Let's talk about Lupin

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 146131

Debbie wrote:
> Did you think Lupin was "off" from a characterization perspective,
or "off" from his character in previous books?  I see Lupin as very
fatalistic about his situation; he expects to get the dregs, and he
goes to great lengths to convince himself that he should simply accept
the way things are.  I felt that the Lupin we saw in HBP probably
reflected the survival tactics he used to deal with all those years of
isolation and loneliness.  In contrast, next to the MWPP days, POA and
OOP were the best times of his adult life -- first as a member of the
Hogwarts teaching staff, and in OOP he could hang out at Grimmauld
Place with Sirius and the other Order members.
> 
> After the death of Sirius, he reverted to his usal coping
mechanisms, which involved a good dose of mental self-flagellation.
<snip> His appearance at the end of OOP ("his face pale, his hair
> greying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and
> trousers") strongly suggest the description JKR gives when we first
see him on the train in POA, when he has been living as an outcast for
many years.
> So, in my view, Lupin was "off" only if we're comparing him to the
good days.  These are not good days for him. <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree. He's unemployed, dirt poor, and grieving for Sirius (possibly
feeling some share of guilt for his death if he blames himself for
Peter's escape, which led directly to the restoration of Voldemort and
indirectly to events in the MoM. But there's another factor that made
the Hogwarts much more bearable, even enjoyable (not counting whatever
pleasure he received from teaching and from helping Harry while he was
also busy hiding his secrets)--the Wolfsbane Potion, which Severus
Snape "made and made perfectly," which saved him from the mental and
physical agony of his monthly transformations (though not from the
transformations themselves). When Lupin expresses gratitude to the
absent Snape for brewing the potion (in the "I neither like nor
dislike Severus" scene), I believe that he's speaking the truth. For
ten months out of the thirty-some years that he's been undergoing
these transformations, he had rest and sleep rather than torment
during the twenty-four hours or so per month when he was in werewolf
form. *That's* why he looks grey as well as tattered now. His face is
aging and his hair is graying from his suffering.

I hope that this link with Snape, along with the common bond of having
suffered terribly from the DADA curse, will lead to some sort of
reconciliation (if that's the right word for men who were never really
friends) between Snape and Lupin in Book 7. Lupin seems like the
person most likely to understand how the DADA curse could have led to
the UV and trapped Snape into doing something he didn't want to do. I
realize that this is an emotional reaction, a hope, not a theory, but
I would love to see them develop an understanding that enabled Snape
to help Harry, surreptitiously or openly. Knowing Lupin and his
penchant for secrecy, it would probably be surreptitiously.

Carol, delighted to see that JKR (or at least her website) is wishing
Severus Snape a happy birthday (Fictional character or no, I wish him
a day of peace and a respite from remorse, happiness being out of the
question after HBP.)