Lupin is James

[sharana.geo <sharana.geo@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 48918

Emily, you've asked really good questions. As many of your questions 
are interrelated and some receive the same answer, I'll just post 
all of your questions and then give you my answer (changing the 
order a bit) hopefully not leaving anything out. Let's see:


Emily wrote:
> This is certainly a very well-researched theory. However, 
> something about it just doesn't sit right with me. The most 
> important hole I found in your theory is:  why??? Why would James,
> and most significantly, Remus, do this? With hindsight being 
> perfect, we all know that if they *did* do this, then they saved 
> James' life. But without knowing that James and Lily would be 
> killed, why take such a drastic measure AND perform the Fidelius 
> charm? While James and Lily knew they were in danger, did they 
> really think they were going to die? If they were fighting
> Voldemort as many people assume, then they probably faced death
> several times and escaped. I think they assumed that they could 
> hide using the Fidelius charm for a while until the storm blew 
> over (presumably, they weren't planning on using it indefinitely).
>
> Second, assuming that James and Lily knew they would die, then a 
> bluff would be necessary to keep James alive (again, a bluff *in 
> addition* to the Fidelius charm). Why would Remus agree to take 
> James' place in death? I understand that James and Lily were 
> parents, but this is still a very drastic step. And why Remus? Did 
> Remus deserve to die more than James did? I don't doubt that Remus 
> would make a sacrifice like this if called upon, but why on earth 
> would James ever ask this of his friend?
>
> Third, why Remus, and not Sirius?  Or someone else?  If James and 
> Lily were as well-liked as people seem to think, then they 
> probably had several friends.  Again, though, this is assuming 
> that James would be willing to "sacrifice" one of his friends, and 
> I really don't understand why he would do that.
>
> Fourth, why James, and not Lily? Did James deserve to live more 
> than Lily? If James believed that Lily wouldn't be killed, then 
> why would Remus swtich with James?  If Lily was going to live, 
> then there wouldn't be the same sense of urgency (i.e., Harry 
> would not be orphaned, so it's not as though this was a 
> necessary step to prevent that).



Now me:

I do not believe that anyone deserved to die or that some lives were 
more "sacrifice-able" than others (neither did James believe it). I 
believe there was a plan (of which we only know a few details) and 
that some things went wrong on the way. But I'll get to that later. 
Right now I'll try to extract important information from the books 
(trying to establish the facts first) then I'll use these facts to 
give you a possible answer to your questions.

(All my books are US paperback editions, except for GoF which is 
Hardcover)

We know from the books that Voldemort killed everyone who opposed 
him and that his reign of terror had lasted about 11 years by the 
time he tried to kill Baby!Harry, as we find out in a conversation 
between Dumbledore and McGonagall the night they left Baby!Harry 
with the Dursleys. (SS/PS Ch. 1, pages 11-12).

We later find out a bit more of what was happening near the end of 
Voldemort's reign of terror.

PoA. Ch 19: The Servant of Lord Voldemort (Pages 374-375):
> "Don't lie!" bellowed Black. "You'd been passing information to
> him for a year before Lily and James died! You were his spy!"
>
> "He - he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh - what
>was there to be gained by refusing him?"
>
> "What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who
> has ever existed?" said Black, with a terrible fury in his
> face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"
>
> "You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed
> me, Sirius!"
>
> "Then you should have died!" roared Black. "Died rather than 
> betray your friends, as we would have done for you!"

We realize here that James, Sirius and Remus were willing to give 
their lives for each other (and for the Rat) if that sacrifice would 
serve to protect them. Also that Voldemort was the most evil wizard 
that had ever existed and that he was taking over everywhere.

Also, in The Three Broomsticks we overhear (with Harry, Hermione and 
Ron) a conversation between Hagrid, Madam Rosmerta, Flitwick, Fudge 
and McGonagall about Black and how the Dementors were all over the 
place looking for him. Madam Rosmerta still has trouble believing 
Sirius killed Peter and the other 12 Muggles, (Sorry this will be 
long):

