Wolfsbane Dosing (was: Neville/Wolfsbane/Fluffy/Filk/Snape/Time Travel)

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 169441


> Neri wrote in
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/169095>:
> 
> << It is well established that Lupin has to take his potion every day
> during the week before his transformation (he says so in the Shack,
> and we also see Snape bringing him the potion in Halloween day and
> Lupin is seen that night in the great hall, but misses his class
> several days later). >>


>Catlady wrote: 
> Is it well-established? Here is some canon from PoA:
> 
> <<The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which
> was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of Harry, his black eyes
> narrowing.
> 
> "Ah, Severus," said Lupin, smiling. "Thanks very much. Could you leave
> it here on the desk for me?"
> 
> Snape set down the smoking goblet, his eyes wandering between Harry
> and Lupin.
> 
> "I was just showing Harry my grindylow," said Lupin pleasantly,
> pointing at the tank.
> 
> "Fascinating," said Snape, without looking at it. "You should drink
> that directly, Lupin."
> 
> "Yes, Yes, I will," said Lupin.
> 
> "I made an entire cauldronful," Snape continued. "If you need more.
> 
> "I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much,
Severus.">>
> 
> and
> 
> << "I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried
> everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that
> Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It
> makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week preceding the
> full moon, I keep my mind when I transform .... I'm able to curl up in
> my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again." >>
> 
> I long to know whether 'take it in the week preceeding the full moon'
> means 'take it once anytime during that week' or 'take it daily each
> day of that week'. (Or, for that matter, why assume once daily? It
> could be every four hours daily!) The conversation between Snape and
> Lupin has the disadvantage that both speakers are trying to hide
> things from Harry and the readers, but "*if* you need more" and "I
> should probably take some again *tomorrow*" don't sound to me like
> daily doses.


Neri again:
Perhaps it is not *that* well-established as I've made it sound. But
IMO the canon above does suggest daily doses. Snape does prepare an
entire cauldronful, and Lupin does say he'll take another goblet
tomorrow. Assuming a cauldronful is more than two goblets and
extrapolating from the goblet today and the goblet tomorrow we can
conclude a daily goblet during the week before the full moon. Maybe it
is not that regular. Maybe Lupin just feels ill and then he knows he
has to take another goblet. However, in that case one wonders: how
come Lupin forgetting to take just *one* goblet was enough for a
violent transformation to occur? This  strongly suggests that Lupin
must take the potion for a fixed number of times during that week, and
if he misses just one of them the potion loses its effect. It doesn't
have to be daily for my original argument to hold, but this would be
the simplest and most obvious with the canon we have. 

So we can assume that Lupin and Snape look at their lunar charts and
find that the next full moon would take place at a Friday night.
There's no problem of Lupin missing any classes in such a case, so
Lupin just starts taking the potion the night of the previous Friday.
What is critical now is not neglecting to take the potion even once
during that week, or the effect will be lost. What *isn't* critical is
to keep track of days and remember that Friday is full moon night. The
transformation isn't dangerous as long as Lupin keep taking the
potion. When the full moon night finally arrives Lupin becomes a
harmless wolf, he just curls in his office until tomorrow and that's
the end of it until the next month.

In that case you can reasonably imagine both Lupin and Snape, under
the stress of the unexpected events, losing track and forgetting that
tonight is the night. Snape has brought Lupin his potion (or
alternatively Lupin went to Snape's office to get it) the night before
that, and before that, and before that... six times over. So in the
Shack Snape tells Lupin that he forgot to take his potion tonight
(this "tonight" again suggesting that Lupin took it the nights before
that) and yet neither of them behaves as if a violent transformation
is imminent every moment now. The most logical explanation is that
both of them lost track of days and forgot that tonight is full moon
night.


Neri