How Close Are Harry and Lupin?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 97310

Alla wrote:
> What I find troublesome in that scene is the lack of reaction from 
> Lupin.
> 
> It is almost like he knew in advance what is going to happen.
> 
> I mean, come on. You see you best and oldest friend falling throuh 
> the veil. Wouldn't you be a little... I don't know upset? Surprised?
> 
> Yes, narrator says later that Lupin looked like every movement caused 
> him a great pain, but still, I am troubled by the lack of initial 
> reaction.

Carol:
As someone who has suffered severe shock at the news of the sudden
death of a loved one, I can understand why his reactions seemed so
mechanical and muted. He actually *witnessed* the sudden and
unexpected, in fact totally incomprehensible, death of his best
friend. All he could do was go through the motions, be the adult, make
sure Harry didn't follow Sirius through the veil. IMO, his reaction is
very realistic, especially given his learned tendency not to express
pain. He undergoes very painful transformations every month, so
painful that his face is prematurely lined and his hair is turning
gray. Helplessly watching Sirius go through the veil was a different
kind of pain, one that he had to endure silently because of the kids
around him.

But the full shock of it, the sense that Sirius is really dead and
gone, had not hit him yet at that moment. Your mind won't let you
fully comprehend your loss in those first moments. You don't cry--yet.
You sit in stunned disbelief, or you go through the motions and do
what you must do (or, if you're an adolescent boy, you express the
anger which for the moment covers up the anguish). The pain comes
later, hours or even days later, often at the funeral of the friend or
loved one. But there's no funeral for Sirius, no body to say goodbye
to. The pain for both Lupin and Harry must be unbearable.

Anyway, I don't see anything unrealistic about Lupin's apparent lack
of emotion. He's in shock, his mind and emotions are numb, and he's
forcing himself to speak and act, to put Harry's life and Harry's loss
before his own. What else can he do? What else *would* an adult man
who's been taught all his life to hide his suffering do in that
moment, even if the full shock of his loss had already hit him?

Carol, picturing Lupin returning to Sirius's house without Sirius and
sitting with his head in his hands, trying to comprehend the
irremediable loss of his only real friend