Lupin and the need to leave lesson plans for a substitute teacher

[Muridae]

No: HPFGUIDX 34526

moongirlk wrote:

>--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> wrote:
>> He doesn't leave a lesson plan for his sub though he knows he'll be
>> absent.
>
>Drat again, can't justify this one except as a plot device to get
>werewolves on the agenda.

On the other hand... maybe he didn't anticipate not being able to teach 
those lessons himself? There's no mention of him being ill or away 
during termtime other than this once, plus the absence from Christmas 
dinner. His absence comes as a complete surprise to the kids, which 
implies that it's likely something that's not happened before. And it 
takes place in *November*, which means that Lupin's managed to struggle 
through two full moons already. It's unlikely that he was absent in 
September, since at the time the kids are enthusing about how much they 
enjoy his lessons and it would have been noteworthy if one had been 
cancelled. And he was certainly around in October, since Harry witnessed 
him taking his potion... and was suspicious enough that Snape might be 
attempting to poison him that any subsequent absence would have been 
commented upon.

It could well be that the side effects of taking the potion are variable 
in their intensity, and that while it laid him out for several days on 
those two occasions, most months he just felt a little queasy or groggy 
but was able to carry on with his normal routine enough to keep up 
public appearances.

I think that the incapacitating side-effects of the potion *must* have 
been unanticipated to some extent. However easy going and generous 
spirited he is, Dumbledore would have been unlikely to hire Lupin as 
DADA teacher if it was a given that he'd be off sick one week in four.

-- 
Muridae