Regulus' death(was: Snape - a werewolf bigot?? Was: Say it isn't so Lupin!!

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 170382

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "wynnleaf" <fairwynn at ...> wrote:
>
> > lizzyben04:
> > The problem I have with that theory is that neither Sirius nor 
> Lupin
> > seem to have any idea what Regulus was up to. 
> ><snips> 
> > It actually doesn't seem like Sirius had any contact with his
> > brother at all since graduating Hogwarts, maybe even since he was
> > first sorted into Slytherin, and that's a little sad. 
> >
> wynnleaf
> My impression was that Sirius' knowledge was rather vague about what 
> happened to Regulus.
> 
> So where did Lupin get his "few days" knowledge if not from Sirius?  
> And if Lupin had that knowledge, why didn't Sirius appear to have 
> it?  

lizzyben:
>From Lupin's Death Eater friends, of course! :) If Lupin got that info
from a "good" source, you'd think he would have shared that
w/Sirius, and the Order. Sirius certainly would have wanted to know.
But he kept quiet - IMO because if he informed the others, they would
next ask *how* Lupin knew this, and Lupin didn't
want to reveal his source. This indicates that Lupin's source was
probably shady/evil - someone Lupin wouldn't want the others to know
that he was in contact with.

wynnleaf:

> Some speculate that the info came from Dumbledore.  But Dumbledore 
> did *not* share information about Snape's turning from Voldemort to 
> the Order back at that time, so I can't see it likely that he'd 
> share information about Regulus turning either -- assuming 
> Dumbledore knew anything.

> Further, if Dumbledore *did* know more info and shared it, wouldn't 
> he have been more likely to share it with Sirius than with Lupin?  
> Yet Lupin seemed to have the greater knowledge.

lizzyben:
I don't think Dumbledore did know. He certainly didn't know about the
Horcrux switch, and Regulus apparantly didn't contact him for safety.
Regulus died before Snape switched sides, so DD wouldn't have an
informant in the Death Eaters. And even if DD did know, why would he
tell Lupin & not Sirius? DD is usually pretty closed-mouth w/his
information. No, Lupin had to have heard it from someone else. The
only people who knew when Regulus left would be Voldemort & the other
Death Eaters. And who actually killed Regulus? Who told them where
Regulus was hiding? Could it be... Lupin? Maybe Regulus came to his
brother's friend for advice, and Lupin turned around to inform
Voldemort? Just a suspicious suggestion.

wynnleaf:

> And this is a piece of literature, after all.  
> 
> This comment by Lupin could a small plot hole, without any real 
> explanation for how Lupin knew when Regulus turned and therefore 
> knew it was only "a few days" before he was killed.

lizzyben:
That's possible. Books have "plot holes" when the author needed to
give information w/o a plausible reason behind it. JKR needed to
remind readers of Regulus Black early in the novel in order to provide
a clue about RAB's identity. And Lupin is the only person left who
could plausibly provide this information. So maybe JKR gave him this
line as a clue - without thinking about how or why Lupin would know
this information. 

wynnleaf:

> On the other hand, if there *is* an explanation, then JKR obviously 
> knows exactly what that explanation is and it has some importance.  
> And if it has some importance, it's not something trivial -- 
> although it could have more to do with Regulus' possible activities 
> surrounding the horcruxes than anything bad about Lupin.

lizzyben:
Well, it does prove that Lupin, and Sirius, were wrong about Regulus.
He didn't just run away, but formulated a plan to stop Voldemort. I
guess this indicates that the Order wasn't involved in Regulus' plan.
It may be more of a hint about Regulus than Lupin. But I think it's
interesting that LUPIN gave this line about the past, given that he's
been so quiet about his own past. I don't think that was a coincidence.

wynnleaf:

> The problem with the "plot hole" option is that there are just too 
> many plot holes surrounding Lupin's actions and comments for me to 
> think all of those plot holes are just JKR slipping up more often 
> with Lupin than other major characters.
> 
> wynnleaf
>

lizzyben:

Yeah, Lupin is a slippery character, which is why I don't trust him
very much. JKR has been careful to conceal his whereabouts during the
past 12 years, while Lupin repeatedly drops hints that indicate a
familiarity w/the Dark Arts & Death Eaters, and others drop hints that
they considered him a possible spy/traitor. Why wouldn't James let
Lupin be his Secret Keeper? Why haven't we heard an explanation yet?
Why does Lupin keep lying about Snape, while maintaining a supposedly
neutral stance? Lupin maintains this passive stance that allows him to
gather a lot of information about people, & disappear from view w/o
causing too many questions. He's tricky.

Lizzyben, who doesn't believe Lupin was really asleep on the Hogwarts
Express.