one who tells us what happened and... he's fine with it. There is no residual hard feelings on display when he recounts the tale (and considering how quickly he forgives the fact that Sirius thought he was the spy - a mistake which cost James his life - I don't suppose we should be too surprised that he isn't brooding over this either. Remus finds Sirius very easy to forgive.)
We see them all together during SWM, and there are no signs of a fall out and Sirius and Remus even make a werewolf joke about the exam paper. Even if there was a rift at first, it has healed by the time they take their OWLs.
Furthermore, as quoted above, Sirius says he wishes it was the full moon, implying that they are having adventures at the full moon and thus that would relieve his boredom. These are the adventures that Remus describes as the "best times of my life", in which he left the shack as a transformed werewolf and rampaged around the school grounds and Hogsmeade. In which he frequently gave his friends the slip and there were many "near misses" which they "laughed about" later. These are not the actions or feelings of someone who is torn up with guilt over nearly killing Snape. And he has no moral high ground to take with Sirius for endangering Snape, as he is now actively endangering everyone else himself and laughing about it.
Snape nearly died. He didn't. And that's the end of it as far as the marauders are concerned. It was no big deal. Up to the point where they still feel comfortable bullying Snape in front of a large audience without fear that he will expose Remus in retribution. They know he won't because Dumbledore has hushed him up. Which leads to:
What Dumbledore Thought - We know Dumbledore hushed up Snape and did not expel Sirius, which looks rather like Dumbledore feels that Snape bears at least some of the blame and is not wholly a victim. After all, it was none of his business where Remus went every full moon and Sirius did not force him into that tree. Snape made his own decisions and is responsible for them. It's particularly interesting that, when Snape asks if Dumbledore remembers Sirius trying to kill him, Dumbledore does not reply "Yes" but "My memory is as good as it ever was", which I think can be interpreted as "I remember the incident perfectly well but I don't think it was attempted murder".
His words in Philosopher's Stone are interesting as well - where he says that Snape could never forgive James for saving his life. Now it's true that Dumbledore does not always tell the truth but - as he says to Harry - "of course, I will not lie". Dumbledore isn't telling Harry everything here, but it's clear he believes that deep down Snape recognises that he bears some of the blame for what happened. It's clear he believes James saved Snape's life, not because he got cold feet but as an act of heroism, and that deep down Snape knows that too and can't forgive him for it.
Dumbledore is used for exposition, if he says something is so then we are supposed to accept it is so - that's part of his narrative purpose. In saying James saved Snape's life and that Snape can't forgive it, Dumbledore is as good as clearing James and Remus of any involvement in "The Prank", thus telling us that Snape's version of events is not the accurate one and should not be trusted. In silencing Snape, not expelling Sirius and believing that Snape can't forgive James his heroism, Dumbledore is telling us that he believes Snape bears culpability for what happened and that therefore "The Prank" was not attempted murder but a joke gone wrong. His memory is as good as it ever was, but he disagrees with Snape on how events shook out. And thus - if Dumbledore does not think "The Prank" was attempted murder - we are not supposed to believe Snape when he calls it that either.
Sirius did not "try to kill Snape" at the age of 16. And he did not use Remus as the weapon to do it. He made a daft remark and Snape ran with it.
Having looked at what we know and what we can extrapolate from the information we are given, everything else, then, is a head canon. We don't know when in fifth year it took place; we don't know if they were animagi yet or not (I lean towards not as it makes more sense, but there is evidence in the books that they might have been); we don't know if this was before or after Sirius ran away from home (and this opens the whole can of worms that we don't know how bad things were at home or what finally led to him making the decision to leave forever) and thus how much (if at all) trauma or guilt played a part in his revealing the secret. We don't actually know how he was feeling at all when he said it. We don't know if the group did need a bit of time to get over it, if there were angry words or even a period of estrangement before they (quickly) moved on or if they were laughing about it the next day (like they did with their other near misses).
If you want to write a marauders fanfic, or even come up with a full backstory just for your own enjoyment, then you need to scaffold "The Prank" with a fair bit of headcanon, as we only have the bare bones of it. There are lots of questions which remain unanswered and you are free to make up your own answers and weave your own narrative to suit whatever interpretation of these characters, their relationships and their motives you like.
And you can take the Snapist perspective that it was an attempted murder, and Sirius genuinely did try to kill Snape and callously used Remus as a weapon in order to do that, thus proving that he doesn't care very much about Remus at all.
But the only evidence for that headcanon is Snape's point of view, which we know is biased and faulty.
Even so, you can truly believe it.
But what you can't do is claim that this means wolfstar makes no sense. Because this is a headcanon and nothing more and you cannot tear down the validity of a ship (no matter how much you may hate it) based on your own headcanons.
You might genuinely believe that if Sirius could be so reckless as to give away Remus's secret then it is impossible he could love him, but again - that's your belief. It's not fact. In truth, people let down and betray people they love very much every day and factually Sirius revealing the secret tells us nothing about their relationship. You can interpret it how you like, but you can't claim wolfstar makes no sense because of how you have chosen to interpret it.
other interpretations are available.
It could have been a stupid, off the cuff response to Snape being snide and he gave it no more thought than that. It's still not great but it doesn't mean he didn't love Remus - whether as a friend or something more. It doesn't mean he didn't value him. It means he was a flawed teenage boy who made a mistake.
As ever, you can head canon whatever you like. But you can't change what the canon actually says and you cannot claim other headcanons don't make sense based off your own. So
4. What This Means For Wolfstar
Ultimately "The Prank" doesn't mean anything for wolfstar. It is a brief snapshot in time of a ten year friendship which we only have the barest of information about but which doesn't seem to bother either of them.
You can certainly headcanon it in a way that means wolfstar makes no sense, but that means nothing. It's not definitive. If you can't see how you can also interpret these facts so wolfstar is still possible then that's an imagination problem on your part, not a problem with wolfstar.
Meanwhile, there is still everything else that shippers see in the book which support a wolfstar intepretation. "The Prank" just becomes another example of how one of them let the other down and the other forgave them and they moved on.
Because any relationship of any length or depth is going to have moments - maybe not as dramatic as this one - but moments where one party really screws things up, hurts the other's feelings, puts themselves first and doesn't consider the other one, does something stupid without thinking about the repercussions, gets the other into trouble... Humans can be selfish and self centred, thoughtless and stupid and even down right mean. And it doesn't mean that they don't love the other person. It means they got it wrong.
What wolfstar shows us, time and again, (and "The Prank" is a prime example of this) is it doesn't matter how you screw up - screw ups are inevitable - what matters is where you go from there; how you move on; how you learn from it. And wolfstar always choose to forgive. Because their relationship (however you interpret that) is more important to them than all the betrayals in the world.
"Forgive me, Remus."
"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend."
