Lupin Is Not An Airhead! (WAS Remus: Once more with feeling, )

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 39241

Pip wrote about our dear, self-effacing, delightful, prematurely-
grey but-still-looking-young Lupin, who is so desperately in need of 
the love of a good woman:

> I'm not trying to be nasty to poor Remus (who I like) when I say 
>that if he can't be trusted to take his medication under stress 
>then he is too dangerous to have teaching in a school; I'm stating 
>what I believe, from experience, to be fact. This is why I think 
>Snape acts correctly in forcing his resignation.
> 
> If JKR had, for example, decided to have him tied up and unable to 
> have access to his potion I would have been disgusted at Snape's 
> behaviour. But she shows him free to take his potion, and choosing 
> (by forgetting) not to. 

What's this?  Another spirited attack on Lupin premised on the idea 
that Lupin is forgetful and deserved to lose the only paid work he 
has been able to find?  Based on the assumption that Remus, that 
Knucklehead, just forgot to take his potion that night?  He's so 
darn forgetful that he is an out-and-out menace to the entire 
Hogwarts student body, so Snape's revealing Remus' secret was the 
best way to protect all of those helpless students?

Well!  I must draw a line in the sand on this one.  

<plants hands on hips>

Remus Lupin Is *Not* An Airhead!

Where's the canon?  Did you ask whether I have *canon*?  You betcha!

First of all, Remus never once tells us that he "forgot" his 
potion.  

The only one who says that Lupin forgot his potion is *Snape*, who 
says, "You forgot to take your potion tonight."

Now, is there any good reason to believe Snape here?  How would 
Snape know *why* Lupin didn't take his potion?  Indeed, Snape hates 
Lupin, so Snape could be expected to describe Lupin's failure in the 
most insulting way possible.  Snape is just assuming the worst about 
Lupin -- as usual.

So what's the best theory to explain why Lupin failed to take his 
potion?  For that, we have to turn to Mahoney's great Bewitching 
Hour theory (Message 32,725), from which I will boldly copy the 
following: 

Mahoney:

> Do we have any concept at all as to what time it was when Lupin 
> transformed?  I was thinking about the fact that he ran out of the 
> school having forgotten to take his potion ~ I mean, with 
>werewolvery being such a huge part of his life, I just don't see 
>him, on the night of the full moon, both forgetting to take the 
>potion *and* running out and putting others in danger of his 
>transforming, you know?
> 
> But what if he thought he had time?  It was the full moon that 
>night; he hadn't taken his potion; he had the map on his desk 
>(which is how he saw Pettigrew et al).  
> 
> What If: he knew it was the full moon that night, and was going to 
>go get his potion from Snape.  However, he knew the kids might 
>sneak off re the Buckbeak thing.  He glances at the clock.  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.  
> 
> He checks the map.  Cue dramatic music: egad, there's Sirius! Near 
> the kids! And ~ can it be?  It can't! But the map doesn't lie! ~ 
> Peter Pettigrew!  Alive?  How??
> 
> Things are a-clickin' in Lupin's mind.  The kids are in danger; if 
> Peter is alive, then Sirius didn't kill him; if Sirius didn't kill 
> Peter, could it be that he didn't betray the Potters; he has to 
>get out there at once!  In the excitement of the moment, he still 
>has at the back of his mind the full moon, but also the disarming 
> thought "*I still have time*."  Running out now without taking his 
> potion will be cutting things close, but his split-second decision 
>is that he must.
> 
> So out he runs...events happen...things get out of hand...and when 
> they leave the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, it's not the fact 
> that the moon breaks through that causes Lupin to change.  The 
> appearance of the moon is simply what alerts Sirius to the reason 
> behind Lupin's sudden change in attitude.  The cause of the change 
>is simply that Lupin's time has run out.  Midnight of the first 
>full moon is at hand.
 
<snip> 

>On the other hand, it explains, to me, four things that have 
>bothered me:
> 
> 1.  Why did he forget to take his potion, when it's so critical?  
>(He didn't; he just put it off, because he thought he would have 
>time to get to it later.)
> 
> 2.  Why did he run out of the relative security of his office on 
>the night of his transformation?  (Again, he thought he had time to 
>get back to the potion/his office before he transformed.)
> 
> 3.  Why did he not transform until that one particular moment, 
>when it *seems* clear that the moon has been up for a while?  
>Because it isn't just the appearance of the moon, but the 'witching 
>hour' on the first night of the full moon that dicates his 
>transformation.)
> 
> 4.  Why did he berate himself and consent to leave Hogwarts, when 
> he'd only made the one mistake, and knew that so long as he stuck 
>to the potion he would be harmless in the future?  (Because it 
>wasn't just that he'd put innocents in danger by forgetfulness; it 
>was because he'd made a conscious choice to take a risk, and in 
>doing so he realized that he'd taken his dangerous condition for 
>granted.  He didn't forget his potion, he forgot to keep in mind 
>how dangerous he was.  Which is almost scarier. Er, you know?)

<Cindy nods with satisfaction> 

That's pretty nice work Mahoney did there, don't you think?  

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 definitely moving 
in the right direction.  It is also consistent with Lupin's 
characterization as careful, guarded and thoughtful. 

Now, the theory isn't perfect 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 then again, he has just received a real jolt by 
finding Peter alive, he doesn't anticipate Snape's interference, and 
he is multi-tasking (dealing with Peter/Snape/Sirius and being outed 
as a werewolf).  

And heck, they were only minutes away from the castle when Lupin 
transformed.  So his calculations were only off by a hair, weren't 
they?  And if Snape had kept his hooked nose out of the whole 
affair, or had Snape been willing to listen in the Shack, Lupin 
would have made it back to the castle in *plenty* of time, right?

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.

So, Lupin critics, does Mahoney's Bewitching Hour Transformation 
theory put you at ease?

Cindy (thinking it is high time we put Airhead!Lupin to rest once 
and for all)