Remus: Once more with feeling, I will try once again...

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 39240

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "jferer" <jferer at y...> wrote:
> I have to say at the outset I didn't like your take on this. 

Without going into too many details, my 'take' on this is of someone 
who has personal experience of a 'Remus' - that is, an extremely 
nice, talented, person whose (treatable) illness can include violent 
episodes in which they try to kill or injure other people. If Remus 
fails to take his potion he becomes [his own words] 'a fully fledged 
monster'.

>You seem 
> to expect Remus to operate under tremendous stress in a way that 
> people under stress just don't behave.  Imagine the shock to find 
>out that Peter Pettigrew is *alive*! The danger the Trio was under! 
> His first thought was to get there as fast as possible. 
> 

And my point is that it shouldn't be his first thought. He's capable 
of *killing* people at the full moon. He's known this since he was a 
small child. The Trio are in as much danger from *him* as from 
Pettigrew. THAT should be his first thought.

 I think people's behaviour under stress is extremely revealing of 
their true selves - even if you don't agree, JKR often uses stress to 
reveal things about characters. Look at the way Hermoine consistently 
reverts back to Muggledom under stress.

<Snip>
> How good was your judgement as a teenager? Mine left something to 
> be desired. 

Me likewise, I used to play on building sites [grin]; again it's a 
question of 'are the kinds of mistakes you make as a teenager 
indicative of the *kind* of mistakes you'll make as an adult'. If you 
don't think they are, then you still have to ask yourself *why* has 
JKR deliberately chosen to put the Marauders teenage antics in the 
book? Remus makes a succession of decisions as teenager and adult 
which all put other people under risk from his werewolfhood. 

> Remus had friends for the first time in his life, a force so 
> powerful for a lonely and despised boy it is irresistible. 

Which is why Dumbledore is forgiving. Do you think he didn't figure 
it out after That Event? He at least knew that James and Sirius knew 
Remus was a werewolf, and that they knew how to get into the tunnel.

> Remus accepts the job as a teacher because he's good at it 

True. He's an excellent teacher.

>and needs a job badly, 

Also true. And I sympathise with him, because it's obviously due to 
prejudice that he's unable to find a job he could do safely and well. 
I mean, not only is he safe 27 days out of 28, but you can look up 
the 28th day in an almanac! And then even if you don't trust him you 
could make sure he stays locked up, or do what Snape does and 
practically hold his nose and pour the potion down his throat.

>and with the potion, which he takes faithfully 

See my post # 39167 - people keep saying this, and there's no 
evidence for it. Snape doesn't give Remus a chance to forget his 
potion. Even on the Night of the Rat he goes round to Remus's office 
with a gobletful.

> until he's under enormous stress, he can perform his teaching 
> duties well and safely.
> 

Be honest, after the events in PS/SS and CoS, do you think Dumbledore 
thought there would be any chance Harry's third year would be stress-
free for the staff? He's trusting Remus to perform safely under 
stress. Remus lets him down.

> You say "forget" like Remus was a homeless TB case who sells his  
> INH pills or an HIV patient who doesn't follow the regimen.<Snip>

I'm sorry you got that impression; I didn't intend it to be read that 
way.  I used 'forget' simply because people in denial very often 
don't go as far as actively refusing to take their medication. They 
just 'forget'.
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-Ahketsi writes:

>You know, Remus is not safe at Hogwarts, then he is not safe 
>anywhere. How is taking a job at the school much more dangerous than 
>any other place? 

A school is full of children. By definition, children are less able 
to defend themselves from danger (and less able to recognise it) than 
adults. Part of learning to be an adult is to learn to judge 
danger/amount of risk appropriately; part of an adult's job is to try 
and make sure that children can do this with the least amount of risk 
(and yes, I accept fully that the process can't be risk-free).

>The other teachers are around to make sure that he doesn't harm 
>anyone, we all know that the staff had been aware of what Lupin is 
>from the beginning. 

Harry at least is alone with  Remus in his office just before full 
moon. Snape finds him there when he comes in with Remus's potion. 
Incidentally, Snape gives out his famous 'Werewolf' essay to Harry's 
class shortly after this event. 


I'm not trying to be nasty to poor Remus (who I like) when I say that 
if he can't be trusted to take his medication under stress then he is 
too dangerous to have teaching in a school; I'm stating what I 
believe, from experience, to be fact. This is why I think Snape acts 
correctly in forcing his resignation.

If JKR had, for example, decided to have him tied up and unable to 
have access to his potion I would have been disgusted at Snape's 
behaviour. But she shows him free to take his potion, and choosing 
(by forgetting) not to. 


-Ahketsi writes:

>I believe that time will show what an excellent person Lupin is, but 
we'll just >have to wait and see.

Funnily enough, I believe exactly the same thing. And if at some 
point in Books 5, 6 or 7 he does remember his potion under stress, 
then I'd say 'yup, he's cured. Take him back as a teacher.'

Pip
(waving at Pippin, fellow 'Remus can be dangerous' fan)