"Professor" Lupin, was: Re: ESE!Lupin condensed

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 146928

> houyhnhnm:
> 
> Except that something about Lupin has been bothering me and I don't 
> think anyone else has brought it up.
> 
> When Lupin was on the train with the Trio at the beginning of PoA, 
> Hermione knew who he was because she saw *Professor* R. J. Lupin "in 
> peeling gold letters" on his suitcase.  Where and when was Lupin a 
> professor?  Not Hogwarts as far as we know.  Durmstrang?

Christina:

I doubt it - Durmstrang seems much less open-minded than Hogwarts (and
way more steeped in the Dark Arts).  We are led to believe that
Dumbledore is more of an enlightened thinker than most, and even at
Hogwarts it is assumed that the parents won't want him teaching there.

One possibility is that Lupin has never been a professor before. 
Maybe the Marauders got him the case as a joke (which would actually
be a very funny cementing of Lupin's fanon bookishness).  It could
have also belonged to a relative who shared the initials R.J. Lupin
(Remus's father?  Grandfather?).

However, given the skill with which Lupin teaches, I'd be surprised if
he's never taught before.  As anybody that's tried it before can tell
you, keeping a classroom full of kids engaged and learning is tough. 
He seems to be too good at it for it to be just natural talent.

Consider this: all evidence points towards Remus getting and then
losing many jobs because of his illness ("unable to find paid work
because of what I am," it is obvious he is poor, etc).  Now, this all
seems fine and dandy at first, but it makes me wonder.  Most people
assume that Remus lost all of these jobs after his employers
discovered his secret.  I think it's safe to say that everybody in the
wizarding world has *some* sort of connection to Hogwarts - even if a
wizard doesn't have children of their own, they surely would have
relatives or friends with kids.  I've always wondered why, in a school
filled with the offspring of Remus's supposed former employers, nobody
seems to know that he's a werewolf.  It shouldn't take long for news
like that to spread.  I find it hard to believe that a parent didn't
get an owl from their child raving about Professor Lupin, say "wait a
second," and proceed to Floo all of their closest friends to share
their concern.

Putting that little puzzle together with the suitcase leads me to
believe that perhaps Remus *was* a teacher (or tutor) after all, but
in the Muggle world.  His lycanthropy would still be an issue because
he would be forced to miss work due to illness.  If Remus was forced
to miss a day of work (and the Lexicon puts that day on a Friday)
*with* the Wolfsbane Potion, he must have had to miss more without it.
 It would have made it very difficult to hold down a steady job.

There's my two knuts.  I find the letters on the case so interesting,
because there's no reason it has to be there.  The kids could have
just been helped by a nameless man on the traincar, only to find out
*later* that he was the new professor.  Or they could have asked Lupin
who he was after the Dementors boarded the train.  Or they just could
have figured it out - how many adults travel on the Hogwarts Express?


Christina