Lupin's relationship with Harry

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 32487

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "mullsym255" <tracym255 at a...> wrote:
> I've recently reread PoA and there's something that's been 
bothering 
> me. Is Harry hurt that Lupin doesn't attempt to reach out to him 
like 
> Sirius has?

I'm sure Remus wanted to keep the teacher-student relationship intact 
when he was the DADA teacher, so at that point he might have thought 
that it was inappropriate to approach Harry as one of James' 
friends.  He did show his concern for Harry by helping him work on 
his Patronus and by being willing to chat to Harry informally in his 
office.  However, there was a definite reticence to talk to Harry 
about the relationship between himself, James and Sirius.  Whether 
that was because it was all too painful for Remus, or because he knew 
that any sort of discussion like this would lead Harry to ask more 
questions about his parents, perhaps asking for information that 
Remus was not at liberty to share...who knows?

I do think this illustrates once again an odd lack of curiosity on 
Harry's part about his parents and their lives.  We don't see him 
approaching the people who knew James and Lily and asking major 
questions about their lives.  Yes, this may very well be a plot 
device to keep things under wraps for the next 3 books, but I still 
find it unusual.



 Sirius sends 
> Harry birthday presents and invites Harry to live with him, so why 
> doesn't Lupin? I understand that the latter would probably be 
> impossible considering the werewolf problem, but would it be so 
hard 
> to send Harry a present? And just one more thing.. was Lupin ever a 
> bit miffed at James for making Sirius best man and godfather to 
> Harry? I have to say that if I were in his position, I'd be a bit 
> jealous.


As others have said, Remus probably doesn't send presents because he 
has enough problems making ends meet.  Although, you'd think he could 
at least send Harry the occasional note asking about his welfare.  

As for the best man/godfather question, we don't know enough about 
the Marauders to fill in the blanks.  Did they meet at Hogwarts?  
Were Sirius and James childhood friends whose relationship was 
already firmly established before they got to Hogwarts? 

(Note to JKR:  Forget about doing a Malfoy series - write a 
Snape/MWPP at Hogwarts book)

 The best friend is almost always chosen to be the best man/maid of 
honor at weddings, so the choice of Sirius seems obvious.  And 
wouldn't you expect that Remus and Peter would have been in the 
wedding party as groomsmen?  

Maybe James and Lily would have liked Remus to be godfather, but 
perhaps it is illegal for a werewolf to have physical custody of a 
godchild.  If so, Remus is out of the running, so of course James 
would rely on his best friend, once again.  Still makes me wonder 
about a possible godmother...

Marianne