Lupin, a bad guy? (Warning: longish)

[Renee]

No: HPFGUIDX 96522

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Sherry Gomes" 
<sherriola at e...> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> i've been reading all the comments about Lupin, and I'm very 
curious to know
> why some think he will turn out to be an evil character, and why 
some think
> he may have killed Sirius.  He seems to me, to be one of the 
kindest and
> most compassionate members of the order.  Where does it say that 
he is an
> habitual liar?  Is there anything in his adult life in canon to 
support
> these theories?  i don't count what he did in school, because I 
don't know
> any mature adult who is the same now as they were in their teenage 
years.
> 

Why not count what Lupin (or any other characer, for that matter) 
did in school? I know lots of mature adults whose characters have 
hardly changed since they left school. They're just more socialised 
and somewhat better behaved, and most of them hide their flaws a 
little more effectively. But they're basically the same people. A 
person's character is pretty well established by the age of five or 
so.

Back to Lupin: I hope you don't expect a quote saying "Lupin is an 
habitual liar", because every word in the series is either coming 
from the less-than-reliable narrator Harry Potter, or from one of 
the characters, who are all fallible beings and biased in one way or 
another. (Well, maybe not Crookshanks...) 

But Lupin is bound to be a liar, be it mainly by omission. By the 
time he is introduced in PoA, he's been a werewolf for about thirty 
years and has learned to keep his mouth shut about his condition 
because of the anti-werewolf prejudice found almost everywhere in 
the Wizarding World. If he thinks it's necessary, he lies actively 
about it (coming up with fake explanations for his monthly absences 
to his dorm mates at Hogwarts, for instance, until they found out 
about him). 

>From the fact that he had trouble keeping a job during the dozen 
years preceding PoA, we can infer that he frequently omits to tell 
he's a werewolf and then promptly gets fired when he's found out. 
So: more lies by omission, and maybe also a couple of lies to 
explain his monthly absences. Now this in itself is understandable, 
and even excusable. But such behaviour can become a habit, and in 
PoA it becomes clear that it extends to other areas as well. Not 
telling Dumbledore Sirius is an animagus (because he'd have to 
confess he betrayed Dumbledore's trust as a student by not staying 
in the Shrieking Shack), is another lie by omission, and a bad one, 
too. It's very irresponsible, and it could be argued this is a case 
of criminal neglect.

Would you wholeheartedly admire a man who is kind and compassionate 
but omits to tell you an important fact that could prevent disaster 
and save someone's life? I'd have a problem with it - and never mind 
that the situation in PoA wasn't as Lupin thought it was, and that 
his silence didn't harm Harry in the end; it's the principle that 
counts here. 

Harry doesn't seem to care, for I don't see him question Lupin's 
behaviour. And my impression is that JKR thinks she's punished Lupin 
enough by having Snape out him at the end of the book and robbing 
him of a job he loved (though it's possible we'll hear more about it 
in Books 6 or 7). But I do think his flaw is a bit more serious than 
we've been led to believe by looking at him through Harry's eyes. 
         
Having said this, I have to add that it seems highly unlikely to me 
that Lupin is a Death Eater, or that he killed Sirius. In fact, I 
like him well enough. I'm also convinced JKR is too fond of him to 
turn him into a Bad Guy. But I would maintain that his character 
flaw of wanting to be liked, ultimately caused by the fact that he's 
a werewolf, is more serious than we're being led to believe, and 
that this may lead to trouble yet.  

(I guess I can just as well admit this is a theory, and I'm curious 
to see if it will prove true.)

Renée