PoA: Ch. 10: The Marauder's Map (Pages203-206)
> "You don't know half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The
> worst he did isn't widely known."
>
> "The worst?" said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with 
> curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those people you mean?"
>
> "I certainly do," said Fudge.
>
> "I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"
>
> "You say you remember him from Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured
> McGonogall. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"
>
> "Naturally," said Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one
> without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in
> here -- ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act,
> Sirius Black and James Potter!"
>
> "Precisely," said McGonagall. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of
> their little gang. Both very bright, of course -- exceptionally
> bright, in fact -- but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of
> troublemakers ---"
>
> "I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em
> a run fer their money."
>
> "You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in
> Flitwick. "Inseparable!"
>
> "Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Black beyond
> all his other friends" (Goes on saying Black was James best man
> and Harry's godfather, and Harry would be tormented if he knew)
>
> "Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" 
> whispered Madam Rosmerta
>
> "Worse even than that, m'dear..." Fudge dropped his voice. "Not
> many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after
> them. Dumbledore, who of course working tirelessly against 
> You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him
> off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go
> into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person
> to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the
> Fidelius Charm."
>
> (He then goes on explaining the Fidelius Charm)..."As long as the
> Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the
> village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find
> them,..."
>
> "So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam 
> Rosmerta.
>
> "Naturally," said McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that
> Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was
> planning to go hiding himself... and yet, Dumbledore remained
> worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper
> himself."
>
> "He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.
>
> "He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping
> You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said McGonagall. 
> "Indeed he had suspected for some time that someone on our side
> had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to 
> You-Know-Who."
>
> "But James Potter insisted on using Black?"
>
> "He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the 
> Fidelius Charm had been performed -- "
>
> "Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta.
>
> "He did indeed..."  (Goes on...)
>
> (at some point Hagrid says it was him who rescued Harry, Sirius
> turned up and wanted to take Harry away, Hagrid didn't know at the
> time that Sirius had been the Potter's Secret-Keeper)

We find out several important things:

1.- Sirius and James were like brothers, always together, they were 
    ringleaders of the gang, exceptionally bright and more
    troublemakers than George and Fred. 
2.- Sirius is James best man and godfather to Harry.
3.- We are introduced to the Fidelius Charm and how it works.
4.- Dumbledore suggested the use of the Fidelius Charm, even
    suggested to be the Secret-Keeper, but James decided it to be
    Sirius, because being his best friend, he would rather die than
    betray James.
5.- We find out that Sirius was the Secret-Keeper (although we later
    learn that it was the Rat).
6.- We find out that very few people knew that the Fidelius Charm
    was cast, and that Sirius was blamed of betrayal of his best
    friend (other than the death of the others including the Rat). 
7.- We find out that few people knew that Voldemort was after the
    Potters
8.- Someone very close to the Potters was a traitor and was passing
    out information to Voldemort (from the Shrieking Shack scene, we
    figure out that this had been going on for about a year).
9.- Not even Hagrid (being someone Dumbledore trusted his life to)
    knew about the Fidelius Charm.

Now let's review what Harry sees when the Dementors arrive at the 
Quidditch game where he falls off his Nimbus (and Cedric catches the 
snitch):

PoA: Ch. 9: Grim Defeat (page179)
> And he heard it again... Someone was screaming, screaming inside 
> his head... a woman...
> 
> "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
>
> "Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now..."
>
> "Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -- "
> (SNIP)
> "Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy..."
>
> A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, and Harry
> knew no more.

Do you realize that the No-Remorse-In-Killing Voldemort "asked" Lily 
to "Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now..."? What was 
that all about? Lily begged for Harry's life, but Voldemort didn't 
just AK her to get to Harry, he asked her to stand aside first. 
Voldemort was more interested in killing Harry than in killing Lily. 
He just killed Lily because she refused to give up Harry, not 
because it was his goal, otherwise he could just have entered the 
room, AK'd Lily and then Harry. No need to say a word to Lily.



OK, let's put this all together into a possible explanation to your 
questions:

The Potters find out that Voldemort is after them, and during the 
last year someone very close to them (which they trust) is betraying 
them, but they have no idea who it could be. It seems that the only 
person they can only truly trust is Dumbledore, and James trusts 
Sirius to the point of wanting only him to be his Secret Keeper 
(although Dumbledore is uneasy about it). Yes they could hide 
forever, but there is this little problem of having a traitor in the 
small group of people who dare stand up to Voldemort, they were 
losing the fight, many were killed and it seemed no one could stop 
Voldemort. 

