I think there's a tendency to read that scene with Lupin asleep on the train and want him to be awake. After all, it's what would happen in fic, innit? It's in-character, and us fannish types like seeing the more Slytherinesque tactics of our heros, don't we? ;)
However, I've read that scene carefully before, wondering the same thing, and my ultimate conclusion was that he really was asleep. Solely my interpretation, of course, but there you go. I think it does manage to say something about Lupin, but something else. That he's tired, he's a tired man, who probably has had to work hard to get by, and this job at Hogwarts is affording him the rest he needs. It's a job that, were he not a werewolf, he would be perfectly suited for, so he's able to relax into it a bit. (Of course, while replying to this I had some completely tangential thoughts that potentially invalidate my argument, or not. You can read them here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/glitterdemon/376282.html).) That he was awake and alert only moments after having been, presumably, asleep says more about the kind of man he is -- wary and frightened -- than about any manipulative tendencies on his part, and validates his reasons for needing the rest in the first place. Finally, I see the snort as a snort of disturbance at the raised volume of conversation in the car, considering that Malfoy is known to be loud when he's being obnoxious and insulting.
None of this is to say that I don't think Remus would have the potential to engage in a bit of spying pre-term, but for me the scene does read as him being asleep.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-05-02 02:29 am (UTC)However, I've read that scene carefully before, wondering the same thing, and my ultimate conclusion was that he really was asleep. Solely my interpretation, of course, but there you go. I think it does manage to say something about Lupin, but something else. That he's tired, he's a tired man, who probably has had to work hard to get by, and this job at Hogwarts is affording him the rest he needs. It's a job that, were he not a werewolf, he would be perfectly suited for, so he's able to relax into it a bit. (Of course, while replying to this I had some completely tangential thoughts that potentially invalidate my argument, or not. You can read them here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/glitterdemon/376282.html).) That he was awake and alert only moments after having been, presumably, asleep says more about the kind of man he is -- wary and frightened -- than about any manipulative tendencies on his part, and validates his reasons for needing the rest in the first place. Finally, I see the snort as a snort of disturbance at the raised volume of conversation in the car, considering that Malfoy is known to be loud when he's being obnoxious and insulting.
None of this is to say that I don't think Remus would have the potential to engage in a bit of spying pre-term, but for me the scene does read as him being asleep.