But Why does it Have to be Lupin? (was:Kreacher, Buckbeak ...)

[Erin]

No: HPFGUIDX 97657

Erin asserted that Kreacher would not have taken orders from or 
cooperated with an ESE!Lupin, giving some perfectly good canon to 
illustrate the depth of Kreacher's hatred for werewolves and half-
bloods, both of which describe Lupin.

Pippin came back with: 
> Well, if  Mistress Narcissa told him to, he'd have to, wouldn't he. 
> Not what Kreacher had in mind when he defected of course. But 
> do you really think that JKR is going to show even a House Elf 
> getting more than temporary, superficial benefits by joining the 
> Dark Side? 

Erin says:
Joining?  Defecting?  Ha!  Kreacher has *been* on the Dark Side all 
along.  He never tried to keep it a secret that he hated Sirius and 
everyone not dedicated to Pure-Blooded superiority just like his 
precious dead Mistress.

But I'm allowing myself to get distracted.  Your point is, he has to 
do what Narcissa tells him.  

And then SB4E chimes in with:
 Best I remember, Kreacher said this prior to his disappearances. If, 
a Black...particularly one he admired like Bellatrix or 
Narcissa...told him to do what Lupin said without revealing that he 
was willing, you don't think that he would do so? Just because 
someone is fighting against a particular "race"...trying to make 
blood "pure", doesn't mean that they aren't willing to work with 
them, regardless of the personal feelings of whether that person is 
good enough to associate with. Just makes them more expendable if the 
need arises. 


Erin:
SB4E, that's a very good point about being willing to work with a 
particular group you wish to subjugate or exterminate and simply 
consider them more expendable. And I think it holds true for most of 
the DE's (though it does raise the question of why the heck half-
blooded Lupin is working for Voldy in the first place.  I thought the 
guy was supposed to be *smart*.)

But I don't think Kreacher thinks that way.  Everyone (Dumbledore, 
Harry, Sirius, Hermione, etc...) seems to agree that the little toe-
rag has gone 'round the bend.  All the years of living alone, taking 
mad orders from Sirius's mother's portrait have unbalanced him.  And 
the form his insanity takes is hatred directed towards those 
his "Mistress" would not have approved of.  Mistress doesn't like 
you?  Then Kreacher won't associate with you.  Reasoning doesn't 
enter into it.

And as for the point you both made that Kreacher would have to do 
what Narcissa told him, it doesn't hold water.  

Kreacher has always done exactly what Kreacher wanted to do.  Being a 
Black doesn't get you squat.  Hence this canon from Sirius in Chapter 
Six:

*******************************************
"I see Tonks isn't on here.  Maybe that's why Kreacher won't take 
orders from her- he's supposed to do whatever anyone in the family 
asks him...."
*******************************************

So Kreacher isn't magically bound to obey family members.  He can 
pick and choose as he likes.  For years, the only allegiance he's 
felt has been to his dead "Mistress".  

If Narcissa had insisted that Kreacher work with half-bloods and 
werewolves, then Narcissa would have lost Kreacher's respect just the 
way Sirius did, and Kreacher would no longer have felt obligated to 
obey her.  

It follows that she must not have done that. 


Pippin kindly concedes that:
> That doesn't prove it couldn't have been a Weasley, of course. 
> JKR has plenty of time to casually mention that one of them was 
> at the house during the requisite time period. But right now there 
> don't seem to have been any Weasleys about.  If there were, 
> they'd have been in the rescue party.

Erin:
And that in itself is suspicious.  There are an awful lot of Weasleys 
in the Order, and yet not one of them makes it to the Ministry?  What 
are the odds?  Surely at least one of them had to have been 
purposely "unavailable" so as not to have to fight his Death Eater 
friends?

As for the no Weasleys hanging about to contact Kreacher, distance 
means next to nothing in the WW.  The traitor could have apparated 
in, told Kreacher, and been gone in 10 seconds.

Or as Annemehr pointed out, Narcissa could have used a protean charm 
to contact Kreacher and we could be arguing pointlessly (except for 
the fun factor). 


--Erin