The Problem with Lupin (long) was Re: How Close Are Harry and Lupin?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 96940

Pippin:
> > He led his friends into being illegal Animagi, and they *could* 
> > have gotten in trouble, but Dumbledore never found  out

Naama:
> He *led* his friends into being illegal Animagi?! Where is that 
said or even implied? <

Pippin:

PoA ch. 18 
"They did something for me that would make my transformations 
not only bearable, but the best times of my life."...:[Dumbledore] 
never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming 
Animagi illegally."

What's the plain sense of the text there, eh? <g> 

It's just an assumption that the Animagi pranks were harmless. 
Nobody got bitten by a werewolf, that's all we know. We know that  
James hexed people for fun and we've seen what his idea of fun 
was like.  Do you think he suddenly got better behaved when he 
had horns and a tail? 


Pippin:
> <snip> 
> > If Snape had found his way to the Shrieking Shack during the 
> > prank, he *would* have encountered a fully grown werewolf.

Naama:
> But Lupin didn't entice Snape to the Shack - it's not his action to 
 be remoreseful about. He is horrified to think of the 
consequences -  in the same way that I would be horrified to 
think of running over  somebody, even if it's completely not my 
fault.<

Pippin:
This is my point. Lupin only allows himself to relate cause and 
effect  about things that either didn't happen or weren't his fault. 

Naama:
> Right. I have to say this - Lupin not telling DD about Sirius 
being  an Animagus is the weakest part of the PoA plot. <snip>

> I've said it several times before, so why not once more? JKR 
isn't really very good with mystery plots. It doesn't make sense for 
Lupin  not to have told DD, in the same way that it doesn't make 
sense that  Crouch was able to fool DD for ten months. The 
solutions feel  contrived, even when they are not flat out 
unreasonble - both in PS  and CoS the revelation that Quirrel and 
Ginny are possessed by  Voldemort feel flat, of the "the butler did 
it" type. Except in OoP,  the solution never feels inevitable (the 
way it does in Agatha  Christie). I prefer this simple (though 
disappointing) explanation  rather than read against the grain* of 
Lupin's characterisation. <<

Pippin:
This gave me one of those "Are we reading the same books?" 
moments. That we're in for improbable events is obvious as 
soon as Vernon spots Minerva in cat form, reading a map. 
Implausible feats of concealment are the raison d'etre of the 
wizarding world.  JKR takes full advantage of this in her plotting, 
and why not? I find it  highly amusing that wizards think  only 
Muggles are capable of overlooking the obvious.


 Lupin has a sensitive conscience. Unfortunately he has 
developed a defense mechanism as dangerous as it is effective.  
He never gets negative feedback, because he never associates 
his  pain with his guilt. This is probably something that began in 
his childhood, as he tried to deal with his condition, and is now 
so deeply engrained that he isn't aware he's doing it at all.

Now that in itself doesn't make him an ally of Voldemort.  But it 
would allow Lupin to live with his involvement. He would never let  
himself associate the bad things that were happening with what 
he was doing, he would only think about  what might happen if 
he were found out.

Lupin doesn't appear evil in Harry's eyes, but  ESE!Lupin goes 
against the grain of his characterization only if you think that he
is not only basically good (JKR says everyone is) but basically 
incorruptible.  But there is nothing I can see in the text  or in 
classical literature to support that. It comes to us from outside, 
from Hollywood melodramas and nineteenth century 
bowdlerizers. We're just not used to seeing noble characters 
betray their ideals. 

Our expectations have been warped by popularizers  selling 
moral uplift to the newly lettered immigrant masses. The white 
hats may be tempted, but they'll always be true. Tell it to  Brutus. 
Or Sir Lancelot.

Pippin