Generation parallels/ Lupin's personality (WAS Re: Lupin as next Headmaster)

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 78590


> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" <jwcpgh at y...> wrote:
>  
>  >  It seems to me that Remus has learned the 
> > most from his mistakes in adolescent strategy.  He's seen the 
> results 
> > of failing to act to prevent harm being done to someone else.  
He's 
> > also learned a lot about human behavior-what motivates people, 
> what's 
> > important to them.  Adult!Remus puts those lessons together and 
> > becomes a force for good.  He teaches, both literally and by 
> example, 
> > how to handle darkness, whether it takes the form of a creature, 
a 
> > spell or a moral weakness.  
> 

hickengruendler at y...> wrote:
> Did he really? He didn't tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an 
animagus, 
> when he still thought Sirius to be evil. He also didn't tell 
> Dumbledore, that Sirius knows about the secret passage into 
Hogwarts. 
> He still didn't say anything, when Sirius tried to break in the 
> Gryffindor tower, or later, when he was in Harry's dormitory. Of 
> course, Sirius wasn't a danger for Harry, but Lupin didn't know 
this 
> at that point. But he still decided to keep the secret, because he 
> feared to lose Dumbledore's trust. He even as good as admitted it 
in 
> the shrieking shrack.  <snip>

Laura again:

You know, I was thinking about the secret passage question last night 
after I posted the quoted message.  Remus could have told DD about 
them without having to explain the whole animagus situation.  Being 
able to sneak in and out of the castle would be quite in character 
for the Marauders.  So why didn't Remus go to DD?

Well, obviously there's the meta-issue of plot.  JKR might need that 
passage into Honeydukes later, so she can't have DD close it off.  
But in regard to Remus, his explanation that he convinced himself 
that Sirius was using dark magic to get into the school just seems 
weak to me.  He would know better than anyone that Sirius didn't need 
dark skills to get into Hogwarts.  Throughout PoA, Remus is very 
touchy about Sirius-any time Harry mentions him, Remus gets defensive 
and changes the subject as quickly as possible.  Now this could be 
guilt, for not having figured out that Sirius was the spy.  But I 
don't think so, at least not entirely.  It reads to me-and this is 
entirely my take; canon doesn't prove or disprove it-like Remus has 
never completely accepted what happened with Sirius.  After all, 
everyone else, from Rosmerta to McGonagall, is quite open about the 
extent to which they were duped by SB.  There doesn't seem to be any 
shame in it.  Even DD thinks he was fooled.  So why wouldn't Remus be 
able to admit that he made a mistake in judgement?  

I have to believe that Remus could never fully accept the official 
explanation of what happened in Godric's Hollow and afterwards.  If 
he truly believed it, why wouldn't he have taken more drastic action 
when he saw Sirius with HRH on the map?  He could have brought help 
or even stunned Sirius himself in the shack, but he made no attempt 
whatsoever to disable him.  (We know Remus doesn't realize that the 
secret keeper switch took place until the discussion in the shack 
happens, so even if he has discovered that Peter is still alive, he 
still has good reason to assume that Sirius is the real criminal.)

The alternative is that Remus would allow Harry to be put at risk in 
order to save his own reputation, and that's too harsh for me.  Sure, 
teen!Remus let Snape be pushed around by J&S without intervening.  
But (1) Snape went out of his way to cause difficulties for Remus, so 
he wasn't entirely an innocent party the way Harry was vis-a-vis 
criminal!Sirius and (2) Remus never allowed Snape's life to be 
endangered (he was out of the picture during the Prank).  So yes, 
Remus was weak, both as a teenager and during his teaching time at 
Hogwarts, but was he really so selfish as to be morally deficient?  I 
hope not.