18

According to this answer, Harry sees Mrs. Norris on the Marauder's Map in chapter 10 of Prisoner of Azkaban. She's a normal cat, not an animagus, as far as we know.

Why does the map show her if she is just an animal?

Does the map show other animals? (e.g. - Crookshanks, owls, Fluffy, Buckbeak, Nagini, Thestrals, etc...)

Please provide answers based on canon sources. I prefer canon sources over speculative answers. (And if somebody has a copy of the book, please confirm this citation from chapter 10. I don't have a copy with me.)

Voronwé
  • 26,367
  • 9
  • 122
  • 180
RichS
  • 38,592
  • 34
  • 184
  • 375
  • 3
    It even tracks the Ghosts, doesn't it? So so the subject in question doesn't even have to be alive. EDIT: Not only ghosts, it even tracks Peeves, a Poltergeist, which in the Potterverse means he's not dead and was never alive. – DisturbedNeo Jul 27 '17 at 08:51
  • 2
    Related: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/38336/what-kind-of-beings-are-shown-by-the-marauders-map – Voronwé Jul 27 '17 at 08:59
  • 1
    Another thing worth mentioning is that the map doesn't ever show Fawkes in Dumbledore's office. At least, we don't see him on the map in the movies and the books don't describe Fawkes as being in the office. – DisturbedNeo Jul 27 '17 at 09:03
  • 2
    Cockroach footprints would appear too small for the human eye to pick up on the map, and as they have no names the blank Label Object wouldn't show up on the UI. Suggestion: Start naming the cockroaches! – tjd Jul 27 '17 at 13:06
  • I marked my own question as a duplicate of another. Please post answers there. – RichS Jul 27 '17 at 16:07
  • You've just completely defaced the front page. Please refrain from doing a massive amount of pointless tag edits. – Edlothiad Jul 27 '17 at 17:22
  • In a short period of time. – Edlothiad Jul 27 '17 at 17:39

1 Answers1

23

Unknown, but it's possible the Marauders chose to track Mrs. Norris since she's a Filch spy.

Filch would have been around for at least part of the Marauders' time at Hogwarts. From Harry's experience with Mrs. Norris, she's intelligent and willing to get Filch if students are getting into trouble. As the Marauders' purpose was getting into mischief, a way to know when Mrs. Norris was coming would certainly be useful.

Obsidia
  • 105,547
  • 18
  • 451
  • 493
  • 1
    Excellent point, tracking the hundreds of owls flying around the place would be daft; but as an enemy of mischief, failing to track Mrs Norris would be a potential disaster! – Lord Jebus VII Jul 27 '17 at 16:18
  • @LordJebusVII Thanks! :) Yes, Mrs. Norris is certainly an enemy of mischief, so the Marauders would have a very good reason to track her. Like you said, though, tracking all the owls would be silly and rather useless. – Obsidia Jul 27 '17 at 16:37
  • 1
    is there any evidence that Mrs. Norris was at Hogwarts when James et all were? It seems like a good reason if you can prove she existed at their time in the school. – Wraith Leader Aug 10 '17 at 17:32