Werewolf Mystery

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 153879


> Allie wrote:
> > 
> > You are absolutely right.  If the common perception that werewolf 
> > bites are not fatal is correct, then Snape doesn't owe James a life-
> > debt.  I suspect that what we are dealing with is a big, HUGE... 
> > Flint.  I don't think more will be made of it in book 7.
> >
> Carol responds:
>  And yet, if it matters to the plot, it won't matter to JKR that it's,
> shall we say, inconsistent. (Look at Lupin's transformation in that
> same chapter; he should have transformed when the moon rose, not when
> it peeped out from behind a cloud.)
> 

Pippin:
Heh heh. The text is ambiguous about when Lupin's transformation is
supposed to begin, but it's perfectly clear about when it's supposed to end.
"I am able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the 
moon to wane again." Not "set"  or "disappear" but "wane." Now I ask
you, if the ending of the transformation is controlled by the waning
of the full moon, shouldn't the beginning of it be controlled by the
waxing? In which case Harry is simply misled and the unexpected
manifestation of the moon had nothing to do with the timing of Lupin's
transformation at all. 

My, those Lupin anomalies pile up.  I realize that EverSoEvil!Lupin is 
one of those theories that seems obvious to its originator and the 
product of a screwball imagination to everybody else. <g> But with so 
much HP speculation out there, we're bound to get some things 
right, if only by accident. The problem is the signal to noise ratio is 
hopeless. Each valid theory is surrounded by its bodyguard of 
fruitless speculation.

But that's never stopped us before...

 I can think of a couple of non-Flint reasons for JKR to introduce 
the idea that werewolves seldom kill their victims. One, it casts more
doubt on Dumbledore's understanding of Snape's position. Suppose
Snape never considered he had a life debt at all? This in turn suggests
a reason why Voldemort might discount Snape's life debt even if he
knew about it. This is useful for ESE!Snape theories, of course, but
also useful for shamming DDM!Snape. 

Two, if the Lupin anomalies from the earlier books  are meaningful, 
they must be brought to mind again  before they are resolved. What
better way to do that than to introduce a new one?

A further note on the life debt:
Dumbledore says the life debt is magic at its deepest, its most
impenetrable. I think that means it can't be reduced to some 
formula where Snape *can't* do this or Peter *must* do that.
More likely, it works in very mysterious ways, and is most
apparent after the fact, especially when actions which seemed 
hostile at the time redound  to the debtee's benefit. It's not the 
sort of thing Voldemort would understand very well.

Pippin