The Case for Lupin

Sun Nov 16 01:39:52 UTC 2003

No: HPFGUIDX 85139

I must say it is with some fear that I attack one of the most formidable (and twisted) theory of HPFGU : ESE!Lupin.

But there it is, today I join the PARTY LINE. 

Let us start with the infamous post 39362. Let us look at the string of arguments used :

1) First, ESE!Lupin explains why Lupin never told Dumbledore about the all animagus story, why he was so calm in the Shack, why he left the Map on his desk, why he forgot to take his potion...

2) It explains why Crouch!Moody is so apt a teacher, and why he is so skilful at gaining Harry's confidence.

3) It explains most of the creepy side of Lupin, as can be seen mainly in PoA, for instance his habits of killing creature and it fits with some traits of his personality (such as sadism when he mentioned to Harry his parents).

4) It explains why he was reluctant to touch Harry during the Dementors lesson.

Ok.

So let us examine them one by one, in what I feel is from the less convincing to the most.

5) has been somewhat weakened by the following books in my opinion. After all, Crouch!Moody does take Harry in his arms, Macnair almost strangled Harry in the Department of Mystery and Lupin himself held Harry just after Sirius's death. Of course, it can be argued that Lupin's movement was rather a clue to his true nature, rather than a rational act, we will come back to this.

2) Lupin was in the Order during the first war so he probably "thinks highly of Mad- Eye Moody" like Arthur Weasley. Lupin was an outstanding teacher, there seems to be a consensus on that. So it seems in my opinion perfectly in character for him to send a letter to Moody before the beginning of term. 

3) This one is a tough one. Lupin is scary. No doubt. Only I think JKR wrote him so in PoA for a specific reason, and not because he's ESE. What did you feel the first time you read PoA ? The memory I have of PoA is that of a very dark book, because the good side seems completely helpless in it. No matter what Dumbledore and the other teachers do, Sirius Black seems to be able to come closer to Harry each time. This, plus the suspicion expressed by Snape and the fears of Harry about the secret passage, conveys the idea that "something wicked this way comes" (I love the choir). Something is rotten in the realm of Hogwarts. It is my opinion that Lupin has been carefully depicted in order to convey the idea that there is something dark in him, but it is also my conviction that JKR did this to make the final confrontation in the Shack a climax. From the very first encounter with Lupin in the Hogwarts Express, one can feel an incredible tension around this character. And JKR is very careful not to let this tension drop : hints like "it is not poisoned you know" or "I thought I knew [Sirius Black]" are tantalising. From what I have read in this list, some actually thought that Lupin was a Polyjuiced Sirius. It certainly seems that many, including me, thought he was responsible in some way for the ease Sirius could enter the castle (and in a sense he was). But the thing is I cannot really sense this tension in GoF (where Lupin is absent anyway, apart from Dumbledore asking Sirius to go to his place) nor in OoP. OoP's Lupin seemed to me gentle and mature, not scary at all. So I would say that Creepy!Lupin was a most effective plot device for PoA, and not an indication that he is ESE.

1) Now this one is a hard one. Why Lupin did not tell Dumbledore ? And why did he forgot to take his potion ? As for the second one, I would say that seeing Pettigrew on the map must have been an incredible shock. James, Sirius and Peter were all for Lupin. In one night, he had lost them all three. Or so he thought : if Peter is alive, then everything seems to fit again, the traitor was Peter, and Sirius is innocent. I likr to think that it must have been as disturbing for him than for Sirius to see Peter in the Daily Prophet. Sirius broke free, Lupin rush out of his office. And forgot the potion. It seems reasonable to me. But why, in the name of Merlin, did he not tell Dumbledore, if he genuinely thought Sirius was evil ? I think I will try to answer this in detail in a forthcoming post on PoA. I do not include my line of reasoning here, because it is extensive meta-thinking, whereas my other arguments are more canon related. 

That would be my answer to post 39362.

Other arguments have been advanced in later posts, I'll try to answer three of them.

1) Lupin could very well have killed Sirius.

2) Lupin did not talk to Snape to persuade him to resume Occlumency lesson.

As for 1), I agree that it is not possible to prove that Lupin did not kill Sirius. But there is something I think is quite hard to understand if he did. Why did he held Harry ? For all we know, Harry was "sprint[ing] toward the dais." Without Lupin, he would have jumped right through it, wouldn't he ? And that would mean no more Harry. And nobody could have blamed Lupin, Harry was obviously very eager to go there ("Harry struggled hard and viciously" and later "still he thought Lupin with every bit of strength he had"). So why would an ESE!Lupin prevent Harry from committing suicide ? 

2) is very disturbing. Yet, nothing proves it. First, canon is that Lupin overemphasises the importance of Occlumency ("There is nothing so important as you learning Occlumency" Lupin said sternly), then Harry says he'll try do talk to Snape (and of course he doesn't). Lupin never said he would speak to Snape, all he says is that between Sirius and him, it should be his responsibility, rather than Sirius's to speak to Snape. Later, Harry wonders if Lupin has done so, but remarks that Snape avoids him completely. We know from his behaviour towards Sirius and from the confession of Dumbledore that Snape has not come to term yet with the humiliation he suffered when he was at school. So even if Lupin did speak to Snape, it is easy to explain he continued to ignore Harry. In fact, seeing that Snape is perfectly aware of the iportance of Occlumency, the fact he ignored him would rather be a huge hint to an ESE!Snape rather than an ESE!Lupin.

Last but not least, there is something I don't understand in JKR psychology if Lupin turns out to be ESE. In the live interview on Scholastic.com (02/03/00), she was asked to choose a teacher to teach her children. She picked Lupin "because he is kind, clever, and gives very interesting lessons." Now she could have chose McGonagall, who is certainly a most qualified teacher, Flitwick, who seems very nice too, or Dumbledore for that matter. That Lupin is one of JKR's favourite character (same interview) is not contradictory to him being ESE, but what kind of sadist would she be to wish her children to be taught by an evil man ?

I hope I will be able to write more on the underlying symbolism of PoA soon, thereby exhibiting new arguments. For today, I hope I have been worthy of a PARTY LINE badge and will go to bed.

All the best,

Olivier

PS : I almost forgot. The Boggart incident. I always felt that as Snape is Neville's boggart, and as the way to defeat a boggart is turning it in ridicule, Lupin had no choice but to ridiculed Snape one way or another if he wanted to teach Neville a proper lesson. What should he have done ? If he had told Neville not to face the boggart when learning the boggart would assume Snape's form, it would have been one more humiliation for Neville, who already had been treated with incredible contempt by Snape twice that day. 