James is a really bright guy, was a troublemaker at school, possibly 
a bit arrogant (if we are to believe Snape), and used to break some 
rules (they created the Marauder's Map after all). He decided he had 
to do something. Yes he could hide, but maybe he was feeling like a 
coward. I doubt that it was a matter of waiting till the storm blew 
off. Voldemort isn't the type of guy to let someone escape him, 
Voldemort is "very" arrogant,  he would hunt them down, killing 
whoever stood in his way (it was called the reign of terror, people 
didn't even dare say his name).

Maybe James decided he had to do something to track the traitor 
down, maybe he wanted to be able to move around freely protecting 
his family from the outside. Maybe he was afraid that although 
Sirius was planning to hide, he would be caught and forced by a 
Memory Charm (look how Bertha's brain got messed) or an Imperius 
Curse to give up the Potter's location. Maybe James was planning to 
get close to the traitor, a Death Eater or Voldemort "bluffing" them 
and then perform his superior spells (Great wizard after all). 

If you are those who believe either (or both) Godric Gryffindor or 
Dumbledore are James ancestors and James knew or suspected it, great 
bluff, huh? Gets close, performs his magic and goodbye Voldemort. 
(And he gets to protect his wife and son while he's at it). (I 
believe magic is more associated to the soul than to the body).

Maybe the Switching of bodies took place BEFORE Dumbledore found out 
(by one of his spies) that Voldemort was after the Potters. So 
Dumbledore, James, Remus (bodies switched), Lily and Sirius knew 
that the Fidelius Charm was to be cast (only maybe Sirius didn't 
know about James and Remus's switching). They carry on with the 
Fidelius Charm, only that Real!James (in Lupin's body) doesn't know 
that the Secret-Keeper is the Rat. 

Remember Ollivander said that James wand was good for 
transfiguration, so maybe Remus and James were experimenting or 
learning this new improved Switching Spell before Voldemort decided 
to hunt the Potters. For some reason they decided to keep their 
bodies switched (for the reasons mentioned above). Or maybe Sirius 
did know about the ability to switch bodies, and even had practiced 
it, but thought that by the time James died, James was in his body.

Remember Wizards have ways that we don't have (lucky them!), even 
the Polyjuice Potion. Maybe James wanted an alternative plan in case 
Sirius turned out to be the traitor. Or that someone using the 
Polyjuice Potion was impersonating Sirius. I believe that he thought 
he could never be too careful (I don't know if that phrase came out 
right). James needed to plan ahead several steps (like a Chess 
game). He's not the type to just sit down, hiding calmly while 
others die to protect him. 

There are many possible explanations, you pick one that suits you 
the most or create a new one, but I think you'll agree with me that 
he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. He had to do something. 
Remember that we don't know what his job was (neither Lily's), JKR 
said in a chat (sorry, can't find which one, but I read it 
yesterday) we will find out more about James and Lily's job in Book 
5, she also said that James inherited a lot of money from his father 
as well as the Invisibility Cloak.

So James comes up with this plan to switch bodies with Remus (or 
maybe it's Remus's idea), as maybe it is so difficult to do or it's 
a spell they invented, nobody would think of it. Remus accepted to 
do it, he knows the risks involved. Remus in James body doesn't turn 
into a werewolf (as this is a biological condition), so Lily and 
Harry are in no danger to be bitten by a werewolf. The effect of 
switching bodies is longer than the Polyjuice Potion. Maybe the 
switch was intended for a certain period of time only.

Then the Fidelius Charm was cast and a few days later the Rat 
betrayed the Potters and Lily and Remus (in James body) were 
murdered. It wasn't planned that way. It just happened. It wasn't 
James intention to let Remus die for him. 

Where was Lupin when all of this happened? Not even Lupin in canon 
tells us. (and the kids don't ask). We have no idea where he was. I 
wonder if that Halloween night was full moon and Lupin's body was in 
his werewolf phase, James not being able to save his family, even 
though it was his intention in case the Fidelius Charm failed.

Yes it was a dark period and the risk of being killed was constant, 
everywhere and every day to everyone. Not just by Voldemort but by 
one of the Death Eaters. There are still MANY things we don't know 
about what happened that night. This and Harry surviving, is the 
main mystery in the books. Where was Lupin? Where did James die? Why 
was the house burned? What protected Harry and "evaporated" 
Voldemort? Why are the Potter boys so important? Why Voldemort 
didn't want to kill Lily?

