Remus Lupin: Good man doing nothing (long!)

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 149308

> Betsy Hp:
> Hee!  I did not know that.  Happy birthday, Lupin!

Christina:

Yup, March 10th, I believe :)


> Betsy Hp:
> It is common, but it's not good. (Ick, mobs.)  I actually give Lupin 
> a greater responsibility than the laughing crowd.  Not just because 
> as a Prefect he *does* have a greater responsibility, but because he 
> isn't laughing.  Unlike the crowd, Lupin realizes that what's going 
> on is *wrong* and yet he still takes no action.  He waits for, and 
> possibly depends upon, Lily to come to the rescue.  And until Lily 
> *does* something, evil triumphs.  

Christina:

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here :)  I think that the
recognition that something is wrong, even when nothing is done, is
still better than not realizing that something is wrong at all (and
pointing and laughing about it).  True, James and Sirius might have
stopped if Lupin had done something, but they never would have bullied
Snape in the first place if there wasn't a willing audience.


> Betsy Hp:
> That it shows the weakness of PoA and GoF were the standard and the 
> strength of OotP was the anomaly, I was a bit shocked, actually.  
> Because I do like Lupin, so I hated to see that his natural state 
> was one of weakness.  I had hoped that the willingness to let Harry 
> die rather than take action was some sort of strange phenomenon 
> instead of business as usual.

Christina:

I don't see Lupin as weak, per se, in PoA.  I think he does a
fantastic job at handling the situation in the Shrieking Shack, for
example.  He comes into the room ready for anything, "his wand raised
and ready."  He takes a quick inventory of the situation (not unlike
Snape's quick survey of the scene on top of the tower in HBP), and
goes about taking control of the room.  Except for the few minutes
that Snape is in the room, Lupin runs the show - getting the kids to
believe his story and restraining Sirius from acting too rashly.  This
is the same leader!Lupin from OotP.

I wouldn't call Lupin's problem weakness...Julie suggested apathy, but
I don't think that's quite right either.  I think Lupin has two main
problems.  First, he is cautious and an overthinker, which are
normally not such bad things, except when they appear in excess.  He
is that guy who never, ever takes the risk.  He's the guy who sits
there while his two friends are bullying Snape, thinking, "I should
probably do something - but Sirius and James might hate me if I step
up - but I'm a Prefect! - but my friends have done everything for me."
 He runs around in circles in his head until the situation passes and
Lupin has done nothing.  Second, Lupin wants his friends to like him,
and he doesn't like to disappoint others.  That covers Lupin's
activities in the Pensieve and the reason he didn't tell DD about
Sirius's Animagus form.  Lupin is more willing to outwardly oppose
Adult!Sirius because Sirius becomes the dependent one, so to speak. 
Lupin has lived for years without Sirius - he has learned to do
without him.  Sirius's fall from grace and poor reputation (and
complete inability to play nicely with others) makes him much more
dependent on Lupin.

Lupin leads the Advance Guard well because he has his instructions and
can follow them.  He also apparently knows how to make others like and
respect him (which is no surprise).  

The funny thing is, when Lupin takes charge in PoA and OotP, he exerts
his passive and careful nature over others.  At the end of PoA, when
Sirius just wants to kill Peter and be done, Lupin physically and
verbally takes charge and restrains him.  When Sirius and Molly are
fighting in OotP, Lupin steps in to restrain them also.  When Sirius's
temper rises over Snape stopping Occlumency lessons, Lupin exerts his
control by restraining Sirius.  It isn't Dumbledore that steps in to
stop Harry from running through the veil, it's Lupin (a conscious and
meaningful choice by JKR, IMO).  Lupin's best leadership moments in
the books appear when he is exercising his flaws.  It isn't that Lupin
is *doing* when leading, and *not doing* when not leading.  It is that
when leading, Lupin is forcing others to *stop doing*.  In his own
actions, Lupin's flaws do him wrong, because he ends up just sitting
around when he should be acting.  But when matched with people that
act rashly and with their emotions, Lupin is a tempering force that
injects rational thought and caution into the situation.  Sometimes,
it's better to sit and do nothing, or calm down and wait things out -
it's just that when a person is stuck with that philosophy all the
time that it causes problems.


> Betsy Hp:
> Does he resent that, I wonder?  Because while putting all of his 
> trust in Dumbledore, Lupin also sounded a bit bitter with the role 
> Dumbledore had assigned him.  I can totally see a love/hate dynamic 
> going on there.

Christina:

I think that Lupin's bitterness in his voice was directed more toward
himself and his lot in life than at Dumbledore, but I've often
wondered about this.  I don't think Lupin resents Dumbledore, because
he seems to cling desperately to the human self (being very polite,
not getting angry or worked up, etc) that Dumbledore has made
possible.  However, I wonder how much of a service Dumbledore really
did Lupin by letting him come to school.  Lupin was allowed years of
happiness with close friends who loved him, but I wonder how well
Dumbledore prepared Lupin for dealing with what would come after his
schooling.  Obviously Dumbledore did the right thing, but I do see a
small element of giving a child a shiny new toy only to promptly take
it away.  Like I said, I don't think Lupin resents this, but I wonder
if Lupin's parents ever did.

> Betsy Hp:
> It *could* be that Lupin is hiding his abilities because he's a spy.
> But it could also be that he's choosing not to use his abilities 
> because he's scared.

Christina:

I don't think Lupin hides his abilities at all.  Others seem to
recognize him as being intelligent and magically skilled - they accept
his leadership, after all.  His opinion at the dinner table in OotP is
immediately accepted.  The kids at Hogwarts recognize Lupin as the
best teacher they've ever had.


Christina