[HPforGrownups] Re: Perfidious!Lupin(WAS: Against Evil!Lupin responses (long))

[Maria Kirilenko]

No: HPFGUIDX 49749


Lupin's problem in PoA has its roots in his MWPP activities back when he was a student. If he had followed the rules Dumbledore set then, he wouldn't have had a problem.  
People have been comparing Lupin's "perfidy," as Pippin puts it, with Harry taking Weasleys' car. I don't think that this is a good comparison. It's so much better to compare it with Harry's behavior in PoA. 
Lupin's greatest sin is not alerting Dumbledore that SB was an Animagus when he knew how terrible DE's were, and when he knew that SB had killed 12 mUggles with one curse, etc. (I'm using 'knew' in the sense 'thought he knew')
Harry knew all that too. He knew that SB betrayed his parents, that he commited 13  terrible murders all in one second, and that he wants to kill Harry. Yet he *does not tell* DD about the map. Moreover, he keeps visiting Hogsmeade, endangering his own life and lives of others (yes, lives of others - SB did kill innocent passersby the last time he wanted to kill off a wizard). Harry's reasons are simple - he wants to have fun with his friends. Incredibly selfish, given the fact that he knows everyone is trying to protect him and others. And *every time* there's a Hogsmeade visit, Mr. Potter forgets everything and heads out to have fun.
Now, doesn't that seem familiar? Lupin as a kid only 2 years older than Harry endangers lives of others and his own when he went on escapades with WPP. He says he felt guilty - it's more than Harry can say for himself. 
So, since nobody accuses Harry of treachery, I don't see how Lupin can be accused of it when we talk about his MWPP adventures in animal form.
Lupin's failure to tell DD that Sirius was an Animagus in PoA is more serious, since Lupin at that time is much older than Harry is. But, again,  I would expect a 13-year-old child who is very familiar with Voldemort to know what is the right thing to do. So, if we call Lupin perfidious,  the same term must be applied to Harry IMO. 
There are several points that must be mentioned:
1. It was said earlier (by Marina or Snuffles, I think - can't remember exactly) that had Lupin truly believed in Sirius' guilt, he would not have believed Sirius so easily in the Shrieking Shack. I completely agree with this. Moreover, I'll add: regard Lupin's word choice in his confession: he says he *convinced* himself that Sirius was guilty. That doesn't sound like the word one would use if he had really believed it.
But, if he had believed it, then
2. As Kristen pointed out,
Another thing we do not know is how much effort Lupin put into taking 
care of the Sirius problem himself.  Yes, he did not tell Dumbledore, 
but in not informing the headmaster, did he take it upon himself to 
protect Harry from Sirius?  He, after all, also knew all the secret 
entrances even without the Marauder's Map.  On the first Hogsmeade 
visit, he made a point of asking what Harry was doing without Ron and 
Hermione around him.  He is the one who also made Harry take his own 
safety seriously (after the map incident).  Once he had the map, 
there's no canon telling how much he used it to watch the castle for 
any sign of Sirius.  Also remember that he knows the magic that went 
into creating the map, so who knows how much castle watching he could 
do even before he had it.


3. Pippin said:
...most people think that Harry is right [in the way that he thinks about Lupin as opposed to the way Lupin presents himself in his confession] and Lupin is just beating up on himself. People have come up with a whole lot of reasons that Lupin's conscience *might* have been weighing in on both sides of the issue. But these are conjecture.
I don't agree. Lupin says in his confession: "...I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally." Whatever anyone may say, Lupin here is obviously being too hard on himself. How could he lead "the ringleaders of their little gang" into becoming Animagi? IMO you couldn't make James and Sirius do anything against their will, but they clung to any opportunity to break rules. They were only too happy for an excuse to do such cool magic. So, if Lupin beats himself up here, he might do it in other places in his confession - we just don't know too much about what Lupin does during the school year.
There are lots of other good points that have been brought up in Lupin's defense in this thread - this isn't a complete summary of what I think on this subject, just a couple of new thoughts that popped into my head lately. Second semester in University started today, so I can't write a long post a day on Perfidious!Lupin as I did for the last couple of days.
Devoted Lupin fan,
Maria,
who doesn't see much sense in continuing this thread as everyone seems to excuse Lupin anyway, except Pippin, who apparently can't be moved (sorry, Pippin... I don't say it in a mean way :) )



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