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

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 180610

> Alla:
> 
> Okay, I do not get it. Say Harry saw Lupin deciding to do some 
other 
> dangerous thing for the Order, which has nothing to do with Harry. 
> Say Harry decided to give Lupin the same lecture, or roughly the 
> same lecture as he gave him in this chapter.
> 
> I will be the first one to say that this is NOT Harry's business. 
> But here Lupin comes to Harry to offer services. Those are the 
> thoughts Harry has about Lupin's situation; those ARE the reasons 
> why he rejects his help. You think Harry should have been quiet? 
> Okay, but how would the readers learn that those ARE the reasons?
> 
> Do you know what I mean? If JKR agrees with Harry and wants reader 
> to know the reasons, I just do not see who would be MORE logical 
> person to express them.
> 
> I mean, say Molly or Arthur or anybody decided to lecture Lupin on 
> this, I would again say - none of your business, but Harry did not 
> ASK Remus to offer his help, no?
> 
> Are you saying that he has no right to respond? He was insulting 
> sure, but as Zara said - till Remus brought up James, he was harsh 
> but courteous.
> 
> You know - bitter truth is better than sweet lies, etc?

a_svirn:
Except that it wasn't a grain of truth in those accusations. Lupin, a 
daredevil? Lupin, wanting to step into Sirius's shoes? What a pile of 
malicious nonsense. If he was leaving his wife it was precisely for 
the reasons he stated. All of them perfectly valid, by the way. Which 
were none of Harry's business, and even Tonks, scratch that, most 
especially Tonks would have been first to tell him so, if there was 
any truth in her. 

Lupin came to Harry to offer his services, yes. If Harry could not 
accept them, because he felt he would be doing Lupin and Tonks 
disservice, he should have said so like an adult he claimed to be, 
not throwing ridiculous accusations he didn't really mean. Of course, 
if he really were disgusted with Lupin, if he really thought him the 
worst sort of coward and really was ashamed of him then and only then 
he should have spoken his mind. But we know he didn't. He only did it 
so that Lupin and Tonks would reconcile. Harry insulted the man who 
just offered to lay his life for him, and who had risked the said 
life for him on a number of occasions and for what? So that Lupin 
would feel ashamed, return to his wife, kiss and make-up.  What a 
self-righteous and utterly juvenile thing to do. Not to mention 
ungrateful. 

> Magpie:
> <SNIP>
> Even if Lupin didn't truly want to be with Tonks and really did 
have 
> a
> horror of the danger he put her and the baby in (and a horror of
> creating a baby that would be under the same stigma he was) I didn't
> think that made him a coward--maybe because those thoughts always
> seemed perfectly reasonable to me to begin with. I mean, Lupin is 
the
> only werewolf here; he's the one who really knows what it's like and
> really knows what he fears. And Harry's never been very good at 
> reading
> situations before--here, in fact, Harry's blatantly putting his own
> issues on Lupin in a way not that different than Sirius projected 
his
> feelings about James on Harry.
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Sure, it is possible, but I still have a feeling that JKR agrees 
> with Harry here. He has issues with dead parents, but I do not see 
> anything not true in what he said about parents not leaving the 
kids 
> unless they have to. I mean, what I am trying to say is that I do 
> not see how his issue stops him from assessing the situation, if 
> nothing else it gives him more insight IMO.

a_svirn:
I suppose she does. And so does the entire WW, apparently. Otherwise 
they wouldn't have all gone into hiding with their families and leave 
it for childless seventeen-year-old adults to do all the fighting for 
them.