Wolfbane Potion - taken when and how much? (was Re: Lupin Is Not An Airhead!

[N Fry]

No: HPFGUIDX 39298

I'm in the middle of rereading PoA and came across some interesting
sections that go along with the "Is he or isn't he an airhead?" debate about 
Lupin.  I haven't really sat down to completely think the whole thing 
through yet. I just wanted to send out my few little thoughts to see if 
anyone else picked up on this. Feel free to add to or rip to shreads what 
you see.  A word of warning...this is my first post, so a thousand apologies 
if I violate one of the *many* rules from the Humongous Bigfile. <g>

Mahoney said:
> >It's evening, but on the first night of the full moon the
transformation
> >does not occur until (to pick a common 'witching hour') midnight.  >So he 
>has time to check the map, make sure Harry & Co. are either >safe in their 
>dormitory, or else to go collect them from wherever >they've snuck off to ~ 
>and still get back, take his potion and curl up under his desk.  >
<Snip>

The above theory works if you assume that he has to drink the
potion just once on the night of the full moon. But in PoA ch. 18, Lupin 
tells the trio, "As long as I take it *in the week proceeding the full 
moon*, I keep my mind when I transform..." Earlier (in ch. 8), when Snape 
drops the goblet of potion off at Lupin's office, he informs Lupin that he 
made an entire cauldronful if he needs more. Lupin replies that he should 
probably drink some more the next day.

So how much of the potion does Lupin need to take to make it
effective? Does he have to take it every day for that proceeding week or 
does he just need to take a certain amount? If it's just a certain amount, 
perhaps he usually spreads it out in smaller doses over the week instead of 
taking it all at once? It may be a lot to take in one drinking, or he may 
just not want to deal with one large goblet of the nasty tasting stuff.

If he has to take it every day for a week, then I suppose I can
accept him forgetting it that one night (considering the circumstances) or 
relying on the fact that he may already have enough of the potion in his 
system to keep him safe until he can take his last dose. OTOH, if he only 
had to take it once and had a whole week to do it, it does seem a bit 
irresponsible to wait until the last minute.

prefectmarcus reminds us that:
> >Snape tells him that he was bringing the potion when he finds
> >the map.

Meanwhile, all of this is taking place at night (so the moon has
already risen). If you don't believe the "witching hour" theory, then isn't 
it a bit late to be making sure that Lupin has taken his potion? Not that 
it's Snape's duty to babysit Lupin and make sure he's safely medicated and 
locked in his office...  Just a thought.

As I said, these are just the immediate impressions I had when I
reread these sections of the book. More questions than answers, I admit. I'm 
really curious to see what everyone thinks about this and how it affects the 
current debate on Lupin.


~ Nik  (who has enjoyed lurking and is finally ready to venture into the 
brave new world of posting)


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