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Mischief Managed... Not!

by David Haber

I believe there is a small mistake in the movie script of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The error is when Lupin says "Mischief managed" to the marauder's map just after saying goodbye to Harry at the end of the movie. Fred and George stole the map from Filch. They would have no way of knowing the original incantations used to operate it. But Lupin uses the same incantation in this scene.

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Reader Comments: (Page 2)

Is that the only incongruity you found in the movie? There was so much slashing and changing of the story it made my head spin. Although, I admit I liked it anyway. This just seems like a very minor thing to comment on as it didn't affect the plot or future plots.

What about the maze in goblet of fire? They not only left out the skrewts and everything, but they changed the whole concept of the thing. The cut out most of the ending with Barty Crouch jr. and his explanation and the dementors taking his soul. How are they going to explain that in future movies? Those are some of many...

Posted by Pamela from Munich on October 27, 2006 12:56 PM

You're correct, of course. I guess it was just the fact that it was a change, rather than an omission, that it bothered me...

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on October 27, 2006 1:14 PM

Yes, I agree that it is odd that the Weasley's have a bad habit of trusting thinking-objects. But, bringing up other objects that think, Tom Riddle's Diary is comparable to what I mean by the map. It wasn't just reading off of a script, it was responding to what Harry was writing in it. I supposed you could say that that is only because the Diary was a Horcrux...so I suppose this would suggest that the Map is a Horcrux. That is not what I'm suggesting. Although wouldn't that be funny if it were. In anycase, the point is, with magic, you can put some sort of conciousness into objects, the Map wouldn't just talk to anyone and say anything, just like the Sorting Hat doesn't put just anyone in Slytherine.

I still stand on my position that incantations are incantations. If you want to accept that the Map acknowledge other incantations, than you must accept that the Map is reading intent, since a different incantation would prove the desire and intent to use the map. Saying 'Show up!' wouldn't make the Map spring into life, and saying 'Unlock!' wouldn't unlock a door. You have to know the proper incantation, otherwise things just don't work.

Posted by Steve Danison from Albany, New York on October 31, 2006 12:51 AM

I think JKR said on her website in the FAQ that the map helped Fred and George to find the precise incantation, so this confirm what has been said before.

Posted by Emmanuel from Paris on November 5, 2006 03:09 AM

this map has a 'brain' of its own doesn't it? obviously it would have been more than ing to teach fred and george how it works. it was after all made for mischief.

Posted by Ahsan from India on November 6, 2006 03:04 AM

Why does everyone assume the map was blank when Fred and George found it in Filche's office in their first year? Why would Filch keep blank parchment for years and why would Fred and George be interested in blank paper. The simplest answer is Filch confiscated the map when it was visible and the map had directions so that Fred and George new how to use it.

Posted by Tim Feeney on November 6, 2006 9:42 PM

"We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably knew what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it." (PoA pg. 143)

If the map was on when Filch got it, then how could not known "how to work it"?

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on November 6, 2006 9:54 PM

I think the map, like the original marauders, would have seen in F&G; not only kindred spirits, but perhaps even worthy apprentices. Imagin what F&G; could have learned had they been in school at the same time as James and Serius.
How would Hogwarts be if the marauder's legacy had to be passed down by upper classmen to "new recruits", hand picked of cource, every few years?

Posted by Kevin from Wisconsin on November 7, 2006 08:14 AM

I also don't remember any one saying from whom Filch took the map. If he had taken it from one of the Marauders, wouldn't Lupin have known and wouldn't he have immediatly attempted to secure it upon arriving at Hogwarts?

Posted by Kevin from Wisconsin on November 7, 2006 11:30 AM

Well... by time Lupin came back to Hogwarts for the events in Prisoner of Azkaban, the map was long gone from Filch's office...

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on November 7, 2006 1:08 PM

He would have known it had to be somewhere in the school, since it's of little value any where else.

Posted by Kevin from Wisconsin on November 9, 2006 10:17 AM

i think that the people writing the script didn't think that people would get this hung up over something this small, and if they heard lupin saying something different from fred and george that it was a mistake right there.

Posted by Justin on November 11, 2006 11:19 AM

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