Wolfsbane Potion, Lycanthropy, and Real World Parallels.

[Mel Wong]

No: HPFGUIDX 50682

Greetings.

I've had an idea pricking at the back of my head for the past couple days 
regarding Remus Lupin's lycanthropy- I read that JKR has indeed said:

"Professor Lupin, who appears in the third book, is one of my favorite 
characters. He's a damaged person, literally and metaphorically. I think 
it's important for children to know that adults, too, have their problems, 
that they struggle. His being a werewolf is really a metaphor for people's 
reactions to illness and disability."

That was quoted from "_Conversations with JK Rowling_", and it started me 
thinking quite in-depth on the character of Lupin and the nature of his 
lycanthropy. The way he's been shunned, being not only a dangerous beast 
during his transformations (and classified as one full-time in _Fantastic 
Beasts_), but a _contagious_ one.

This quotation brought on uncalled-for parallels with the way Poppy Z. Brite 
has couched a characters' HIV positive status in her horror novel _Exquisite 
Corpse_, where a character says on a pirate radio station:

"Every moment we stay alive is a moment we cheat the death a billion 
right-wing fundamentalists think we deserve. The world shrinks away from us 
in hatred, terror and disgust, as well it might - _we're plague victims, and 
we're contagious._"
- Poppy Z. Brite, Exquisite Corpse, Phoenix Press edition page 196


Now- not intending to equate just HIV positive status itself with being a 
werewolf, but the paranoia about Lupin being one reminds me intensely of the 
first burst of real AIDS paranoia in the early days of the epidemic - I 
recall my mother warning me, before anyone knew better, about public toilet 
seats.

Even now it feels like ignorance lingers, as we have with individuals who 
refer to AIDS as the "gay plague".

Parallel that with the reflexive disgust that Lupin is faced with when he 
reveals he's a werewolf.

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf?" Ron gasped. "Is he 
mad?"
"Some of the staff thought so," said Lupin. "He had to work very hard to 
convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"
- JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury edition 
page 254

The hatred that Lupin seems to have to deal with seems to me, to parallel 
someone chronically ill, or insane, having to deal with the Real World, as 
JKR pretty much stated. The discrimination that wizards direct at him seems 
very strong- Ron immediately thinks of the worst, regarding a werewolf, 
despite the werewolf being a favorite teacher.

So where does Wolfsbane Potion come into this?

"I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried 
everything, but in those days there was no cure. The Potion that Professor 
Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, 
you see."
- JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury edition 
page 258

It appears that Wolfsbane Potion improves Remus Lupin's quality of life. 
That much is apparent, because it spares him the terror of dealing with 
losing his mind during the full moon. He has stated:

"My transformations in those days were - were terrible. It is very painful 
to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and 
scratched myself instead."
- JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury edition 
page 259

It has, for all intents and purposes, reduced the threat to himself (from 
self-harm while a werewolf), as well as the harm to others (curls up in his 
office a harmless wolf). Moreover, it has given him peace of mind- he has 
not to fear the full moon as much because he will possess his own mind 
despite his body's forced changes, instead of being a mindless beast.

Compare that to the relatively recent advent of antiretroviral combination 
therapy for HIV positive individuals. In the novel I referenced, _Exquisite 
Corpse_, it was set before then, and Lucas Ransom, the HIV positive pirate 
DJ, has an internal monologue from which I draw this:

"And what was there to stay sane for now? A trip to the clinic once a month, 
his pentamadine inhaler and his egg lipids..."
- Poppy Z. Brite, Exquisite Corpse, Phoenix Press edition page 78

It strikes me that despite the quality of life improvement between Lupin's 
former situation and now, with Wolfsbane Potion, that the social 
discrimination he faces has not changed. The wizarding world, no doubt, 
strikes me as somewhat socially stagnant. Little to no affirmative action on 
the part of werewolves, or in Hermione's case, house-elves.

Where am I going with this? It feels strongly to me that now, most of the 
social reasons for loathing a werewolf such as Remus Lupin have been 
dispelled by the advent of Wolfsbane Potion. So why fear him?

"Don't ask me to fathom how a werewolf's mind works." hissed Snape. "Get out 
of the way, Potter."
- JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury edition 
page 265

The simple reason being- social affirmative action doesn't seem to have much 
of a place in the wizarding world. View Hermione's efforts to get the 
house-elves benefits, and the reactions from Ron. While in the Real World, 
activism seems quite a going concern, I don't see very much of that in the 
wizarding world, and if Lupin (and others') plights are to be improved, that 
is now the area where things need to be changed.

Thank you for your time- the useful stuff ends here, in any case.

I'm Mel, and this is my first post to this list. I've been lurking the past 
day, and I've decided to come out and throw this topic out to the folk here 
after one day of rumination on it.

I'm in my 20s, a freelance artist/writer, and I live in Asia. I've been a HP 
fan since 1999 but not been actively fandom-involved until recently. I got 
further exposure from John's online journal 
(http://www.livejournal.com/users/queerasjohn/), and I was bitten by the 
fandom bug, so to speak.

I'm unabashedly a Lupin (and Sirius Black) fan, and while I prefer not to 
speak on ships, I do think that SB/RL are a cute slash pairing. I also like 
to think on the past that JKR hasn't detailed yet, and who they are besides 
who we read about in the books.

I'm also, oddly amused by the mental image of a 20something Remus Lupin 
being a Smiths fan, but that's off-topic now, and I think I'll sign off to 
listen to further discussion.

-Mel



~you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
like a drunken punchup at a wedding.~
-Radiohead, Punch Up At A Wedding





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