Skip to main content

harry potter - Where had Lupin taught before Hogwarts?


In Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry, Hermione, and Ron get on the Hogwarts Express, the only nearly empty compartment they can find is the one in which Remus Lupin is sleeping. They do not recognise him:



“Who d’you reckon he is?” Ron hissed, as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats furthest away from the window.
“Professor R.J. Lupin,” whispered Hermione at once.

“How d’you know that?”
“It’s on his case,” replied Hermione, pointing at the luggage rack over the man’s head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name ‘Professor R.J. Lupin’ was stamped across one corner in peeling letters.



At the time this happens, the school year has not started yet, and Lupin is technically not yet their teacher (although he has of course already accepted the position at the school). Nonetheless, the name stamp on his bag includes the title ‘professor’, and is obviously not a new addition, either: it is old enough that the letters are starting to peel off.


That would imply that Lupin had earned the title of professor somewhere before the summer of 1993 when he started teaching Defence against the Dark Arts in Prisoner of Azkaban.


But where? Is there any information on whether he had at any point in the past been a teacher at Hogwarts? Or at some other school?


His Wikia article says (citing Pottermore) that after the first war, he was forced to take a series of jobs that were far below his abilities and leaving them before his coworkers found out he was a werewolf; but it says nothing about teaching.


Has JKR mentioned this at any point?



Answer



J.K. Rowling has written extensively about Remus Lupin on Pottermore (Prisoner of Azkaban - Remus Lupin) and describes Lupin's parents' courtship and marriage (Remus is a half-blood, if anyone is interested), Remus's childhood, being bitten by werewolf Fenrir Greyback and becoming a werewolf himself, his years as a student at Hogwarts, his participation as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, his hand-to-mouth existence after the first Voldemort war was over and his complicated relationship with the Wolfsbane potion (he refused to take it because sampling the potion would mean admitting to others he was a werewolf), and Dumbledore's offer of the Defence Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts.



J.K. Rowling does not indicate that any of Remus's odd jobs included teaching or tutoring. It appears the Hogwarts DADA position was Lupin's first teaching assignment. Dumbledore assured Remus that all the Wolfsbane potion Remus would need would be available. J.K. Rowling writes that Remus Lupin turned out to be a natural teacher with an affinity for the subject matter, but more so his students and their inner workings. I think she demonstrates this aptly in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (On a personal note, it was Lupin and Prisoner of Azkaban that really hooked me on the series).


The link goes to Pottermore, the original source of the info on Lupin. You need an account to access the info on Pottermore, but accounts are free. Just an FYI. There's also the Pottermore Wiki for verification purposes -- just be advised that it's not always 100% up to date.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more