SHIP: Remus/Tonks and RL experiences (long)
Matt
hpfanmatt at gmx.net
Sat Aug 6 20:24:26 UTC 2005
No: HPFGUIDX 136759
I don't have a lot to add to this discussion, but hope you'll excuse
my throwing in a couple of sidenotes without trying to respond to the
whole thread.
On the timeline -- I agree there's an odd discontinuity between the
Tonks at King's Cross at the end of OP and the Tonks at the Burrow at
the beginning of HBP, only a couple of weeks later. Perhaps this is
another example of JKR not being terrific with dates and numbers;
perhaps, as someone said on the thread, it was an effort not to
overcomplicate the end of OP; perhaps the events of the battle took
some time to sink in for Tonks; or perhaps JKR just hadn't yet
conceptualized the Tonks storyline for HBP when she was writing OP.
Conversely, I don't find it so incredible that Tonks and Lupin could
have built up enough of a bond over the course of HBP to be talking
about marriage (or at least partnership) by the scene at the end.
They must see each other at times in their Phoenix endeavors (surely
Lupin comes in to report on his dealings with the werewolves), and it
is believable that they would have sought out some contact after going
through the battle at the Ministry together and both losing a friend,
in Sirius. (What is harder to believe: that Tonks is ready to commit
to Lupin after 10 months of trying to get him to date her, or that
two-and-a-half months after the Ministry battle Tonks is so affected
by her feelings for Lupin that her Patronus has turned into a werewolf?)
Finally, on a more trivial point, I'm pretty sure that Lupin is
supposed to have gone back to the werewolves after Christmas: there is
a subtle hint (that I only noticed on rereading) in the scene where
Tonks runs into Harry outside the Room of Requirement, near the end of
Chapter 21. Tonks says she is at Hogwarts to see Dumbledore, because
she wants news about "what's going on" with rumors Tonks has heard
about "people getting hurt." Harry thinks he understands and refers
to stories in the Daily Prophet, but Tonks says the Prophet's behind
the times -- i.e., her news hasn't been reported yet. (Harry then
thinks that Tonks is crying over Sirius, but when he tries to
commiserate she doesn't know what he's talking about.)
Although Tonks leaves without telling Harry the rumors she has heard,
we get a good hint as to what they might have been in the next
chapter. Chapter 22 occurs a couple of weeks after Harry's meeting
with Tonks <fn1>, so it is reasonable to think the Prophet may have
caught up with her news by now. Right after HRH get the note from
Hagrid about Aragog dying, Rowling casually inserts a scene where the
Montgomery sisters walk by looking unhappy. Harry and Ron don't know
why, but Hermione does: she has heard that their brother was attacked
by a werewolf and ultimately died from his wounds in St. Mungo's.
She's also heard a rumor that they were attacked because their mother
refused to help the Death Eaters.
My reading is that Tonks had heard the same news about werewolf
attack(s) before it was printed in the Prophet and had been worrying
about Lupin's safety, particularly if the werewolves were showing more
overt support for Voldemort.
-- Matt
<fn1> On the timeline of Chapters 21 and 22, we know that Chapter 21
ends on the day of the Hogsmeade Apparition practice sessions, which
appear to have been held sometime around the beginning of April (Harry
observes when they are announced that he won't be 17 for another four
months). Chapter 22 occurs on the day of the actual Apparition test,
which we are told in Chapter 21 was scheduled for April 21. I think
it's reasonable to say, therefore, that there is about a two-week gap
between the end of Chapter 21 and the beginning of Chapter 22.
-- M
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