PA Questions – Dragontongue? – TR – Cloak - Names

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 18794

Questions, of course, by Parker (great summaries and questions, 
Parker . . . I hope 10 isn't an official standard or something).

> 5.  Why wasn't Remus applauded by everyone when he was introduced
as the new DADA teacher?

Kristin wrote:

>    I think it has to do with his appearance. His robes are ragged
>and he looks very ill.  Most everyone isn't sure what to make of him.

His apparent frailty plus the well-known hazards of being the 
Hogwarts DADA professor must make a lot of them think, "This poor guy 
isn't going to last a week."  

Heidi wrote:

> We actually don't know how easily muscles, cartialige and tissue 
>rgrow, and since draci injured those, not bone...

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume 
that "Draci" was a typo and not an endearment!  <g>  We don't know 
how badly he was hurt, but give me a break—-months in a sling?  And 
conveniently getting all better right after the scheduled match with 
Gryffindor?  I think Madam P has no way short of Veritaserum of 
knowing whether a student is still in pain.  Draci says he is, so she 
keeps him in a sling.  Definitely a sniveling little faker.

Gwendolyn Grace wrote:

>Ron's cry stops Lupin dead and it takes "obvious effort" for him to 
>turn away and talk to Hermione. I interpret this to mean that, not 
only >does it pain him to have to admit what he is, he is both 
angered and >ashamed by Ron's outburst. Only through that firm sense 
of self-control >is he able to let it go for the moment and try to 
deal rationally with >the situation, through Hermione. Lupin has 
enormous strength of >character.

All year Lupin and the staff have kept the secret (even Hagrid! now 
that's impressive), and 5 seconds after his secret is out, his fears 
that students will hate and fear him if they know he's a werewolf are 
realized.  And this is the best friend of one of his favorite 
students to boot.  I imagine he's thinking, with Ron reacting this 
way, "what kind of reception would I get from the Slytherins if they 
knew `what I am' [to use the somewhat self-loathing phrase Lupin 
himself uses]?"

Others onlist have convinced me to go easy on Ron for this outburst, 
so I won't go there again.  

Steve wrote:

>So what happened? Why did she finally decide to come up into the 
air? 
>My guess is that it's the same reason that Nagini obeys Voldemort 
and 
>the same reason that the Basilisk obeyed Tom Riddle and Salazar 
>Slytherin...and the same reason that the snake obeyed Harry at the 
>Dueling Club. That hissing Harry was doing was Parseltongue, 
although 
>he probably didn't even realize it. He ORDERED her into the air and 
>she obeyed.

Ooh, great theory, and by all means put it in The Annotated HP (I'd 
like to pre-order my signed copy now, please), but I lean toward a 
simpler explanation.  "He was like a fly to her, a fly she was 
longing to swat"; he keeps teasing her until her irritation outweighs 
her desire to stay close to her eggs.  Get in a cat's personal space, 
say by passing your hand closer to her face than she likes, and watch 
the same thing happen; she'll just watch you irritably for awhile, 
then paw at you, then go for you with claws out.  BTW, my sense is 
that she didn't take flight; she just reared up.

Caius Marcius wrote:

> Perhaps Riddle had a sympathetic (or stupid) teacher who 
gave him similar permission.

Or sympathetic =and= stupid.

A couple of days ago, in the thread speculating about how Dumbledore 
came to have James's cloak, I said maybe Voldemort could see through 
them.  At the time I thought "why not?  Dumbledore can" but then I 
couldn't think why I thought that, so I didn't write it.  Now I 
remember.  He does see through it in CS, "Cornelius Fudge," when 
Harry and Ron are hiding in Hagrid's hut.

I hope Harry keeps that in mind if he's ever trying to hide from 
Voldemort using the cloak.  (Or Dumbledore!)

I wrote:

I wondered whether JKR was 
> withholding his first name because she thought it would clue us in 
too 
> quickly to his secret.  

Toby wrote:

>I had my suspicions because of his *last* name, not his first. As 
soon >as they met him on the train, and they learned his name was 
Lupin, a >light bulb went off. Same to with Sirius Black and the 
reference to the >Grim. (Sirius Black - black dog) It just fit so 
well.

I don't think I tumbled to the Sirius-Grim connection until, uh, Ron 
pointed him out in the Shrieking Shack.  Hmm.  But "Lupin" clued me 
in right away, so JKR could've saved the trouble and put his first 
name right on the suitcase as far as I was concerned.

I also wrote:

> David, what did you mean by Dobby's inexpert grasp of names?
Toby explained:

>"Harry must not lose his Weezy!"

OH!  Right.  Today is clearly my day to acknowledge my inner ungifted 
person.

Amy Z