OVERANALYZING THE TEXT

Who tipped James off about the Prank?

Pip suggests that it might have been Lily.

Derannimer agrees:

Well, really, when you think about it, who else could it have been?

Sirius? Obviously not, since James heard from someone else.

Lupin? He wasn't even in on it.

Peter?

*Long pause.*

Hmmm.

Yes. Peter.

I'm with Eileen here. My money's on Peter.

No, I really don't think so. I'm trying to imagine Sirius telling him, and I'm not sure that I see why he would. If Prank (Derannimer keeps a watchful eye on the gamboling creature down at the other end of the beach) was an act of impulse, and not a plan, then I don't really think he'd tell anyone. Why bother?

Because he was a thoughtless teenager who hadn't really considered the ramifications? And because he thought it was funny.

Same reason that when I was in high school, I ended up having to break into the school gymnasium in the middle of the night to retrieve the bomb that a friend of mine had planted to go off in the middle of a student election debate -- somehow not realizing when he'd done this that somebody could really get hurt. ("But it's not going to really EXPLODE explode. It's just going to...")

Because sometimes even ordinarily intelligent people can do things so unbelievably stupid and thoughtless and dangerous and deranged and criminally negligent that it can make your brain spin right around in your skull-pan.

And if it was a plan, then why would he tell Peter?

Because part of the social function of the guy in the group of friends who isn't quite in the same league as everyone else is to serve as admiring audience to tales of the others' exploits.

Sirius, James and Lily trusted Peter, remember. They suspected Lupin, but they trusted Peter with their lives. Even though they (or at least Sirius) thought that he was weak. Why?

I imagine that it was in part because they considered loyalty to be one of his most striking characteristics. The person who serves as Admiring Audience to tales of others' amazing exploits is often viewed that way. It's a tragically easy mistake to make, which is part of why sycophants are traditionally cast as traitors and backstabbers. They're well-positioned to play that role.

I don't find it at all inconceivable that Sirius would have told Peter that he'd just sent Snape down the tunnel. I don't find it at all inconceivable that Peter, who does seem to be prone to seeing the more pessimistic possibilities inherent in any given situation ("He was taking over everywhere!" "You're going to kill me too?"), might have twigged to the godawful potential ramifications of this action long before Sirius would have. And I don't find it at all inconceivable that he would have then gone and told James all about it. Isn't that what Peter does? He's a rat, isn't he? A tale-teller? A betrayer of secrets? And someone who looks to those he perceives as more powerful than he is to resolve problems for him.

Anyway, I really don't see why he would have told Peter.

And also, who cares if it was Peter that tipped James off? Where's the Bang in that?

The main reason that I am convinced that it must have been Peter isn't one of Bang, per se, but of thematic consistency.

This relies on the supposition that part of the whole point of the Prank in the story is to serve as a kind of showcase for the self-sabotaging behavior patterns of the characters of Harry's parents' generation, those roles which it is Harry's job to help them to surmount, just as on the broader scale it is Harry's job to help the entire wizarding world to correct the errors and heal the wounds of the past.

When I look at Shrieking Shack, I see a group of characters engaging in precisely the same behavior patterns that they did thirteen years before -- behavior patterns that indeed seem to be their own personal Nemeses, behavior patterns that throughout the book, they seem to keep imposing on themselves, almost as if they are unwilling to make the leap of maturity necessary to overcome them.

Remus Lupin -- Dangerous Monster
Sirius Black -- Vengeful Killer
Severus Snape -- Thwarted Villain

Sirius, thanks in part to Harry's intercession, breaks free of his script at the end of PoA. Remus (with his forgetfulness about his Wolfsbane Potion) and Severus (with his...er...entire thing, really) are still sabotaging themselves and so remain trapped.

So. One down. ;->

Here, I refer back to a very ancient post of Pip's.

Pip:

I have a little theory . . . . that all the Marauders had some basic character flaw, and that one of the effects Harry is having is to make them face that and overcome it.

If we accept this as a supposition and then look to the Prank as its dramatic illustration, then it seems to me that Peter must be revealed to have had some role to play in the Prank.

As it does seem to me that Peter's primary failing is his lack of loyalty, a scenario in which Peter was loyal to no one in regard to the Prank makes a good deal of structural sense.

Personally, I don't think that Sirius told Peter about sending Snape down to meet Lupin after the fact. I suspect that Peter aided Sirius in the Prank in the first place.

And then went running to James.

—Elkins