[HPforGrownups] Re: The Bewitching Hour & The Boggart Moon (WAS Lupin Is ...

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 39346

Cindy:
> Um.  I'm thinking that this Bewitching Hour calculation that Lupin 
> does before he runs out that night is very, very complex.  It 
> depends on the phases of the moon.  And the time.  And whenever 
> Lupin last took his potion.  And on how healthy he is feeling.  As a 
> result, Lupin can only pinpoint a *range* when the transformation 
> will happen.  
> 
> So why doesn't he hurry things along in the Shack?  Because Lupin, 
> bless him, was *way* off on this one.  He figured he had *hours* 
> left.  He saw no reason to hurry, particularly since hurrying was 
> going to speed up the execution of a dear friend and increase the 
> chances of a blunder.  No, Lupin was being methodical because he 
> thought he had time to be methodical.  
> 
> <snip>
> I've never been taken with the idea that Lupin's transformation is 
> entirely a subjective reaction to the moon.  If that were it, then 
> he could be kept indoors or simply stunned when it is time for the 
> full moon, I'd say.  Lupin ought to have the same subjective 
> reaction to the boggart moon as he does to the real one.  
> 
> And of course, if the transformation is triggered by the objective 
> power of the moon, then Lupin should transform when the moon comes 
> up, not when the cloud cover breaks.

I have a horrid feeling that JKR hasn't figured out this werewolf 
transformation thing as well as we're trying to do! :-)
A while back some of us indulged in some LOONacy which showed that Lupin's 
'illnesses' didn't coincide with either the real lunar calendar for that 
year, or one of any other.

I think, as Cindy suggests, that the situation of calculating it is rather 
complex. There's a hint of this  at the beginning of PoA, when Harry is 
staying at the leaky Cauldron and one of the other shoppers is showing off 
his purchases,
       ('it's a lunascope, old boy - no more messing about with moon charts, 
see?')

I'm not sure exactly when a full moon starts and ends. If you observe the 
moon itself or look at one of the charts which shows you photographically the 
phases of the moon, it's very hard to say. I've often looked at what appears 
to be a full moon (and the six-year-old is excitedly predicting werewolves) 
only to find that it looks as full the next day. The moon's phases are 
constantly changing, aren't they, so there must be a specific moment when the 
disc becomes full and another when it ceases to be (and I suspect, though I 
don't know - are there any astronomers out there? -  that the length of time 
may vary from month to month for the same reason that we don't always see 
*exactly* the same side of the moon - over time we see a little more that 50% 
of its surface). Even if we could say scientifically when the moon is full, 
we still don't know when it is technically full from the lycanthropic point 
of view. Would a transformation take place when the moon became full but was 
not yet visible above the horizon, for instance?

I've never been happy with that 
transformation-when-the-moon-came-out-from-behind-the-clouds-thing. As Cindy 
implies, if it is the mere sight or exposure to the full moon that triggers 
the transformation, then staying inside out of sight of it ought to prevent 
it. And of course, given the amount of cloud cover in Britain, lycanthropy 
should be a minor inconvenience. :-) I have to say that the word FLINT comes 
to mind. ;-)

Of course, we *could* reconcile it by saying that by some strange, tragic 
coincidence worthy of Hardy, the moon actually achieves fulness just at the 
moment when it comes out from behind a cloud and there happens to be a 
werewolf who's forgotten to take his potion on the loose.

Mmm.

And what of the effect of the potion? It's not a one-off dose he's forgotten, 
is it? Yet that one last forgotten dose proves critical. Perhaps it *has* 
worked, *until he sees the moon*. So it's not entirely a subjective 
transformation, but there's a subjective element to it and he's not quite 
medicated enough to overcome that part of it.

I'm not convinced, but it's the best I can do with it.

Lupin needs a lunascope, that's what I say.

Eloise
(who'd let Remus curl up on her hearth rug any time (only don't tell Severus)






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