Lupin - neatly

[Indigo]

No: HPFGUIDX 16070

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Zarleycat at a... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Indigo" <indigo at i...> wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Magda Grantwich <mgrantwich at y...> 
wrote:
> > > >  I just reread Prizoner from Azkaban and noticed those little 
> > hints
> 
> > > Thanks for reminding me.  I have a question:
> > > 
> > > How come Lupin can't magic himself up some decent clothes and a 
> good piece of luggage? 
> > > 
> > 
> > The same reason Ron Weasley puts up with owning "rubbish" to use 
> his own words, rather than magicing up cooler, neater stuff for 
> himself.  
> > 
> > Either that, or certain things cost knuts, sickles and kneazles, 
> and that's all there is to it.

My goodness but I wasn't jetting on all 12 yesterday. Knuts, sickles 
and kneazles indeed.  I meant Galleons of course.  ::blush:: 

> > 
> > Or -- since my brain seems to be working oddly this morning:
> > Lupin goes about looking bedraggled because people play less 
> attention  to him when he's looking bedraggled and shabby than when 
> he's looking  hale, hearty and prosperous?
> > 
> > Indigo
> 
> That's an interesting interpretation.  Certainly Remus has been 
> battered emotionally in his life by people's mistrust of him, so 
> maybe this is a way to be inconspicuous.  As I read this reponse I 
> had another thought.  Maybe this is an outcome of Lupin's reactions 
> to the aftermath of the deaths of James, Lily, and Peter, due to 
> Sirius' betrayal. These were the people closest to Remus, the only 
> ones that we know of who accepted Remus completely, who he trusted 
> with his werewolf secret, and he lost all of them.  Plus, Remus 
> doesn't learn the real story behind James and Lily's deaths for 
over 
> 12 years.  
> I could certainly understand that Remus' state of mind during all 
> this time might be such that he doesn't care about the general 
> appearance of his material things, because, in the long run, that 
> stuff just doesn't matter.  Having Louis Vuitton luggage won't 
> replace the love of your dead friends.  Combine this attitude with 
> the problem of not having a lot of money to begin with, and you get 
> the "shabby professor" look.

Definitely also a contributing factor.

Then there's also the fact that Remus just can't get a decently 
paying job because he is a werewolf. That much has been said outright 
in so many words.

So what little money he has quite likely goes for stuff he considers 
more important than pristine robes and expensive luggage.

What money he has likely goes for food, spell and potion elements, 
and research into how to cure the werewolf condition, or into the 
Werewolf Services department at MoM for counseling the recently 
bitten or accursed.

I'd rather have a good meal than a new outfit any day.  

Lucius Malfoy would say clothes make the man, but look at Gilderoy 
Lockhart's fabulous collection of different colored robes for all 
occasions, and fancy trunks and whatnot and weigh it against his true 
magical knowledge...

...and compare to Remus' unspectacular luggage and careworn, but 
neatly patched wardrobe versus his true magical knowledge. 

This supports my theory that Remus' cashflow (such that it is) is 
keeping him magically current and fed, rather than well-dressed...and 
that Remus is keeping himself neat insofar as his limited wardrobe 
and haberdashery will permit.

Side note: 
I'm still wondering what Dumbledore was thinking hiring on Lockhart 
for the DADA job.