Lupin's behavior (Was: CHAPDISC: DH11, The Bribe)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 180585

a_svirn wrote:
> <snip> Whether Tonks could or could not brew Wolfsbane is 
> immaterial – it is not that kind of danger. It the danger of 
> consorting with undesirables. <snip>

How [is] it [Lupin's wish to abandon his wife and son to accompany
HRH] different [from his choice to fight in the battle of Hogwarts]?
Were Harry, Ron and Hernione going on some protracted World Tour? Was
not their quest about defeating Voldemort and making a better world? 
<snip>
 
> Personally, I think it was the rest of the order who were 
irresponsible, sitting on their butts and waiting for three seventeen-
year-olds to do the entire job. At least, Lupin  *tried* to do 
something. If it wasn't for his fractured relationship with Tonks his
offer would have been perfectly reasonable. They could use help, and
he was an asset in the Defence from the Dark Arts. <snip>

>
Carol responds;

Lupin is imagining Tonks's giving birth to a half-werewolf cub, and
running off with HRH would let him forget the consequences of his
choice to marry and impregnate Tonks. He is denying his
responsibility, which is not to protect three of-age wizards but to
stay with his family until duty calls him to defend the WW, as in the
Battle of Hogwarts.

It's his being a werewolf (as well as his status as an "undesirable")
that makes him a danger to HRH, more so than to his wife, herself an
Auror and member of the Order. Surely, he would not have married her
without making some sort of arrangements to protect her from his
once-a-month transformations.

The Trio have no such protection. Exactly how are they supposed to
protect themselves *from Lupin* when their "protector" turns into a
werewolf once a month? He can't stay in the tent with them on those
nights. Where is he supposed to go? Should he roam the countryside,
endangering the people of England so the Trio will be safe? Wouldn't
the wanderings of a werewolf draw unwnated attention, in any case? It
would be more dangerous by far, for all concerned (including Lupin
himself) than roaming Hogsmeade in the company of two large Animagi
and a rat.

Obviously, Tonks and Lupin found some way to live together in peace,
some way to protect and their unborn child from Lupin's "furry little
problem." My best guess is that Auror Tonks prepared Wolfsbane Potion
for her husband every month. Neither Lupin himself nor HRH had the
knowledge or the means of doing so, nor should that additional burden
have been forced upon them by Lupin's unneeded and unwanted
companionship. (Also, of course, Harry had promised DD not to let
anyone else, including Lupin, into the secret of the Horcruxes, and it
would have been exceedingly difficult to keep it from him had he
joined them. And if they cast Muffliato to keep him from overhearing
their conversations, he'd have felt even more excluded and depressed.)

Lupin did find a way to do *some* good, joining Lee and the others in
the Pottercasts. Perhaps he and the other Order members did other
things we don't know about before they went into hiding. (Mr. Weasley
and Bill would have kept an eye on the MoM, for example.) But
accompanying HRH and hindering their efforts by his mere presence was
the last thing that a considerate and rational Lupin, a Lupin not
consumed by guilt and depression, would have thought of doing.

It's a shame that DD didn't bring both Lupin and Snape into the secret
of the Horcruxes and let *them* destroy the bits of Voldie's soul
while HRH attended Hogwarts (with no Elder Wand in the plot, :-) ).
But to have Lupin staying with HRH, whether in 12 GP or on the camping
trip, would have been worse than folly. His turning into a werewolf
would either endanger them or give them away.

Carol, who does not see Lupin's joining HRH as remotely comparable to
fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts, which, fortunately or
unfortunately for Lupin, did not coincide with the full moon