Remus Lupin: Good man doing nothing (long!)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 149266

 
Betsy Hp:
 There's a  classic quote that I think sums up Lupin quite nicely: 
> 
> "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do 
> nothing." –Edmund Burke

Pippin:
It certainly does, though maybe not in the way you intended. <g> The
quote widely attributed to Burke  cannot be traced to him. 
http://www.tartarus.org/~martin/essays/burkequote2.html

Burke did say this,"`When bad men combine, the  good must 
associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice 
in a contemptible struggle.' --Thoughts on the Cause
of the Present Discontents [April 23 1770]

He also said,"Public life is a situation of power and energy;
he trespasses against his duty who sleeps upon his watch, as well as he
that goes over to the enemy." -ibid

<snip drastically -- and thanks for the great Lupin reference!>

Betsy HP:
> Honestly, I have no idea.  Lupin is a bundle of contradictions.  
> It's easy to see how his behavior can seem suspicious enough to 
> grant him the ESE moniker.  It's also easy to see why he's 
> considered such a wonderful person.  Frankly, I think Lupin lacks 
> the sort of initiative required to become ESE. 

Pippin:
Examples of Lupin's initiative and leadership skills are easy to
overlook. He claims to have led his friends to become animagi
and to break the rules Dumbledore set down for him. Sirius
does not deny it.

 Lupin also takes action against Peeves, instigates
dressing the boggart as Gran Snape, invites Harry into his office,  
comes up with the idea of using a boggart as a bogus dementor, 
and rushes out to the Shrieking Shack without consulting anyone.
He stops Sirius from killing Peter out of hand, gets his way on telling 
the whole story to Harry  and getting information from Sirius ("you'll
need to help me, Sirius [...] I only know how it began"), then 
interrupts with "Enough of this" once he's 
heard how Sirius discovered Peter's treachery. The steely voice
that Harry had never heard him use before is, IMO, the voice of
someone who is used to giving orders.

In OOP, it's Lupin who carries the day on what Harry should be
told, and Lupin who decides he's been told enough. He claims
to know things  no one else understands, "There are
dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you..."
and is not challenged.

Pippin