Professor Lupin Forbade Hermione from Facing the Boggart...to Help Keep Her Secret
If you, too, have never understood why Professor Lupin prevented Hermione Granger from partaking in the Boggart class, we’ve got the perfect explanation.
During Harry Potter ’s studies in Hogwarts, the issue with the lack of Defense Against Dark Arts professors has always been self-evident. As we learn much later in the series, this position was cursed many years ago by none other than Lord Voldemort who was upset he wasn’t allowed to teach at Hogwarts… And it led to some fun.
Thanks to that curse, no one could keep the job for more than one year. Harry and his classmates had to deal with several Death Eaters, egomaniacs, and idiots as his DADA teachers throughout the years, but among them all, one professor was really distinct. In Harry’s third year, he, luckily, had an actually competent DADA teacher.
Professor Lupin, James Potter’s friend, was the perfect Defense Against Dark Arts professor if not for one subtle detail: he was a werewolf. But apart from that, he was an incredibly competent and kind teacher who never did anything questionable… If we ignore the fact that he completely removed Hermione from the Boggart class.
It’s obvious why Lupin prevented Harry from facing his Boggart — but why Hermione? The girl had clearly proven herself smart and capable, and she even knew exactly what Boggarts did, but for some reason, Professor Lupin told her to stand aside when every other student was practicing the Riddikulus spell.
Our best theory is that, much like all other teachers, Lupin was aware of Hermione Granger’s Time-Turner shenanigans, and was instructed to keep her away from anyone’s attention. Since giving a 13-year-old such a powerful artifact was a questionable decision, it was most likely the professors’ common strategy.
To allow Hermione to partake in so many classes, her teachers had to downplay her role in each of them. In the case of the DADA class, Hermione’s Boggart could turn out to be something special, and Professor Lupin didn’t want other students to remember it in case they would later discuss it and find out someone else had Hermione at a different class at the same time, too.