DD and the rat (was:Re: Minerva McGonagall-/Dumbledore)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 116421


Siriusly Snapey Susan wrote:
> I'm (obviously) quite far behind here, but I didn't see that anyone 
> address the two things I'm going to bring up here, at least not in 
> the thread links at the end of Pippin's post.
> 
> Since presumably a good, strong theory should have not just possible 
> actions in it but also explained motivations, could you tell me WHY 
> Lupin would hate Sirius & Peter?  I don't see a motive for hatred in 
> the slightest. 

Carol responds:
I'm not Pippin, of course, and I don't entirely agree with her ideas,
but I presented some speculative reasons why Lupin might have become
estranged from the other Marauders in Post 116261.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/116261

It's by no means a finished argument and some of the steps may be out
of order, but I was interrupted while I was composing it and had to
send it off only half-edited. I don't see a motive for hatred,
exactly, but I can see him feeling excluded when he wasn't invited to
Harry's christening. (I imagine he *was* invited to the wedding, but
at least nine months and probably something closer to four years
elapsed between the first ceremony and the second--plenty of time for
new tensions and differences to develop among the foursome.)

I'd be interested in seeing what either of you thinks of those ideas,
bearing in mind that I didn't have time to tighten the wording or
check the argument for inconsistencies.

> SSSusan wrote:
> I don't understand how we KNOW that Lupin never taught elsewhere?  
> Isn't this a supposition?  I mean, I've seen others postulating that 
> Lupin might have taught at Durmstrang, for instance.  No canon to 
> *know*, but unless I missed something recently, I don't think
there's canon that he did *not* teach elsewhere previously either.
> 
> As to the peeling letters, I also think it's a bit strong to say
this means the briefcase "can't" have originally belonged to Remus.  
> First, if he *did* teach somewhere else, beginning shortly after 
> leaving Hogwarts, the letters might have begun to peel by now.  
> Second, even if it that round of teaching wasn't all that long ago, 
> given the type of quality apparel Lupin tends to wear, perhaps he 
> could only afford a cheap briefcase, whose lettering doesn't wear as 
> well as more expensive models.
> 
> If the peeling lettering is the only evidence we have of two 
> Professor R.J. Lupins, I think it's not all that strong a piece of 
> evidence.

Carol responds:
I've always wondered about the peeling letters (and how Lupin earned a
living before Hogwarts). The problem for me is that there are no other
wizarding schools in Britain, and I can't see a Defense against the
Dark Arts teacher at Durmstrang, which teaches the Dark Arts
themselves (I also can't see Lupin wanting to teach there). That
leaves Beauxbatons (which probably would pay better than Lupin seems
to be paid--not Madame Maxime's silk shawls, the students' satin
cloaks, the dishes and decorations as Fleur describes them) or one of
the smaller, as yet unnamed European schools. (His resume, I would
guess, has a lot of gaps in it, or maybe one huge gap between his
first teaching post and the one at Hogwarts.)

Since JKR has informed us that Lupin's middle name is John, it does at
least appear that the battered suitcase is his own, though it could be
his father's if they had the same initials (R. J.).

Carol, wondering why Lupin doesn't use some sort of spell to repair
the peeling initials