Marauders

"Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers Are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

- The Marauder's Map

The Marauders were a group of four Gryffindors who attended Hogwarts from 1971-1978. The four students that had a knack for rule-breaking and mischief making were:


 * James "Prongs" Potter 1960-1981 (killed by Lord Voldemort)


 * Sirius "Padfoot" Black 1960-1996 (killed by Bellatrix Lestrange)


 * Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew 1960-1998 (killed by his own silver hand)


 * Remus "Moony" Lupin 1960-1998 (killed by Antonin Dolohov)

It is thought their friendship began in their first or possibly second year at Hogwarts. By their fifth year, all but Lupin – who was a werewolf – had secretly become unregistered Animagi in order to help Lupin feel that he fit in more. Potter's Animagus form was a stag, Pettigrew's was a rat, and Sirius's was a large dog. "Prongs" and "Padfoot" were large enough to control "Moony" during his monthly-turnings and "Wormtail" was small enough to get past the Whomping Willow's defenses so the group could get to the Shrieking Shack. The Marauders were all members of Gryffindor House and most greatly despised their Slytherin rival, Severus Snape, whom they often bullied.

At some point during their time at Hogwarts, the four boys created the Marauder's Map, a magical parchment that displays the grounds and denizens of Hogwarts once the incantation "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" is spoken (and the counterspell being "Mischief managed"). Otherwise, the Map insults those who try to use it. At an unspecified point, the map was confiscated by caretaker Argus Filch.

The Marauders would all go on to become participants in the original Order of the Phoenix, against the Dark Lord, Voldemort, in their adult careers. Pettigrew, however, influenced by Voldemort, turned on James and his wife Lily to reveal their secret location to the Dark Lord, which would ultimately lead to their murders.

In addition, when Sirius Black found about the traitorous act of Pettigrew, he confonted him, but Pettigrew cunningly exploded everything around him – killing twelve Muggles in the process – and making it look like Sirius was the traitor, and even going as far as to fake his own death. Pettigrew made this look possible by actually cutting off one of his own fingers and make it appear as though that was all that was left of his annihilated corpse. Of course, Sirius was then arrested without a trial while the actual criminal, Peter Pettigrew, got away.

Pettigrew's tactics were so believable that even the fourth Marauder, Remus Lupin, thought it was his old friend Sirius that was the Potters' and Peter Pettigrew's murderer, working under Voldemort. Sirius was imprisoned in Azkaban for Pettigrew's crimes.

Now, Peter Pettigrew was an official Death Eater and immediately hid from the rest of the world, taking his Animagus form of a rat for twelve years after his faked death. In this time, he became the pet rat of the unsuspecting Weasley family, who named him "Scabbers".

A dozen years later, the innocent Sirius Black finally changed into an Animagus and escaped from Azkaban Prison, seeking revenge on his former friend Peter Pettigrew. At this time, Remus Lupin had gone on to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, and discovered Sirius was not guilty. The two then united to stop Pettigrew and exposed him as Scabbers, but Pettigrew escaped when Remus suddenly transformed into a werewolf, after which Pettigrew rejoined his master, Voldemort. Remus later resigned from his Hogwarts teaching position when Snape "accidentally" let it slip that he was a werewolf.

When Voldemort rose to power for the second time, launching the Second War, a new Order of the Phoenix was established whose members included Remus and Sirius. However, Sirius was killed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries by his Death Eater cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. After his death, Sirius's name was cleared.

Peter Pettigrew met his end in 1998, strangled by his own silver hand when he hesitated to kill Harry Potter in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor. Remus Lupin was killed soon after in the Battle of Hogwarts in a duel with Antonin Dolohov; thus, no Marauders remain.

Symbolism
The stag is symbolic of someone proud, noble and powerful. In fact the image of a stag was used quite often by old English kings and many other kinds of rulers. This image is fitting to James, the leader of the Marauders.

The dog is the emblem of faithfulness and guardianship. Dogs are considered loyal and temperate and are symbols of courage, vigilancy and loyal fidelity. Dogs are considered man's best friend and this definitely proves true in the case of Sirius and James.

Wolves similarly to dogs signify valor and guardianship. In the study of dreams werewolfs often represent an inner struggle or battle. This is certainly the case with Lupin where his desire to be accepted by his troublemaking friends and his desire to repay Dumbledore's chance to attend Hogwarts often collide.

Since the times of the plague in the 14th-century rats have been symbolic of uncleanliness and impurity. Their quiet nature often has connotations of sneakiness. Note that Pettigrew does not become a Snake, who have largely the same symbolism as rats. This is good evidence that he was not a Slytherin at school, although we don't know for sure.

Behind the Scenes
Interestingly, the Marauders die in the opposite order in which they are introduced by their nicknames: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. James is the first to die, his death taking place immediately before the first book. Sirius is then killed at the Department of Mysteries. Peter is killed in Malfoy Manor and Remus is killed in the Battle of Hogwarts. Also, all of them die whilst protecting Harry Potter from Voldermort or his Death Eaters.

The Marauders' backstory was cut out of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film), and their connection to the Marauder's Map was never explained.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows