Lupin As Volunteer Auror? (WAS Lupin Oddities)

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 30043

> Cindy wrote:
> > He clearly tells us in the Shrieking Shack that he has been 
> > unable to find paid work because of what he is.

 
Jessie wrote:

> > The key phrase being "paid work".  Rowling has hinted that James 
worked a 
> > job that doesn't account for all the money he left Harry.  I feel 
James was 
> > an auror, so perhaps Aurors do not make money.


I like a creative theory as much as the next person, but I'm not sure 
canon is entirely consistent with the idea that Lupin was a volunteer 
Azkaban guard or volunteer auror, that James was an auror, or that 
aurors are unpaid.  

First, I doubt JKR will reveal James' career to be auror.  We know 
that Moody was the best auror, and that half the cells in Azkaban 
were full because of him.  That means James wouldn't have been the 
best auror, and I just have a hunch that JKR will not give James a 
career at which he wasn't the best.

Second, the identity of aurors isn't a big secret.  Mr. Longbottom 
was a popular auror, and Moody was well-known, too.  If James was an 
auror, that means it was probably well-known information.  In that 
case, it seems unlikely that Bill, Charlie and Harry sit around (GoF, 
Ch. 11) discussing Moody and no one ever says, "By the way, Harry, 
your dad was a pretty good auror, too."

Having Lupin be a volunteer Azkaban guard also raises more questions 
than it answers.  If Lupin is hanging around at Azkaban, why doesn't 
he ever check in on Sirius?  No other wizard guards are ever 
mentioned, so how does Lupin manage to secure this position for 
himself?  If Lupin is an Azkaban guard, dealing with dementors on a 
daily basis, why does he say he doesn't "pretend to be an expert at 
fighting dementors?"  PoA, Ch. 10.

I think it is most likely that aurors are paid, and that Lupin knows 
how to ward of dementors not from years of volunteer work as an 
auror, but because he is just plain good at DADA.  He knows about a 
host of dark creatures, so why shouldn't he know how to ward off a 
single dementor?

Cindy