Lupin in Book 7 (Re: The co-protagonists and minor characters...)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 142706

Carol:
> Maybe Hagrid will take care of Hedwig, who's too conspicuous for
> Harry to use as a means of communication, so maybe Harry will use
> his Patronus to communicate with Lupin, who (IMO) will need to
> remain at 12 GP as he can no longer spy on the werewolves (his
> cover is blown--the DEs saw him fighting as an Order member at
> Hogwarts).

Julie:
> I agree Lupin blew his cover, so I'd assume he'll be holed up with
> the Order, or with Tonks ;-) Grimmald Place seems likely. I
> suspect the two of them will join in a battle against DEs at
> some point though.

Jen: I've been thinking about Lupin recently--so glad you two 
mentioned that he blew his cover as I hadn't thought of that. For 
Harry, Grimmauld must feel like the money he won for the Triwizard 
tournament--a burden instead of a gift, and 'won' at a very high 
price. Harry will gladly hand over the house to Lupin and Tonks 
permanently if they'll accept it. Lupin can remove the rest of the 
dark creatures and hopefully the House Elf Wall of Fame, and Tonks 
and Hermione will put their heads together and come up with a 
solvent for the permanent sticking charms (and sell it to the Other 
Minister? <g>).

I have high hopes for Lupin's further development in Book 7. Why 
else did JKR leave the last Marauder standing if not to help bridge 
the gap between the past Harry is finally exploring and the onerous 
task he has left to accomplish? Lupin seems perfectly poised to help 
Harry now that Sirius and Dumbledore are gone. I expected to see 
this relationship develop in HBP, then realized it made perfect 
sense to shunt him off to the werewolf camp with nary a letter, so 
Harry could focus on Dumbledore bonding. And I don't think this will 
ruin JKR's idea of Harry going on alone because Harry doesn't view 
Lupin as someone he *needs*. Lupin's kept Harry at a distance and 
therefore Harry doesn't depend on him. Lupin is a proven teacher for 
Harry though, and may be important for helping him develop a few 
last skills. 

There's so much Lupin can do for himself and Harry in this one *Rubs 
hands togther with anticipation*. For starters, he could go to 
Godric's Hollow with Harry, to put his own ghosts to rest as well as 
fill Harry in on vital information such as why Sirius/James 
suspected him to be the spy, Lily's and James' funeral, and perhaps 
even give us the final piece of information JKR promised about the 
Prank.

I'm waiting for Lupin to reveal himself as a Legilimens & find out 
how that figures into the plot, especially after the moment between 
he and Sirius in the Shrieking Shack: "But then..." Lupin muttered, 
staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his 
mind...(chap. 17, p. 344, Scholastic) There's another similar moment 
in OOTP when Sirius wants to tell Harry more about the 'weapon' and 
Molly is forbidding it. 

I *think* his skill will help Harry understand the scar connection 
and perhaps, as we debated in the possession thread, any other 
powers Voldemort transferred to Harry such as possession and/or 
legilimency. Lupin understands the dark arts in a much different way 
from Dumbledore, and his expertise will benefit Harry. Hopefully we 
will find out where he learned so much about the dark arts and why 
he had that battered case for his 'first' teaching gig, while JKR is 
at it.

Oh, and finally, Lily. I was so hoping a woman friend would fill us 
in on her, but they all seem to be dead or insane at the moment :(. 
Nope, Lupin will be the one--I'm convinced after JKR made the 
comment "Lupin was very fond of Lily, we'll put it like that, but I 
wouldn't want anyone to run around thinking that he competed with 
James for her." (TLC/MN 2005) You combine that thought with this 
comment: "Alfonso had good intuition about what would and wouldn't 
work. He's put things in the film that, without knowing it, 
foreshadow things that are going to happen in the final two books. 
So I really got goosebumps when I saw a couple of those things, and 
I thought people are going to look back on the film and think those 
were put in deliberately as clues." 

Yep, Lupin loved Lily I think, although in a very platonic way. It 
wouldn't surprise me to find out he was 'that awful boy' Petunia 
referred to, visiting Lily over summers as a friend before she and 
James got together.
  
Jen, who will be very surprised and sad if Lupin is shunted to the 
background again in Book 7.