[HPforGrownups] Ridiculing the moon

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 53811

At 01:52 15/03/03 , Patricia Bullington-McGuire wrote:

>The first time I read PoA, I thought the orb was a crystal ball.  After
>all, Trelawney said Lupin nearly panicked when she offered to do a reading
>for him.
>
>Maybe it really is a crystal ball, and not the moon.  After all, JKR
>frequently makes humorous references to Trelawney looking like a giant
>insect.  If Lupin was imagining Trelawney's crystal ball turning into an
>actual insect, and a rather puny one at that, I can see why he would find
>that funny.

err...

PoA, UK ed. p. 253, in the Shrieking Shack:

(Lupin): "Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill 
at the full moon? Or did you realize that the boggart changed into the moon 
when it saw me?"
"Both," Hermione said quietly.

As to why it turns into a cockroach, it could simply be case of turning 
something which has (in effect) power of life and death over him into 
something over which he has that power.