Is Lupin a Legilimens? Is that Suspicious?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 157756

 
> Renee:
> Theoretically, she could, though I still believe the way she's been
> talking about him since he first appeared, makes this highly unlikely.
> But if she did, she'd most likely do it by letting Lupin slip in a way
> characteristic for him - remaining passive where action is required,
> or keeping his mouth shut when he ought to speak, in order to avoid
> the condemnation of people who matter to him. His main flaw is his
> fear to be disliked. (There are moments when I think he gave in to
> Tonks because he feared the wrath of Molly and McGonagall.)
> 

Pippin:
Heh heh. I've thought that too, but I figured if *I* said it, people
would think I was just being anti-Lupin. <g> Just because JKR hasn't
stated her reservations about Lupin doesn't mean she hasn't got
them. I'd certainly have reservations about someone who let himself
be bullied into a relationship he didn't think would work. 

You know, if it would endanger Lupin's mission to have  a long
distance relationship with Harry, it should be equally dangerous to
have one with a Ministry Auror like Tonks. But that doesn't get
mentioned. It makes me think that maybe both sets of excuses are
secondary.

But is passivity really Lupin's defining characteristic? You know, I can't
find any Rowling quote with 'passivity' or 'passive' in the interviews
and I don't recall those words ever appearing in canon. It seems
to me the operative word, in your post as in canon, is 'fear'. 
JKR talks about fear, and its opposite, courage, a great deal.

It's clear that in her book, fear is a greater danger than death or
evil. I don't think it really matters what someone is afraid of.  As the 
boggart lesson pointed out, whether your fear is realistic or not, it can be 
used to manipulate you. And Lupin doesn't handle fear very well. He
never manages to turn his boggart into something funny. (Cockroach
candy is funny only because cockroaches per se are not.)

It seems there are things Lupin doesn't want to do because he's afraid, 
so he thinks up passive reasons not to do them. But the fear, IMO, 
comes first. 

Pippin