Nitwit? - Remus John Lupin

Wed Apr 25 10:19:11 UTC 2007

No: HPFGUIDX 167931

In:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/165345

> Pippin agreeing with Alla that betting Lupin is not evil is 
bold.

In:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/167924

> Pippin:

> If there was a bargain it was probably with someone with 
connections to one of the power groups Voldemort was wooing. 
The only one of the Marauders that would fit is Lupin.

Goddlefrood:

A little preliminary thought.

Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak.

Messrs. Moony, Worntail, Padfoot and Prongs?

Curious :-?

I'm not about to get into that further, but it was a preliminary
thought I had about the Marauders. This makes Lupin the nitwit.

Oh, and I'll wager a few squid on Lupin not being evil ;)

This part I will expound on now. I have glimpsed some pattern 
here ;), ESE!Lupin is a nice little theory, as with many others 
it is not entirely disprovable, but I'll give some thoughts :)

A Curriculum Vitae of Lupin, some real, some reasonable 
extrapolation:

(i) He was born and later bitten by a werewolf, thus becoming 
one himself.

(ii) He attended Hogwarts with the other Marauders, who 
discovered him to be a werewolf and learned to be Animagi to 
keep him company. Dumbledore had ensured he could come and as 
part of the arrangement The Whomping Willow was planted and 
The Shrieking Shack organised.

(iii) He was a member of the original Order of the Phoenix and 
may well have begun spying on the werewolves back then. He 
remains in the Order.

(iv) In year 3 of Harry's time at Hogwarts he was, IMNSVHO, the 
best DADA professor seen so far. He left under a cloud having 
beeen outed as a werewolf to the student body.

(v) He went back to spying on the werewolves.

(vi) Tonks fell for him and consequently changed her Patronus 
(( )):**

Not a lot of a contentious nature there ;)

During the first rise of Voldemort (a relative of Voldermort ;))
he was suspected of being a spy for LV, probably with some 
prompting from the rat.

What do we know of him, however, he rarely expresses his own 
opinion and is one of the more difficult characters to get to
know. What I know is that JKR likes him a great deal, don't
believe me, though, so here she is:

"The first book will always have a special place in my heart, 
because it was the first book I ever published. However, I 
prefer the plot of CHAMBER OF SECRETS. And just to confuse 
the issue, I was looking forward to writing the third book 
from the start of the first because that's when Professor 
Lupin appears, and he is one of my favorite characters in 
all seven books."

I see, Joanne, one of your favourite characters :-?.

That from as long ago as 1999 in Barnes & Noble chat transcript,  
8th September, 1999, found in full here (for those inclined):

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/0999-barnesnoble-staff.htm

I'm sorry I will cal you Ms. Rowling, of course :) And what's 
that you say Ms. Rowling, about his character, ah:

"I was also playing with that when I created Professor Lupin 
having a contagious disease so people are frightened of him. 
I really liked him as a character but he also has his failing 
though he's a nice man and a wonderful teacher - in fact he's 
the one time I've written a teacher ... the kind of teacher 
I'd have loved to have had. McGonagall is a good teacher but 
scary at times. Lupin's failing is he likes to be liked. That's 
where he slips up - he's been disliked so often he's always 
pleased to have friends so cuts them an awful lot of slack."

He likes to be liked, perhaps he would not be liked so much, Ms.
Rowling, if he turns out evil, perhaps? That from J.K. Rowling 
at the Royal Albert Hall, 26th June 2003, available here:

http://www.msn.co.uk/liveevents/harrypotter/transcript/Default.asp?
Ath=f

Perhaps, Ms. Rowling, if I might be so bold, you would care to
tell us whether you lie in your interviews? Of course:

"JKR: I've never, to my knowledge, lied when posed a question 
about the books. To my knowledge. You can imagine, I've now been 
asked hundreds of questions; it's perfectly possible at some 
point I misspoke or I gave a misleading answer unintentionally, 
or I may have answered truthfully at the time and then changed 
my mind in a subsequent book. That makes me cagey about answering 
some questions in too much detail because I have to have some 
leeway to get there and do it my way, but never on a major plot 
point.

Lupin was very fond of Lily, we'll put it like that, but I 
wouldn't want anyone to run around thinking that he competed 
with James for her. She was a popular girl, and that is 
relevant. But I think you've seen that already. She was a bit 
of a catch."

Not knowingly then, although perhaps there is the odd 
inconsistency ;). He was fond of Lily was he, didn't love 
her then?, Ah, I see you answered that one, thank you.

The above from "The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet interview 
Joanne Kathleen Rowling: Part Three" 16th July 2005, in full 
here:

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-
3.htm

Perhaps it will turn out Ms. Rowling that Professor Lupin will 
have a twin, his name is suggestive of that, after all.

"No, but this obviously sprang from the fact that Lupin's 
Christian name (Remus) comes from one of the mythical founders 
of Rome who had a twin called 'Romulus'. (They were raised by 
wolves, incidentally)."

Well, a surprising revelation ;), available in the rumours 
section of JKR's site (all following links from said section) 
here:

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=9

Then is it a possibility that Peter Pettigrew will kill Remus, 
he does, after all, now have a silver hand for the job :O):

"Nice idea, clearly predicated on the legend that only a silver 
bullet can kill a werewolf - but incorrect."

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=38

But surely he will be back as the DADA Professor in Deathly 
Hallows, he was such a good educationalist:

"Alas, no. Lupin's exposure as a werewolf did irreparable damage 
to his prospects for a career in teaching, and with the likes of 
Fenrir Greyback out there, werewolves are unlikely to receive a 
good press any time soon."

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=42

Ok then, I have one sure fire theory, which is that James and
Remus switched bodies and Harry will find joy in the inevitable
reunion:

"An ingenious theory, but no; James would never have saved 
himself and left his wife and son to die."

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=60

The evidence is certainly thin that he's evil, but I never 
entirely discount such things. I could, if asked, debate this 
matter a little ;)

One good thing, though, they found his namesake's cave burial 
site recently:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070126-rome-
palatine.html

Remus legendarily is associated with the Aventine Hill in Rome,
one of Rome's seven hills :-?. Here's a little something of
interest on that, with some picturesque views:

http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P18A.html

Goddlefrood, alias Crookshanks for this evening, oh, sorry I
couldn't be #-o:

"Crookshanks is an Animagus

No, he's not, but he's not pure cat either. If you buy 
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (all royalties to 
Comic Relief, which means you're helping some of the poorest 
children around the world) you might just be able to work out 
what Crookshanks really is."