Cutting RL slack (or not)

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 34201

Pippin wrote:

> Remus knew he was endangering people and felt guilty about it, 
> which answers Gabriele's point about whether he was old 
> enough to feel morally responsible. Then he decided that his 
> pleasure was more important than his own and others' safety. 
> There is, as Gabriele admits, no excuse for that. I'm not entirely 
> sure he's learned his lesson, either. Giving the map back to 
> Harry at the end of PoA was the same kind of decision. 
> 

Aw, gee, poor Remus can't buy a break, can he?

He went roaming around as a student when he shouldn't have.  OK, 
that's true.  But for the first several years he was a student, he 
transformed all by himself in the Shrieking Shack, suffering terrible 
pain, biting and scratching himself, wrecking the furniture and 
generally bringing down property values.  It wasn't until his friends 
became animagi that he went along on the adventures.  That shows that 
Lupin would never deliberately endanger anyone.  

Also, Lupin wasn't as dangerous on these adventures as some suggest.  
He says, "I became less dangerous.  My body was still wolfish, but my 
mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."  That suggests 
to me that these antics weren't criminal, but were just the same sort 
of thoughtlessness that infects many teens.

Yes, Lupin's conduct was bad, but it was far better than what Sirius 
did to Snape, which was willful and knowing endangerment of Snape 
just for fun.  And if you're not going to cut Lupin some slack, then 
you have to hold Sirius, Peter and James equally responsible.  

Remus' main sin was in not showing maturity beyond his years by 
refusing to accompany his friends on their adventures.  I can forgive 
that.

As for the Map, why shouldn't Lupin give it back to Harry?  The Map 
itself is not evil; it's just a harmless aid for mischief-making.  
Indeed, until Moody confiscated the Map, Harry was using it in a 
perfectly reasonable way -- using it to complete his Triwizard 
preparation.

Cindy (insisting that Lupin only has one big strike against him)