How many full moons did Remus Lupin witness?
There is no better way to make yourself cry than joining the Marauders fandom. Its autumn (nearly), my summer depression is gone and in a week my exams are finally over. What a perfect moment to get back into my Marauders phase.
Before i proceed to write the most heartshattering and depressing fanfiction ever i keep myself busy with eliminating potential embarassing mistakes.
Therefore, here goes a breakdown on all full moons that Remus Lupin ever witnessed and experienced in his life.
Remus Lupin was born on 10th March 1960. He spent roughly 63-64 full moons as a non-werewolf.
He was bitten shortly before his 5th birthday (10th March 1965) by Fenrir Greyback. Based on this I am assuming that he was bitten on January 17th or February 16th 1965.
Following this, his first transformation was either the 16th February or the 17th March.
He lived through 80-81 full moons before he started Hogwarts.
Remus Lupin started Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1971 alongside the other Marauders, Lily Evans, etc.
The first full moon that he experienced at Hogwarts was the 5th of September 1971. The Whomping Willow was planted shortly before.
In 1971, one of his transformations fell on the 31st of December. This full moon started at 8:19pm meaning it took place over New Year.
In 1972, one of his transformations fell on the 30th of January which was Lily Evans' birthday and also a Blood Moon.
He spent 14-22 full moons at Hogwarts before the Marauders found out he was a werewolf.
In 1974, one of his transformations fell on the 1st of September which was the day that all students took the train to Hogwarts. Moonrise was at 8:25pm, how this was handled is unclear.
In 1974, one of his transformations fell on the 31st of October which is Halloween. Moonrise was at 1:20am meaning that this full moon took place in the night to Halloween.
In 1975, one of his transformations fell on the 27th of March which was James Potter's birthday.
During their fifth year, the Marauders managed to transform into animagi. Remus Lupin spent 27-37 full moons with the Marauders knowing he was a werewolf but without their company during full moons.
In 1977, one of his transformations fell on the 25th of December which is Christmas.
The Marauders graduated in late June or early July 1978. Remus' last transformation at Hogwarts took place on the 20th June 1978. He spent a total of 19-33 full moons in company of the Marauders (37 if you add the summer holidays).
During his seven years at Hogwarts, he spent 72 (assuming he never went home for holidays except for the summer holidays) to 85 full moons at Hogwarts (assuming that Dumbledore let him stay at Hogwarts during summer).
Such an exception to stay at Hogwarts had to be approved by the headmaster. Tom Riddle is a prominent example of a person that did not get an exception. Considering this it stays unclear if Remus was allowed to spend the summer holidays at Hogwarts. It was never mentioned somewhere.
The Wolfsbane Potion was invented in the second half of the 20th century, some time between 1978 and 1984. In 1984, it was described as "newly founded".
On Halloween 1981, the Potter's died. Sirius was arrested on 1st of November. Until then, Remus could have spent 41 full moons with the Marauders after graduation. The last full moon they spent together was the 13th October 1981.
In total, all four Marauders could have spend 60-78 full moons together.
The first full moon Remus spent alone was the 11th of November 1981.
Between 1985 and 1986, he received the Wolfsbane Potion from Chiara Lobosca a handful of times.
Between November 1981 and September 1993, he spent 146 full moons alone and outside of Hogwarts.
Sirius witnessed 145 full moons during his time in Azkaban between November 1981 and late July 1993.
In 1990, one of Remus' transformations fell on the 31st of December again. This again, was the fullmoon between the New Years Eve and New Year (moonrise was at 6:36pm).
In 1991, one of his transformations fell on Lily's Birthday again (30th of January).
In 1993, Remus Lupin became the DADA teacher at Hogwarts. The 1st of September 1993 was a full moon, meaning that if the train would have been delayed, it would have been a big fucking problem, right?
Actually, not. I have seen this being discussed on Reddit and would like to clarify this now. Moonrise on the 1st of September 1993 in Edinburgh (Scotland) was at 3:33am. This means that this fullmoon actually took place in the early morning of the 1st September (the night from August 31st to September 1st), not in the evening of September 1st. How he was functional already again is a riddle to me but appareantly he got his shit back together enough to take the train at 11am.
It is said that Snape replaced Remus during one DADA lesson "shortly after Halloween" 1993. Remus had a transformation on October 30 1993, one day before Halloween. This was a Saturday, meaning Halloween was a Sunday. This suggests that Snape taught the Third Years in DADA on Monday, the 1st of November in fifth period (DADA class took place on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays for the Third Years).
In 1994, one of his transformations fell on James' Birthday again (27th of March).
The transformation that is shown in Prisoner of Azkaban fell on the 23rd of June 1994. I am not entirely sure what the exact moment of transformation is bound to but it works for this transformation. Moonrise during June in Scotland is around 12:32am.
In total, Remus spent 11 full moons as a teacher at Hogwarts and with access to the Wolfsbane Potion.
Between July 1994 and June 1996, Remus and Sirius could have spent a total of 24 full moons together (not counting the one shown in PoA).
In total, they spent 84-102 full moons in eachothers company.
Sirius died on the 18th June 1996. The last full moon they spent together was the 1st June 1996.
In 1996, one of Remus' transformations fell on the 24th of December, 8:41pm.
Between June 1996 and April 1998, he spent 21 full moons alone.
Remus' last transformation took place on the 12th of April 1998.
He was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts on the 2nd May 1998. His next transformation would have taken place on the 11th May 1998.
In total, Remus Lupin experienced 472 full moons and 408-409 transformations in his entire life.
Bonus: 29 of these transformations took place during a Full Blood Moon which means nothing in canon but in my opinion, it has great potential for some fanfics.