Lupin and Legilimency: Why Wait to Reveal?

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 129955

> quigonginger wrote:
> >Q:> Why does Lupin's case say "Professor R.J. Lupin" in peeling 
> >gold letters, if he's never had paid work?
> >>    
> >A: The man's an optomist.  Although it could have belonged to 
> >his twin, Romulus Jack. (who went to school elsewhere)
> 
> 
> heather the buzzard
> Heehee... I know you're being funny, and we know that JKR has 
> said that Remus does not have a twin named Romulus though she 
> appreciates why we would think so...
> 
> But that did get me thinking.  Perhaps Lupin's father was a 
> professor?  With the same initials?  That's not unheard of.  
> He's really not old enough to have a briefcase that tattered 
> and worn.  His clothes are understandable -- he rips them when 
> he transforms, and he's poor from not getting much work and has 
> to buy second-hand.  But if he buys stuff second-hand, how did 
> he get a briefcase with his name on it?  If he got the briefcase 
> second-hand and had his name added to it, how would the name 
> already be peeling?
> 
> Generally, someone with their name on their briefcase, has been 
> using it for quite some time.  So there are really only 2
possiblities that I can see. 1) He was a professor elsewhere in 
> the intermediary time, and the statement of not finding paid work 
> was a red herring of some sort, or 2) the case belonged to an 
> older relative, presumably a father or perhaps an uncle (heck, 
> why not even a mother or an aunt?)


Valky:
I see another possibility not considered. Perhaps Lupin was a
professor in his first job out of school some years ago before word
got around about his condition. He bought himself a nice new briefcase
to celebrate his prospects of a happy and relatively normal future...
then suddenly a mishap occurs and he's found out, nobody wants him
around anymore and he goes home taking his shiny new briefcase with
him. He spends years resigned to never being able to hold down another
job while his shiny happy briefcase sits forlornly in a musty cupboard
as a reminder of the misfortune that he will never overcome. 

Then he gets the call from Dumbledore, asking him to teach Harry and
his friends, and something stirs in him, a happy memory of his friends
James and Lily, the sense of comfort and belonging that Dumbledore
carries like an aura everywhere he goes. Remus takes out his old
suitcase, its shabby from all the times he kicked and scratched it
during transformations, the gold is faded and peeling, but it still
represents the same wonderful hope that it did when he first bought it
all those years ago. With his childhood dreams firmly in hand Lupin
goes to Kings Cross to catch the Hogwarts express.


Valky