Excuses, excuses (more Lupin)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 34576

I see people are having fun thinking up reasons why Lupin 
shouldn't be held responsible for his mistakes. Personally, I am 
finding him a much more enjoyable character now that I think of 
him as a screw-up. I really wasn't looking forward to his return 
before.  He was a bit of a yawn to tell you the truth, noble 
werewolf undone by prejudice and hard luck, too good to be true,  
ho-hum. Now I am looking forward to the day when Sirius, who 
has begun to grow up, bless him, grabs both Snape and Lupin 
by the scruffs of their necks and bangs their heads together.

Maybe Snape chose to ignore Lupin's notes and maybe he 
didn't.  But we know they use substitutes at Hogwarts, because 
Professor Grubbly-plank (sp, I haven't got my books handy) fills 
in for Hagrid in GoF.  The trio don't have DADA  every day, so 
probably we're supposed to assume that their classes didn't fall 
on full moons, except that once. 

As for Lupin's boggart lesson, thanks to Gwen's wonderful 
humor post, I can at last support my gut feeling that it wasn't all 
about Neville. Putting Snape in a dress is sexual humor. Not only 
would Neville not come up with that idea on his own, he would 
never have dared to suggest it, in front of a teacher and a class 
of his peers, not in a million years. This is Neville we're talking 
about, thirteen years old, deeply respectful of authority and still 
wears fuzzy bunny slippers. 

It would have far more beneficial for Neville to come up with a 
ridiculous image of Snape on his own even if it took him some 
extra tutoring. In this case Lupin did his homework for him. I think 
Lupin's desire to vent some of his resentment toward Snape 
overrode his excellent teacherly instincts.

Pippin