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

Elizabeth Dalton Elizabeth.Dalton at EAST.SUN.COM
Fri Jan 4 21:23:42 UTC 2002


No: HPFGUIDX 32770

joanne0012 wrote:

> But the full moon doesn't rise at midnight, it rises in the early evening, around 6
> PM.  Always.  It's been doing so all your life.  The moon is full because it reflects
> the sun and so must be halfway-around the earth from it -- i.e., high in the sky
> at midnight when it's full.  
> 

Yes, the moon rises at 6pm or whatever, depending on latitude. But it *becomes
full* on its own time, which is what I think Hollydaze is trying to point out. I
think this might rescue Mahoney's theory. It might not be midnight a.k.a. "the
witching hour," but it might be the time when the moon is actually full, which
can occur at any hour of the day earth-time, because it has to do with the
moon's position with respect to the earth and the sun, not the earth's
rotational position.

Though this time varies, it is calculatable and Lupin would presumably be able
to keep tabs on it quite easily. He could therefore, as Mahoney describes, look
at the clock and know just how much time he has to work with. He might even have
a special clock for the purpose, like the Weasley's have (or the watch that
Dumbledore has, which still hasn't been explained). This means he can make what
seems like a reasonable decision about how safe it is for him to leave his room,
and how much time he has to take the potion.

This gets around what would be so special about midnight, local time, as well.
It also suggests that Lupin could transform in the middle of the day, so long as
the moon is full. (He'd be loads of fun during an eclipse, for example.)

And for what it's worth, I don't think he can transform for three days, as
Hollydaze points out. We see him the next day after his transformation at the
end of PoA (unless that's a Flint).

Elizabeth
(Lupin fan and amateur astronomer)




More information about the HPforGrownups archive