Lupin, the Moon and the Bewitching Hour (WAS TAGS and moonlight )

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 32732

Mahoney wrote:

> By the way, I'm going to take a stab at explaining the 
> moonlight/transformation thing.  (Yes!  Another theory!  A crackpot 
> one, too!)
> 
<snip great Lupin/werewolf/bewitching hour theory> 

OK, I'm sold.  I really like Mahoney's theory.  The best part is that 
it makes Lupin out to be a thoughtful person who made a rational 
decision (consistent with his character) instead of an incompetent 
who can't remember the one thing he has to remember in order to avoid 
killing people.  That's an improvement.  

The timing seems to work, because I think it is a one-hour, one-way 
trip to the Shrieking Shack, and Lupin sees Sirius on the Map at 
nightfall, which is maybe 7-8 p.m. that time of year.  So if the full 
moon rises at midnight, he has plenty of time to save the trio, 
apprehend Sirius/Peter, and make it back to the castle for a dose of 
wolfsbane potion.

It's not perfect in this regard, however, because Lupin shows no 
signs of keeping an eye on the time once he is in the Shrieking 
Shack.  He doesn't say the obvious thing like, "You know, we'd better 
get a move on because I'm going to transform in about 90 minutes and 
eat all of you."  But I can wave that off by pointing out that he has 
just received a real jolt by finding Peter alive, he doesn't 
anticipate Snape's interference, he is multi-tasking (dealing with 
Peter/Snape/Sirius and being outed as a werewolf) and he doesn't have 
a wristwatch on him.  :-)

A fabulous additional benefit of Mahoney's theory is that it neatly 
explains Lupin's failure to transform when the boggart turns into the 
moon.  The boggart can turn into the moon all it wants to, but it is 
not the bewitching hour, so Lupin doesn't have to be concerned about 
transforming.  Recall how Lupin vanquishes the boggart moon "almost 
lazily?"  He isn't concerned because he knows he won't transform 
because it is not the sight of the moon, his fear of the moon, or 
anything else connected only with the moon that makes him transform.  
It is the bewitching hour *coupled with* the moon.

I think we need a new acronym though.  The Rottweiler one focuses on 
lunar exposure, and we now know it is lunar exposure coupled with the 
bewitching hour.  Maybe something about a Rottweiler and its 
eyelids?  :-)

Cindy (wishing there were a really good theory to excuse Lupin for 
failing to take the Map with him and for failing to pick up the 
Invisibility Cloak)