Lupin's resignation and the legacy of hate

[Renee]

No: HPFGUIDX 99753

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:
> > Renee:
> > 
> > What I don't understand is why Snape didn't bring the potion 
> along  when he discovered Lupin had left his office and was 
> running towards  the Shrieking Shack. He's a wizard. Surely he 
> can find a way to  carry the cup without spilling the contents? 
> > 
>  
> Pippin:
> Lupin tells us that as long as he takes the potion in the week 
> before he transforms, he's safe,  but we don't know if he can take 
> it any time up until the transformation. 
> 
>  For instance, I have a medication I'm supposed to take a half an 
> hour before I visit the dentist. If I forget to take it till I get
> there, then I have to reschedule my appointment. 
> 
> It takes at least an hour to travel to Hogsmeade via the witch's 
> tunnel. The Shrieking Shack tunnel can't be too much shorter. If 
> Snape brought Lupin the potion because  time was running out, 
> then he may have realized that without a time turner, it was going 
> to be too late for the potion to work by the time he caught up 
with 
> Lupin, even if the transformation itself was not yet due to occur.

Renee:

In that case, Snape was apparently on the late side, bringing the 
potion. But that night of all nights, Lupin couldn't wait. He'd just 
seen both Sirius and Wormtail appear on the map, he'd seen Sirius 
pull Ron and Wormtail into the Whomping Willow, he knew Harry and 
Hermione were there as well and probably wouldn't leave Ron to his 
fate - so can it really be labeled 'forgetfulness' if he decided to 
make a dash for it to try and prevent a catastrophe, as he saw it?
What would we be saying if we heard he'd just sat back and waited 
for Snape to show up with the potion at last? 

Yet he doesn't use the urgency of the moment or his own emotional 
turmoil to excuse himself when he explains to Harry why he has 
resigned. He knows too well that for a werewolf such mitigating 
circumstances don't apply - and can't apply. At first sight, this 
doesn't seem fair. But what he ultimately pays for isn't his failure 
to take the last dose of wolfsbane potion, but his failure to tell 
Dumbledore about Padfoot. In a roundabout way, justice is being done 
here in a way that brings his humanity and his responsibility as a 
human being into play. It looks as if it's the werewolf who has to 
resign, but ultimately it's the man Remus Lupin who faces the 
consequences of his failure. 

Pippin:
 
> In  an earlier post on this thread, Renee made the point that 
> Hagrid and Lupin are explaining two events: Lupin's decision to 
> resign, and Snape's leak of information about Lupin, and that the 
> connection between them is not clear.

Renee:

That's not quite the point I made (or tried to make). I reacted to 
the suggestion that Lupin seems to give two different explanations 
for his resignation by pointing out that we get two different 
explanations (from two different people) for two different things 
here. I never said they were unconnected. To me, it's obvious that 
they are.

Pippin:

> Some are saying that Snape's announcement prevented Lupin 
> from  resigning  with dignity, 'for personal reasons.'
> 
> That assumes that everyone else in the know would have 
> been willing to keep the secret from hostile parents.  But 
> although it isn't stated explicityly anywhere, Cornelius Fudge has 
> to have been told that Lupin was a werewolf and was loose on 
> the grounds. Do you think he wouldn't tell Umbridge first thing in 
> the morning? 

Renee: 

If Fudge had known Lupin was loose on the grounds, it wouldn't have 
been necessary for Snape to let the secret slip in the first place, 
because he could count on it that it would be in the Daily Prophet 
soon. And the only one who may have felt inclined to inform Fudge 
*was* Snape, but this would incriminate Dumbledore (who had employed 
the werewolf), and I don't think Snape is in a position to do so. 
Nor am I sure he wants to. Getting back at Lupin, though, is a 
different thing.

Renee