In Defence of Lupin ( very, very long) Part ONE

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85297

-nymphadoraotonks wrote:

<huge snip> I truly believe that Lupin is grateful for having Snape,
who is skilled, even if he can be a great git, at Hogwarts to brew it
for him. Harry's distrust of the situation is due out of his distrust
for Snape. 
<snip>
Lupin . . . knows that Snape loathes him. Now, whether he allows Harry
to assume that Snape despises him for just being the DADA instructor
to keep up appearances or because he was instructed to do so by 
DD to prevent the mayhem that ensues when he is discovered to be a
werewolf is unknown. But, again, this 'deception' as many of the
ESE!Lupin-ers would call it, isn't exactly deception in the way it
would have to be for it to fit the ESE!Lupin theory. 
 
Is it deceptive for Lupin to allow Harry to assume that Snape's hatred
is only based on the DADA position? Or, really, at this point is it
any of Harry's business? Harry is a student. As a teacher, it would be
improper for Lupin to speak negatively of his colleagues. It is
neither here nor there in a teacher student relationship- which is the
relationship that Lupin and Harry enjoy at this point in PoA- whether
two teachers do or do not like one another or whether or not they have
a sordid past. It is the job of the teacher to instruct to the best of
his abilities, to support, and to nurture his students. So, to say 
that because Lupin does not reveal all the truths to Harry because he
is ESE or untrustworthy is really just rubbish. It is not his place to
do so, nor is it in any way proper.
<huge snip>

Carol responds:
Thanks for you lengthy defense of Lupin, much of which I agree with
(other than your view of Snape as "horrible"). I do want to mention,
though, that Lupin's "deception" is only indirectly related to his
relationship with Snape. What he's hiding is the secret Snape wants
revealed: that he's a werewolf. He can't be expected to reveal that to
Harry, but it's concealment, nonetheless. IMO both teachers are to be
commended here, Lupin for his courtesy to Snape and Snape for the
loyalty to Dumbledore that results in his making the potion despite
his loathing of Lupin, which is partly personal but partly a very real
concern for the Hogwarts students who unknowingly are in close
proximity to a werewolf.

Carol, who likes Snape but doesn't for a moment think Lupin is evil