The Marauder’s Map makes its first appearance in the third Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Fred and George gift the map to Harry to help him sneak into Hogsmeade (since poor Harry does not have a permission form signed by a parent or guardian). The twins have had the map for a few years after having nicked it from Filch’s office.
But that is the extent of the history viewers are provided of the map, and the history of its creators is ignored entirely—in the movies, at least. Book readers, on the other hand, will understand that the history of the Marauders is incredibly important and closely tied to Harry himself. While Prisoner of Azkaban is considered by many to be the best of the Harry Potter films, its failure to address any details about the Marauders will forever haunt it for fans of the books.
Who The Marauders Were
Sure, the map opens with the names of Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, but, if you didn’t read the novels by J.K. Rowling, you have no idea that these four happen to be characters you meet and follow through the greater Harry Potter story. The Marauders happen to be Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter, Harry’s dad. The four created the map while they were together at school, which obviously explains how Lupin, while an acting professor at Hogwarts, knows how to work the map, where Snape was unable to get the parchment to reveal its secrets.
All The Marauders Were Gryffindors
If you didn’t know the names of the Marauders, movie viewers were also unaware that all four were members of Gryffindor house. The four were shared a dormitory while at Hogwarts, obviously leading to their close friendship and their work together to create the map in the first place. When reexamining the Prisoner of Azkaban film, this also explains why Professor McGonagall was so well informed about Sirius and his background at school when she speaks with Madame Rosmerta and Cornelius Fudge.
How Sirius and Lupin Knew Each Other
In the movie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have every right to be furious with Lupin when he enters the Shrieking Shack and embraces Sirius like a brother. What may be confusing to the trio, as well as audience members, is how Lupin knows Sirius well enough to embrace him when he’s mostly just been following Peter Pettigrew on the map. The pair, obviously, didn’t just go to school together. They shared a dormitory in Gryffindor Tower and were part of an inseparable group of troublemakers.
Why They Stopped Trusting Each Other
In the third Harry Potter movie, it is never made clear how close Sirius and Lupin ever were. This is also why the film never digs into how they fell out with one another (because if they weren’t close it doesn’t matter).
But they were close, and they fell out only a little bit before Peter Pettigrew betrayed Harry’s parents. As both Sirius and Lupin were members of the Order of the Phoenix, they knew there was a leak in the organization. Because Lupin was a werewolf, and because Voldemort had been offering full rights to werewolves, Sirius suspected that Lupin was the leak.
Why They Know How To Get Into the Shrieking Shack
The Shrieking Shack is known as the most haunted house in all of Britain. Movie viewers will not know why that is. The Shrieking Shack was set up when Remus Lupin started attending Hogwarts so he would have a place to transform into a werewolf without being a threat to any of his classmates or faculty. That’s why both Remus and Sirius knew how to get in and out of the Shrieking Shack.
Why Snape Hates Sirius
Movie fans will understand Snape’s hatred for James Potter, as he stole the love of Snape’s life and tormented him when they were all students together. However, Snape also hates Sirius for reasons beyond his association with James.
At school, Sirius told Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow and gave him the information just in time for him to find a fully transformed Lupin inside. James pulled Snape out just in time, but Snape always hated Sirius for trying to get him killed as a teenager.
Why They Were Animagi
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuaron, both Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black are shown to be animagi, or wizards who can transform into an animal by choice (making them different from werewolves who don’t have a choice). Professor McGonagall is also an animagus. But Peter and Sirius chose to train to become animagi for a specific reason. As animals, they were safely able to keep Lupin company during his transformations, something that would never have been possible for them as human wizards.
Their Nicknames
The names on the Marauder’s Map are not random, just as the creators of the map are no mystery. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, are the nicknames of Lupin, Pettigrew, Sirius, and James. The nicknames come from the animal each wizard was capable of transforming into. Lupin to a werewolf, Peter to a rat, Sirius to a dog, and James to a stag.
How Lupin Became A Werewolf
Fenrir Greyback is also a werewolf and is mentioned in the Harry Potter films in reference to the scars on Bill Weasley’s face. For book readers, the name Fenrir Greyback will be even more menacing, as he was also the werewolf who bit a four-year-old Remus Lupin, infecting him as a werewolf for the rest of his life.
How Pettigrew Dies
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I viewers see Pettigrew get stunned before Harry, Ron, and Dobby make their way out of the basement at Malfoy Manner. It is never made clear to movie viewers what ultimately happens to traitorous animagus Peter Pettigrew. In the books, however, it is revealed that Pettigrew is strangled by his own silver hand when he tries to show Harr mercy after Harry reminds Peter that, back in book three, Harry spared Peter’s life.
