Lupin's Spying, WAS: Snape, Hagrid, and Sirius Black

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 148330

Betsy Hp:
> I can totally understand Lupin being driven to a murderous rage.  
> But it's chilling how... *calm* he is about it.  I don't really 
lean 
> towards ESE!Lupin, but I feel like I cannot get a handle on him.  
> He's slippery.  And he's very, very subtle.

Ceridwen:
I don't have a problem with him in this context.  He's always kept 
his head down.  I don't think he's the type to get worked up.  He's 
calm because that's just the way he is.  Even with the Dementors on 
the train, though he jumps right into action, he doesn't seem 
flustered; he keeps his cool.

And, look at him under the tree in Snape's memory.  He's a prefect, 
but he's got his nose in a book, pretending not to notice.  Pretty 
cool there, too.  Some people don't show feelings very much.  Anyway, 
that's how I see him in the SS scene.

Betsy Hp:
> Snape seems to see him as the most dangerous of the Marauders, 
being 
> sure not to turn his back on him in PoA.  That's interesting to 
me.  
> And yet when McGonagall was listing off the Marauders in PoA, Lupin 
> never came up.  Was he never caught in their various escapades?  
Was 
> he not considered one of the gang by the staff?  Or was JKR simply 
> trying to hide his connection with James and Sirius?  (I believe 
> Lupin tells Harry that he was their friend around this time though, 
> so I'm not sure why JKR didn't have McGonagall say anything.)

Ceridwen:
I didn't notice that about Snape.  Now I'm curious.  I'll have to 
look through PoA again, with an eye to that.

On why McG didn't mention him, I think it might be a mixture of 
reasons.  First, of course, is JKR not wanting the reader in on the 
secret too early.  But, how is this justified in the story?  I think 
the answer comes in OotP, when Lupin is under the tree, ignoring what 
his friends are doing.  He doesn't get involved in their pranks.  
He's a prefect, so doesn't want to present a bad image for the 
younger students.  And, he's already got the staff noticing him for 
being a werewolf (or at least the staff who know).  Again, keeping a 
low profile.  So, while he was one of them, he didn't necessarily go 
pranking with them other than their nights in the SS.  IMO.


Betsy Hp:
> He's strangely weak, caving into peer pressure with disturbing 
> ease.  And yet, he spends most of PoA making subtle little digs at 
> Snape.  So he's not totally controlled by a need to be liked.  But 
> he's been the only surviving and free Marauder since the Potters 
> were killed and he's never, that we know of, attempted to contact 
> Harry.  Why was he so willing to leave Harry to the Dursleys?  Why 
> was he so reluctant to let Harry know that he was a friend of 
> James?  And again (and most disturbingly) why was he willing to let 
> Harry die rather than share the secrets of dead or traitorous 
> friends?  It makes me wonder about the depths of loyalty he felt 
for 
> James.

Ceridwen:
I think his need to be liked only covers people he actually likes and 
gets along with, which would leave Snape out.  But he's consistent in 
turning a blind eye to what his friends are doing, as you say, caving 
into peer pressure.

I think you may have adequately answered why he didn't contact Harry 
earlier on, with your paragraph below:

Betsy Hp:
> And then there's that crack he makes about sinking to his true 
level 
> when he joined with the werewolf pack.  He's horribly down on 
> himself.  

Ceridwen:
He may actually feel that he isn't worthy to contact Harry, or that 
his 'furry little problem' would be too much of a problem, especially 
for a boy raised in a Muggle home.  Again, keeping to the shadows, 
hugging the walls.

Betsy Hp:
> And he seems rather bitter about Dumbledore. (That whole, 
> well he needed a spy and there I was...)  It's like Lupin really 
> sees himself as something lesser than, and at the same time he's 
> angry that he is that way.

Ceridwen:
Yes.  I agree wholeheartedly.  He does seem to see himself as throw-
away baggage, but he still likes himself just enough to resent that.  
It might also explain the ragged writing on his suitcase - he doesn't 
think he deserves nice, new lettering, but he deserves recognition.

Betsy Hp:
> It's funny, because he's got this reputation of being this sweet, 
> intelligent, calm and rational man.  But I suspect that this is a 
> mask.  It's a comfortable mask, and one he uses easily, but in the 
> end, I don't think we've really met the real Lupin.  Hell, I'm not 
> sure *Lupin* knows who the real Lupin is.

Ceridwen:
Yes, again.  He keeps it bottled up, but some random frustration 
escapes.  He might go ballistic in book 7, let it all out.  Or, he 
might cave in again and have a genuine crisis.  He isn't as 
theatrical as Snape, but he's another ambiguous character who might 
provide some surprises before the end of the series.

Ceridwen.