Intro, Q's Lupin/Tonks

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 110040

Luckie wrote:
>> This brings up that same old point about Lupin's name again... is
his name Remus Lupin because he's a werewolf, or is he a werewolf
because his name is Remus Lupin? Chicken or the egg theory...
Obviously Lupin is his family name (Lupus, Lupine, wolf, wolflike).
Does lycanthropy run in his family? Was he bitten by his father, or
perhaps his uncle Remus? <<

HunterGreen:
Someone mentioned once that it might have been an assumed name that 
he took on when he started Hogwarts to hide his werewolfness (do 
werewolves have to be registered?), because perhaps even an eleven-
year-old werewolf might have already been heard of. However, I don't 
understand why he would choose such an obviously wolfish name. It 
could have been a nickname though (something his family started 
calling him as a joke and then it just stuck). I do like the idea of 
lycanthropy just being something that happens in the Lupin family 
(and that they're called Lupin because of that history), maybe the 
family home is in a werewolf infested area, or there's something 
about them that just attracts werewolves. Mr. and Mrs. Lupin could 
have named him 'Remus' as a hint at that history, sort of an inside 
joke (like the family in 'Holes' naming their sons 'Stanley' because 
their last name is 'Yelnats', which is Stanley backwards). 

This is all speculation of course. The truth could just be that its 
JKR's inside joke and that's it.