ANTIVIRUS - humble attempt of building a ship

[Mira]

No: HPFGUIDX 129211

--- festuco <vuurdame at xs4all.nl> wrote:

> Gerry
> Sloth is lazyness. Knowing you should make an
> effort, but not
> bothering to do so, out of unwillingness, not lack
> of ability. 
> 
> Remus has weaknesses. He is a very friendly
> character who wants to be
> liked, and who lives in extremely difficult
> circumstances. He is also
> very loyal. Sloth, no. 

It's hard for me too to accept this, Gerry, but
Shanoah Alkire was partly right. I completely agree
with you that sleeping on the train is not a sign of
sloth, and I like what you say that Lupin kept his
mouth shut about Sirius because he was not completely
sure that his former friend was guilty. Still, he
didn't try to convince himself, one way or another.
And he did forget to take his potion, which is almost
intolerable, irrespective to his state of mind at the
time. I am not trying to judge Lupin's behavior, but
it is still true that he put people in grave danger
with the above attitudes.

Think of Sirius: the death his best friend, betrayed
by the secret-keeper Sirius himself suggested, an
unfair sentence, a horribly long stay in Azkaban,
universal opprobrium, risking the worst possible fate
known to a wizard, and yet he did anything to reach
Peter and both revenge James and protect Harry.
Including practically throwing himself in the grasp of
his tormentors.

Lupin had a dazzling bad luck to be bitten by a
werewolf. Of course, he is shunned by most wizards and
finds hard to obtain a job to support himself. He has
all the reasons to feel sorry for himself. However, he
is at least at the right side of the law, he doesn't
suffer as badly as he used to due to Snape's potion,
and there are many people who don't know his
situation, not to mention those who have the heart in
the right place and are free from prejudices and just
don't care what he is. Lupin shares Sirius' grief,
true, but at least he is free from guilt. At least he
doesn't have to live off dead rats. At least he can
afford to mentor Harry openly. Yet, he doesn't really
find the boldness to act, to take fate in his hands.
Perhaps it is not sloth at all, just a lack of
audacity, but still, I think Shanoah Alkire was right
saying that it has a certain relevance to the sin
theme I suggested.

The less doubtful argument for Lupin's inclination to
sloth is, I think, the fact that he tolerated the bad
behavior of his friends but never tried to stop them,
not even when they clearly overstepped the boundary of
decency (provoked or not, as in the Pensieve episode).

So, yes, Lupin is an extraordinary person, but he does
like his comfort a little too much and at the very
least, he doesn't really stand up for his beliefs. I
am not criticising him by writing this, only trying to
understand him better and like him as he is, not as we
would like him to be.

I already said how much I admire Jo for putting into
perspective and effectively debating each moral notion
she introduces in her books.

Mira