Lupin, Bewitching Hour, Wolfbane potion

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 39365

Eloise wrote:
> 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)

Ah! I love the werewolves threads so much I couldn't help but throw my 
own opinion in, even though I'm extremelly busy lately.

I must say I find this theory the best of all proposed in the thread, 
so I'm going to grab it and run away with it: the medication ("wolfbane 
potion") progressively wears down not only the werewolf's killer 
instinct (canon tells us that he still transforms, but has the control 
to just hide under his desk), but also stalls the wolf's transformation 
for a few hours, as long as the moonlight doesn't hit him. 

Why, I hear you ask, does he transform at all, then? Well, the potion 
isn't finished yet. It's already working, in the sense that as long as 
Lupin drinks it there is no danger of hurting someone, but 
PotionMaster!Snape is still working on the formulae (the real reason he 
agreed to the whole scheme) so that (some day) it stops the 
transformations entirely (for that little discovery, I'm sure Snape 
would get a Merlin Order first class, which is his real objective, even 
if he *does* have to help Lupin on the way). The potion curbs the 
instinct, and keeps Lupin from transforming in "those days" as long as 
the moon doesn't hit him... for a few hours. Then, about two or three 
in the morning, the moon's presence is just too much and he transforms, 
even if he's behind walls or it's a cloudy night.

Now, the shack scene makes more sense: Lupin did miscalculate, since he 
decided not to take the potion on the basis of: "I've taken enough to 
last me until one o'clock. As long as I don't see the d*mned moon, I'll 
be alright" ::looks out of the window:: "Cloudy night; no danger... I'm 
in a hurry: better get going".

But the important thing is not that it was a casualty that the witching 
hour happened when Lupin saw the moon, it's only that the potion was 
effective until then, but it's potency -without that crucial last dose- 
wasn't enough to curb his insticts, and even with the last dose it 
wouldn't have stopped him from transforming.

There is one last consideration to be done: Lupin wasn't only in a 
hurry, he also knew -very well!- that he was going to need all his wits 
with him to face his two old companions, Sirius and Peter, and he knew 
that taking the last dose of the medicine would almost incapacitate 
him, so he took the risk, hoping that the night would remain cloudy 
(not a bad guess, being Scotland and all...).

I like it, for a rushed theory. Let's see who's the first to poke holes 
in it. If no-one does, maybe I'll even find time to write an acronym 
for it.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf, always ready to think the worst of Snape, and still will 
surely understimate him.