Marauders

## The Marauders

The **Marauders** were a group of four Gryffindors and classmates: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter. The four attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1971 to 1978. They had a knack for rule-breaking and mischief-making. While at Hogwarts they also created the Marauder's Map, which continues to help future generations of mischief-makers.

The Marauders would all go on to fight in the First Wizarding War and some in the second. They were also participants in the original Order of the Phoenix, an organisation lead by Albus Dumbledore in the struggle against the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

## History

### Hogwarts years (1971-1978)

The Marauders' strong friendship began in their first year at Hogwarts. Sirius and James met on the train and had been inseparable ever since and the two met Remus and Peter afterwards. By their fifth year, all but Remus Lupin, who was a werewolf, had secretly become unregistered Animagi in order to assist Remus during his transformations. James Potter's Animagus form was a shining red stag (Prongs), Sirius Black's was a shaggy black dog (Padfoot), and Peter Pettigrew's was a fat grey rat (Wormtail).

As 'Padfoot' and 'Prongs', Sirius and James were large enough to control Remus (Moony) during his monthly transformations into a werewolf. 'Wormtail' (Peter) was small and nimble enough to get past the Whomping Willow's defences, so the group could get to the Shrieking Shack. The Marauders were frequently out of their beds at night to explored Hogwarts' grounds and the village of Hogsmeade during Lupins' transformation.

In the period between their fifth and seventh years at Hogwarts, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter created the Marauder's Map, a small, bewitched roll of parchment that displayed the castle grounds and inhabitants of Hogwarts — including all staff, ghosts and students — in great detail. At an unspecified point, Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch confiscated the map and kept it in a drawer in his office labelled 'Classified and Highly Dangerous'. Fred and George Weasley stole the map in their first year, and later passed it on to Harry Potter in 1993. Harry had been the sole owner of the map since then.

The Marauders were all members of Gryffindor House and greatly despised their Slytherin enemy, Severus Snape. It was discovered in Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts that James and Sirius often bullied Snape (calling him 'Snivellus' and using humiliating spells on him), while Peter cheered them on. Although he greatly disapproved of their bullying, Remus did not try to stop them, something he would later come to regret.

### First Wizarding War (1979-1981)

Lily and James Potter had their son Harry Potter in 1980, and Sirius was made godfather.

The Marauders would all go on to become members of the original Order of the Phoenix against the Dark Lord, Voldemort, as adults. Peter Pettigrew, though belonging to the Order of the Phoenix, later turned on his friends in favour of Voldemort's protection. Recently forced into hiding, James and Lily Potter made Pettigrew the Secret Keeper of their location, at Sirius's suggestion. His theory in doing this was that Peter was the least expected choice, further protecting the secret.

In a selfish act to save himself, however, Peter revealed the location of the Potters' cottage to Voldemort and betrayed his friends. Consequently, James and Lily were murdered at the hands of the Dark Lord in an attempt to protect their infant son, Harry, from being hurt.

An incensed Sirius confronted Peter about his traitorous actions in a Muggle street, but the latter narrowly escaped by unleashing a curse all around him — killing a dozen Muggles in the process — and cut off his own finger. He then transformed into his rat form and fled into the sewers, framing Sirius as the traitor to the Potters and a killer. Sirius was taken to Azkaban with no trial, where he faced 12 dismal years of imprisonment before his escape in 1993.

Peter had successfully faked his own death and remained the victim to Sirius' falsely alleged crimes. In his rat form (under the name 'Scabbers') he came into the possession of Percy Weasley and later his younger brother Ron.

Sirius' years in Azkaban were spent with the knowledge that he was innocent, and that the true traitor and killer was Peter Pettigrew. So strong was the belief that Sirius was guilty that the fourth Marauder, Remus, thought one of his oldest friends was a killer and the reason that the Potters' location had been revealed to Voldemort.

### Between the Wars (1982-1995)

Remus Lupin, the only remaining Marauder not presumed dead or imprisoned, was left to pick up the pieces after a devastating chain of events which killed two of his friends and imprisoned the third. For some time, he lived in a cottage in Yorkshire, where housing was cheap, while he attempted to rebuild his life after the war.

He continued to check in on Peter's mother from time to time. When she succumbed to ill health in June 1986, he wrote her an obituary for the Daily Prophet. *"Joan Pettigrew died in hospital at St. Mungo's Tuesday... Her maiden name was Soley and she was 53 years in age. She joins her son Peter Pettigrew (O.M., 3rd Class) in death, a hero that we may never forget..."* On the first day of August in 1986, he attended a will reading of the last wishes of Joan Pettigrew, where he inherited Peter’s Order of Merlin medal and some of Peter’s other personal effects.

#### Escape of Sirius Black (1993-1994)

"*On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. Firstly, Professor Lupin who had kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.*"
—Remus is introduced as the new DADA professor
In 1993, Sirius Black was able to escape Azkaban in his Animagus form (Padfoot being malnourished enough to slip through the Azkaban bars, and thwart the Dementors). Sirius' goal was to seek revenge on his former friend Peter Pettigrew, whom he had discovered was still alive and currently hiding as Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers, at Hogwarts. At this time, Remus Lupin had been the newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. He met Harry Potter at this time, and discovered that Peter was alive from the Marauder's Map, further concluding that Sirius was innocent. Lupin kept his lycanthropy a secret from the students and staff.

In June of 1994, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin reunited to reveal Scabbers as Peter Pettigrew. The old friends were about to finish Peter once and for all, but Harry Potter stopped them, telling them that Peter should be taken to Azkaban to clear Sirius's criminal record.

However, the plan backfired, and whilst the others were distracted with Remus's sudden transformation into a werewolf, Peter once again escaped, only to be miraculously again captured by Ron's little sister Ginny and friend, Aquila Black. After a further elaborate ordeal orchestrated by Headmaster Dumbledore,which involved some time travel, Sirius Black was also momentarily freed, but then he and Pettigrew got subsequently captured by the arriving Minister of Magic and his accompanying Aurors.

#### Trial of Peter Pettigrew (1994)

After almost a month of being held in Law Enforcement custody, Sirius Black achieved his freedom, while Peter Pettigrew was arrested and scheduled to stand trial for the crimes that Black was illegally imprisoned for. On 6 August, 1994, the trial officially commenced. On 8 August, the Wizard Council found Pettigrew guilty of participating in a terrorist organisation and guilty of being an illegal animagus.

## Known Members

* Remus Lupin
* Peter Pettigrew (formerly)
* Sirius Black
* James Potter

## Speculation

* They may have named themselves after the English word *Marauders*-which meant "raider". This could be a reference to all the people they bullied and "raided" in their time at Hogwarts. They could also have taken the name from the French *Maraudeurs*, which seems to fit their activities better, as a *marauder* is someone who roams a place, often to cause trouble or at least mischief.