Harry Potter is full of twists of turns. The Marauders’ history is one of the franchise’s best but less developed aspects. This group of four Gryffindor students wandered through the halls of Hogwarts in the 1970s. The cliche would consist of Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.
The four friends loved creating mayhem throughout their time at Hogwarts. James and Sirius were the ones who primarily bullied Severus Snape, a Slytherin in their year, who was the best friend of Lily Evans, Potter’s future wife. The group was also the creative team behind the Marauders Map, which eventually ended up in the hands of Fred and George Weasley and, later, James’ son, Harry Potter.
In this post, we’ll explore who these fellows were in passing, as we will do longer posts on them later.
Padfoot – Sirius Black
The best friend of James Potter, Sirius was a member of the infamous Black family who was notoriously obsessed with blood purity. However, the pair would become like brothers, and upon the birth of James’ son, Harry, on July 31st 1980, Sirius would become the godfather.
Sirius was not like the rest of his family. He was a Gryffindor while the rest of his family were in Slytherin. This caused a wedge between him, his parents and his brother, Regulus. However, he did maintain a close relationship with his cousin, Andromeda, who, like him, was an outcast within their ranks.
He and James also had a habit of bullying Severus Snape at school. Sirius’ Animagus form is a black dog, often mistaken for the Grim.
Sirius would be a partial namesake for Harry’s eldest son, James Sirius Potter.
Wormtail – Peter Pettigrew
The backstabber of the Marauders is Peter Pettigrew, who can transform into a rat. Unlike Sirius, he didn’t follow James’ lead in bullying Snape but didn’t stop it either.
When Lord Voldemort was on the prow looking to kill Harry Potter, Sirius was originally the person James and Lily wanted as their secret keeper. However, Black pointed out that he was the most obvious, so he asked for the position to be passed to Wormtail.
Furthermore, this was a terrible mistake as the information was handed over to Voldemort, which he used to hunt down and kill the Potters, though Harry survived, prompting the spell to rebound.
For twelve years, Peter Pettigrew remained in his Animagus form, living as a pet in the Weasley household for Percy and Ron. He would later murder Cedric Diggory on Voldemort’s orders during the Triwizard Tournament’s final task during Harry’s fourth year.
Moony – Remus Lupin
James, Sirius and Peter became the Marauders due to Remus Lupin. As a child, Remus was bitten by Fenrir Grayback, a werewolf who became a cannibal. On each full moon, Lupin would transform.
Not wanting their friend to be on his own during this period, James, Sirius, and Peter became illegal Animagus.
Remus, like Peter, but unlike James and Sirius, did not bully Severus Snape but did nothing to stop it.
During Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts, Remus was the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. He allowed his students to have fun in his lessons. He also became a father figure to Harry during this time. This would continue until his death four years later.
Lupin would later marry Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius’s second cousin, the daughter of Andromeda and Ted Tonks. Remus asked Harry to be his and Tonks’s son, Teddy’s godfather. He also feared that Teddy would inherit his werewolf abilities but was thankful when he didn’t.
Some fans also speculate that Remus may have been a partial namesake for Lily Luna Potter, Harry’s daughter with Ginny. Luna is Latin for Moon and the name of Lily’s actual namesake, Luna Lovegood, an old friend of Harry and Ginny’s.
Prongs – James Potter
Finally, we get to James Potter, Harry Potter’s father and the Marauders’ leader. James, an only child to older parents, was spoilt rotten by them. He was sorted into Gryffindor, where he became close friends with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.
Given his popularity, James would get away with virtually everything, including making himself an enemy of Severus Snape. He would also rival Lily Evans, Snape’s childhood best friend.
Potter would also become an illegal Animagus, taking the form of a stag. Every month on a full moon, he, Sirius and Peter would keep Remus company while he dealt with his werewolf transformation.
James and Lily would eventually marry and have their son. However, a year later, they are murdered by Lord Voldemort after Pettigrew betrayed them to his true master.
Years after winning the second wizarding war, Harry marries Ginny Weasley and fathers three children. Their eldest son was named after James and Sirius. James II would inherit the invisibility cloak like his grandfather and father before him.
