Crying wolf?

[B Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 81846

What to make of Remus Lupin?

OK, hands up all those that trust him.
Thank you.

Now those that don't  trust him.
Right.

And those that can't  decide?
Hmm. Interesting.

When he first appears, I rubbed my hands with glee. Warning! Warning! 
Werewolf alert! That name!
Such a give away, Remus, co-founder of Rome, suckled by a she-wolf; 
Lupin - add an 'e'  and we have the adjective for wolf-like, lupine. 
What a  give-away.  What were his parents thinking of? Asking for 
trouble giving a boy a name like that. What did they expect?  Be  like 
naming a daughter Sexpot Thunderthighs and hoping she'd be an 
accountant.

So I could see the plot already, Hound of the Baskervilles with spells 
- howls in the night, the footprints of a gigantic hound, a blood trail 
leading to the Forbidden Forest after screams reverberate around 
Hogwarts, Hagrid trying to  defend it ("It's a creature like any other, 
leave it alone!"), Hermione coming up with the answer in the last 
chapter. Yes! Mayhem galore, because werewolves are evil, "as ane fule 
kno."

And what happens? JKR does the dirty on us. He's not evil at all!  
We're supposed to sympathise with him, to empathise with a member of an 
oppressed minority. Boo! Hiss!  Not  fair!

I  revised my predictions. OK, so he's going to be ' the third man 
through the door'. (To non-film buffs, it was the accepted cliche that 
in the showdown in B grade westerns, the third man through the door, 
always a bit part, got shot. Similar thing in Star Trek - the bit 
player who accompanies Kirk, Bones and Scotty to the surface of the 
planet cops it in the neck - always, without fail.) But he survives! 
How can this be? Time for a re-think.

Review the evidence. FBaWTFT tells us that a werewolf can only come 
about by someone being bitten by another werewolf. They are considered 
extremely dangerous when in wolf form, no matter how innocuous their 
human personnae. It also tells us that a Werewolf Register was set up 
in 1947. Lupin was infected as a child, at what age we don't know, but 
certainly after that date, so he should be registered. Werewolf cubs 
exist. In CoS Tom Riddle sneers at Hagrid for trying to raise them 
under his  bed. Odd that. They should be cubs only for one day in every 
28. No indication is given on how to repel or destroy them (note JKR 
adds a twist when Remus drinks from a (presumably) silver goblet  in 
OoP), there is no  permanent cure though a recent development is a 
potion that ameliorates the effects of the full moon.  Interesting, but 
does it help us?

Not a great deal, no.
The most important things  about him are not  the general knowledge 
associated with werewolves, but the facts about Remus Lupin  as an 
individual. For example, he is seemingly unaffected by Dementors. Why? 
It would be understandable if he was in his animal form, but he's not. 
The thrust of JKRs sympathy crusade is that he is still human, just 
suffering from a disease. So why the immunity that only animals seem to 
have? To argue that his mind has been altered by his illness is to 
accept that he may no longer be human.

While a pupil Lupin was supposed to be locked up  in the Shack at full 
moon, but we know he cavorted around the countryside with the boys in 
animal form. This was stupid and fraught with peril, not least to 
Lupin. If something had gone wrong, who would have suffered most? 
Lupin. Yet they all considered it good fun and Lupin never asked the 
others to keep him safe when he was not himself. Surely one of the 
prime concerns of any werewolf. The secret was spreading, too. First 
DD, then Madam Pomfrey, then James, Sirius and Peter, then Snape. How 
long did DD expect the secret to be kept? What was his motive in having 
Lupin at the school anyway? DD attracts misfits like  a magnet attracts 
iron filings,  but to take on a pupil that every month turns into a 
ravening monster, lacking all civilised restraint, responding only to 
it's own murderous instincts is something else. This was a school. The 
repercussions of 'an event' would have been horrendous.

Then he comes back -  as  a teacher. True the potion is now available 
and presumably Lupin promises to take it without fail. Even so, we see 
what happens when Snape blows the gaff; it's only by chance that things 
didn't end up in  a much worse state. And why do I  have the feeling 
that DD *wanted* to get Lupin involved in the Potter events?

Some of his reactions to events are puzzling, too. At the Shrieking 
Shack he seems to know, before being told, what Sirius' story is. How? 
On entering, his first action is to  disarm Harry. Why? Does he really 
believe that at age 13 Harry could perform an AK? It requires no 
persuasion by Sirius before Lupin accepts his story, even though for 
twelve years the entire WW, including Dumbledore, has been confident of 
Sirius' guilt. Add the fact that he 'forgets' to take his medicine and 
we have a very odd episode, much mused over by posters. PoA is the only 
book in the series where Voldy or his henchman has not made an 
appearance to threaten Harry.  Or is it?

Why the constant mention of his worn and aging appearance? Is this a 
normal werewolf effect?
His part in the Ministry dust-up  has caused comment, too. He gets a 
mention when he bursts in with Moddy, Tonks et al, then no more until 
Sirius takes his final curtain. Strange.  Did he fight or was he up to 
something else? Did he throw the fatal spell? Some suspect so.

It's still  that name that bothers me. Unless, of course, his parents 
were also werewolves themselves. Which means that they probably 
infected him - "Ooops-a-daisy, my little poppet! Just a nip! It's for 
your own good; then we'll be able to look after you, even when the moon 
shines brightly!"
Doesn't sound like a JKR thing to me.

Could it be a pseudonym? A name he chose himself, hiding his true 
identity to save the family face? In which case, it could be 
significant. The original Remus was killed by his brother. Just what do 
we know about Lupin's family? Hmm?

Kneasy