I know that this theory is a little wild and that there is no strong 
canon support to it, but there is no strong canon that says it is 
not possible. I believe it is still valid as a theory and we need 
more input to validate or toss it away. It's just a theory, I'm not 
trying to prove that it happened as we don't have enough 
information; I'm just trying to prove by canon that it is posible.

I hope that the explanation I've just given you sounds convincing 
enough to make you believe it's possible (not to convince you that 
it is what happened). I hope I have answered your questions clearly 
enough:

1.- I do NOT believe that the purpose of switching bodies was to 
    save James life.
2.- I believe there was another plan for the "Switching" and that
    things went horribly wrong. James alive in Lupin's body is a
    consequence of what went wrong, not as the reason for the 
    switching.
3.- No life is more "sacrifice-able" than another, at least not to
    the good guys.
4.- Very few people knew Voldemort was after the Potters, and
    someone very close to the Potters was betraying them. So James
    couldn't have asked just anyone to switch with him. Imagine he 
    switches with a Death Eater or a spy (without knowing it) this 
    FakeJames kills Lily and Harry without any problem.
5.- For some weird reason, Lily isn't Voldemort's target; he was
    willing to spare her (I believe this is what has lead many 
    people to believe that Lily and Voldemort are blood related or 
    that Lily descends from Salazar Slytherin). 
6.- Sirius was already picked for the Fidelius Charm, so it wasn't a
    good idea to pick him for the Switching.
7.- Lily's wand is good for charms and James is good for 
    transfiguration. So James transfigured and Lily charmed, they
    each did their part.  :-)
8.- In the reign of terror, everyone is in danger and susceptible to
    die. Imagine complete anarchism in your society (if you can).
    You just prepare yourself the best you can, keeping contingency
    plans. But you can't control nor cover everything so things
    probably go wrong at some point.

Oh, yes, just one note:

Heidi kindly hinted me the chats where JKR states that James and 
Lily are dead.

Heidi wrote:
> She gets quite exercised if people tell her they think Harry's dead
> parents are going to come back to life at the end of book seven.  
> "We've had petrified people, and we've had what would have been
> fatal injuries, but once you're dead you're dead. No magic power
> can resurrect a truly dead person." 
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4037903,00.html
>
> Rowling: Harry has already dealt with death, of course. He lost his
> parents very young, in book four he witnessed a murder, which is a 
> very disturbing thing. So this is not news to anybody who has been
> following the series, that death is a central theme of the books. 
> But, yes, I think it would be fair to say that in book five he has
> to examine exactly what death means, in even closer ways. But I
> don't think people who have been following the series will be that
> surprised by that.
>http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/thismorning/sites/books/rowling_001023.
html
>
> I think her statement that Harry "lost his parents very young" 
> and "once you're dead you're dead" make it clear to some that 
> she's saying that Harry's parents are positively dead and will not 
> come back to life as living people. 

Indeed it seems that JKR states that James and Lily are positively 
dead as they can not resurrect. But if you look closely, these 
statements do not contradict my theory, by the following 
interpretations:

> Once you're dead you're dead.
James body died taking Lupin's soul with him. No way to reverse that.

>Harry lost his parents very young.
Harry did not have the chance to grow up with his parents.

Besides, in a way you could say that James in Lupin's body isn't 
(emotionally) the same James before Voldemort attacked. (I know, 
it's a bit technical).

JKR has a way of being enigmatic with her words. We know she avoids 
saying much in interviews as she would give important clues away. 
She also stated she is amazed that nobody is worried about 
Hermione's safety and that she feels we readers are too confident 
that Harry will survive in the 7th book. How are you so sure Harry 
won't die? I personally wouldn't take that question (which she has 
made in several interviews) as a hint to believe Harry will die in 
Book 7. She loves to mislead us: Snape seemed the bad guy in SS/PS, 
Sirius seemed the bad guy in PoA, etc.


Um, if I sounded a bit harsh at some point I apologize as it wasn't 
my intention.

Heidi: Thank you

Emily: I hope I managed to answer all your questions in a satisfying 
way.

Now I'm going to try (or maybe tomorrow) and tackle Laurasia's 
brilliant Time Travel essay, which gave me a headache last night (no 
just kidding, I was really tired to pay much attention, but I did 
understand it).

Cheers to all

Sharana