Lupin as a werewolf & Snape's potion

[Diana Lucas]

No: HPFGUIDX 48818

cracker wrote:
>>In PoA Lupin gets the potion from Snape to keep from
transforming. Lupin is in human form when he recives
the potion from Snape.  
Why was lupin healty and able to 
be there in the shack, on a night of the full moon
without having taking his potion, but yet unable to be
in his classes teaching earlier in the year?<<<

Snuffles wrote:
>>>I just wish I knew, other than Lupin's statement in
PoA that he was a poor potions maker, why he hadn't
been taking Wolfsbane since its conception... if I
were a werewolf and had to deal with the
transformations every 28 days, I would want the potion
the minute it was discovered....<<< 

Me: Actually, the potion Snape makes for Lupin does
NOT prevent him from transforming into a wolf.  I'll
quote the book:

"[Lupin talking to H/R/H & Black in the Shrieking
Shack] I was a very small boy when I received the
bite.  My parents tried everything, but in thoses days
there was no cure.  The potion that Professor Snape
has been making for me is a very recent discovery.  It
makes me safe, you see.  As long as I take in the week
preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I
transform....I am able to curl up in my office, a
harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again."
[PoA, pg 352-353 USA hardback]

"[Lupin talking to Harry] Professor Snape has very
kindly concocted a potion for me.  I have never been
much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly
complex." [PoA, pg 156-7, USA hardback]

Me: So, Snape provides the potion to Lupin so he will
keep his human mind while in the form of a wolf. 
Wolf!Lupin can't teach his classes, even if his mind
is still human.  Wolves can't talk and write on the
blackboard, after all.  :) 
As to why Lupin hasn't been taking it since it's
conception, maybe he has been, but it's so new that
he's already been physically worn down by the effects
of the disease, thus his worn appearance.  This potion
is a "very recent discovery" as stated by Lupin. 
Maybe the reason Dumbledore was able to offer the
teaching job to Lupin was because of this new potion
being available.  I know Dumbledore wanted Lupin there
because Sirius Black was now loose and, presumably,
looking to go after Harry. I can see Dumbledore not
minding Lupin is a werewolf, but definitely NOT
wanting a man-eating werewolf running around inside
the school.  I can draw the conclusion that Dumbledore
requested Snape to make the potion for Lupin.  And I
can also reason that a condition of Lupin's employment
at Hogwarts was his continued use of this potion.  
Going over the appearance of Lupin as described in the
book, I can see several reasons for his worn,
bedraggled and tired appearance beyond him being
physically worn-out from transforming into a werewolf.
 Dumbledore says that werewolves are not trusted in
the wizarding world and that they can't find steady
employment. Thus Lupin is poor, which explains his
shabby, patched robes.  And, due to lack of money,
probably doesn't eat very healthily.  Lupin has
probably not been very happy since Black's escape from
Azkaban. I mean he did think at that point that Black
had murdered their friends Lily & James.  He would be
obsessed with finding Black and protecting Harry,
which would make him neglect his appearance & grooming
and probably cause him to lose sleep.  And, more than
likely, Lupin just doesn't care about personal
primping.  

Diana





 

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