Lupin's power and trustworthiness (WAS Support for Fleur, Cho, Lupin - )

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 28648

 
> Cindy wrote:
> 
> >But there is one other possibility.  Perhaps Lupin's Patronus 
really
> >is just formless silver stuff.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >As for Dumbledore, who knows?
> 

Amy wrote:

> There's another possibility too:  that both Lupin's and 
Dumbledore's do have 
> definite forms and JKR, either for some definite narrative reason 
or for the 
> sake of keeping the Patronus phenomenon mysterious, doesn't want to 
say 
> exactly what they were.  <snip>

Lupin-fan to Lupin-fan, Amy, I'm starting to develop some concerns 
about a few canon clues that Lupin may not be that strong of a 
wizard.  I've always imagined Lupin as powerful and trustworty, but 
I'm having trouble reconciling the following tid-bits from canon:

1.  When Lupin transforms into a werewolf, JKR tells us that 
Crookshanks starts backing away.  Hmmm.  What an odd detail to 
include in that scene.  Crookshanks is smart, part-Kneazle (so able 
to identify untrustworthy people) and werewolves are only dangerous 
to people.  So if Crookshanks has no reason to fear Lupin as 
werewolf, why is Crookshanks backing away from Lupin?

2.  To date, I've dismissed all of the talk of werewolves being 
untrustworthy as just talk.  But maybe there is something to it.  By 
his own admission, Lupin betrayed Dumbledore's trust twice -- once as 
a schoolboy, and most recently as an adult by not telling Dumbledore 
Sirius was an Animagus with knowledge of secret passageways into the 
castle.  That's some pretty serious stuff to keep hidden when Black 
is breaking into the castle twice armed with a knife, slashing 
pictures and hangings along the way.

3.  As I mentioned before, Lupin's Patronus is described as formless 
on the train.  True, JKR may have reasons for keeping the form of his 
Patronus a secret.  But note that when Lupin teaches the Patronus to 
Harry, he doesn't ever perform it himself.  That, coupled with his 
remark that he's no expert ("I don't pretend to be an expert at 
fighting dementors, Harry, quite the contrary . . . "), makes me 
wonder whether Lupin is strong enough to conjur a proper Patronus.  
After all, if anyone should be an expert at fighting dementors, it 
ought to be the DADA teacher.  Maybe these things are difficult for 
him because he gets drained of energy once a month -- I don't know.

4.  Parts of the Shrieking Shack scene make me wonder, also.  Lupin 
is holding Peter, and Lupin and Black together transform Peter back 
into a man.  Do they do it this way because Lupin isn't powerful 
enough to do it himself?  Or could there just be some magical reason 
like it takes the power of two wizards to overcome Peter's power 
directed toward maintaining his rat form?

5.  I found it odd that Sirius conjures the manacles instead of 
Lupin.  Lupin is clearly in charge, and has just raised Snape and 
splinted Ron's leg, but for some reason, Sirius steps in (with 
someone else's wand) to conjure manacles out of thin air.  Could it 
be that Lupin isn't that great with transfiguration?

6.  In the Leaky Cauldron, the teachers sit around talking about 
James, Sirius and Peter.  They call James and Sirius clever, and 
Peter hopeless.  No mention of Lupin.  I wonder why.  Maybe Lupin was 
just ordinary and didn't stand out either way?  In any event, it may 
suggest that Lupin was more peripheral to the group, suggesting that 
maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as close to the other three Marauders as 
I've always thought.

7.  No matter how you cut it, Sirius and James thought it was more 
likely that Lupin was the spy than Peter, or they wouldn't have 
chosen Peter as SecretKeeper.  Can it all be just prejudice against 
werewolves, or is there more going on than that?

Anyway, as I've said before, the Lupin character is nearly perfect, 
and perfection is usually boring.  I wonder if JKR has made Lupin's 
magical talent rather ordinary so that this is his "weakness."

Cindy (realizing that if JKR really wants to shock and torment 
everyone, she could have Lupin turn out to be untrustworthy in the 
end)