Nitwit? - Remus John Lupin

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 168028

wynnleaf
> While I overall agree with Ceridwen's post, I'd like to point out
> something here.
> 
> While a student at Hogwarts, Lupin was *not* being shunned for being a
> werewolf.  

Ceridwen:
Sorry I made myself as clear as mud here.  ;)  I have a habit of going 
back and forth as thoughts strike me.  I usually put a tangent alert, 
but with Remus, it's hard to separate the past from the present, and 
the possible from the concrete.

No, Remus wasn't shunned at Hogwarts, for the reasons you mentioned.  
But he has been shunned since, by adults who should know better, who 
still see the Creature instead of the Man.

He also strikes me as a person who was raised by timid, frightened 
parents who instilled a fear of shunning early-on.  They probably only 
wanted the best for him.  To them, that best might be to keep on 
people's good side, not let them know any more than was necessary, and 
never rock the boat.  He may have grown up with the idea that he wasn't 
good enough for "normal" people and so had to "pass" to fit in.  Some 
parents worry a lot about their child fitting in.

Having friends like the Marauders who were not ony friendly to him, but 
who actually found something positive in his condition, and who were 
popular on top of that, could have been something beyond anything he 
had been raised to expect.  Old baggage could well have come back to 
haunt him in that he feared that any misstep would make them shun him.

Tangent alert:  I wonder if he might have felt used at all during that 
time at Hogwarts.  If something happened, it would be Remus who did it, 
and Remus who got into trouble.  His monthly ordeals were a chance to 
break the rules with an interesting companion for the others.  They 
joked about it: James called it Remus's "furry little problem", around 
enough people who didn't know the truth, that they thought he had a 
naughty bunny.  It was a joke to them, a supreme prank, while it was 
deadly serious to Remus.

Back on track:  And, again as you said, once they knew his secret, he 
couldn't afford for them to get angry at him.  Fear of exposure is also 
fear of shunning.  Exposure gets you shunned.  He may have been off-
base about what they would do.  I expect he was.  But, I do think that 
early training had a lot to do with the way he interacts with others.

Ceridwen.