I feel like it is a broader pattern. At the river he noticed her reaction with the kelpie and became concerned, even though no one else saw it, but he played it cool. He also is the only professor who does not cancel class when it rains, despite it obviously making him look like a jerk and requiring him to slog in from the parking lot in the rain. It may be a delicate thing in which he must act totally as if nothing were happening, or it breaks the spell and butter knife guy or rain guy or whoever is up next gobbles him up when he tries to show up for work.