(no subject)
⎛PLAYER⎠
Name: Ash
Journal: neutralalienist
Contact: alwaysmoony AT aim DOT com, AlwaysMoony
Current Characters: None
⎛CHARACTER⎠
Name: Remus John Lupin
Canon: Harry Potter
OU/AU: Original
History: On March 10th, 1959, Remus was born to Rhea and John Lupin, a Muggle teacher and Saint Mungo's Healer. They were determined, compassionate people, willing to stand up for those both their worlds shunned.
This eventually brought them head to head with Fenrir Greyback, and at five years old, their son paid the price. He was not taken from them, but he was bitten, and became a werewolf.
In 1970, Remus was surprisingly accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, thought Remus deserved a magical education, and made arrangements to keep he and his fellow classmates safe.
He met James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew on the Hogwarts Express, and all were sorted into Gryffindor, the house of courage. They became the Marauders, infamous pranksters made worse by their brilliance.
Eventually, despite himself, Remus let these friends grow close enough to discover his secret - and, miraculously, they did not abandon him as he'd feared. In fact, by their fifth year, they'd become Animagi - animal shape-shifters - to keep him company on the full moon. James was a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat. To each other, they came to be known as Moony, Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail.
As the boys went through school, a war was brewing. A dark, powerful wizard was rising to power, using ancient prejudice to split and dominate the Wizarding World. By his Seventh and final years, Remus knew he'd need to fight to preserve the good in his world. The best way to do this would be to become an Auror - a dark Wizard catcher.
Remus knew he was barred from the position, purely because of what he was, but his Head of House had encouraged him years ago to stay the course; that the Order of the Phoenix, a covert group created by Dumbledore to oppose Voldemort, would make use of his skills even if the Ministry of Magic would not.
He became a combatant, a researcher, and above all a spy among fellow werewolves. For three years he had a difficult, bloody, but worthwhile purpose; he and the Marauders and James' wife Lily, all fighting for a better world. Even losing his parents in the war, devastating as it was, only fuelled his fervour.
Two years in, James and Lily had a son, a beautiful little boy with James' hair and Lily's eyes. Remus treasured the time he had with the family before they were forced to go into hiding; little Harry was prophesised to defeat Voldemort.
Everyone, including Remus, thought Sirius was their Secret Keeper. When they were betrayed, when Voldemort was defeated while he orphaned Harry, he was thought to murder Peter and a dozen others when the latter confronted him, and sent to Azkaban for a life sentence.
Remus was left utterly alone.
He stayed that way for decades, struggling simply to get by; existing, more than living. He'd given up on being an activist, though he helped other werewolves in smaller ways, when he could. He kept on only because he believed he ought to.
Then, in 1993, Sirius Black became the first prisoner ever to escape from Azkaban, and Remus became the first werewolf ever to teach at Hogwarts. He took Wolfsbane potion, a recent invention which allowed him to keep his mind when he transformed.
He was rather more haggard than the rest, but most of the students soon came to love his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes; he was kind but firm, patient but encouraging. He clearly knew his subject well.
He became particularly close to Harry, and not merely because of who his parents were. He was a bright, brave, compassionate boy, who struggled to overcome all that life put him through, and Remus did his best to help.
Throughout the year, the Dementors - wraith-like guards of the wizard prison sent to patrol for Sirius Black - and the renegade himself tormented the school. It all came to a head one night, when the truth was finally revealed. Peter was alive - was, in fact, Ron's rat Scabbers - and it was he who had betrayed the Potters, who had killed a dozen innocents to frame Sirius.
Unfortunately, this was a full moon, and Remus had quite forgotten his potion when he saw Peter on the map.
In the end, Pettigrew escaped, Sirius went on the run on a condemned Hippogriff, and Remus resigned.
For a year, he went back to the life he'd known before, though he cautiously kept in touch with Sirius, and ended up harbouring him for a time. It was still difficult, but having one friend back made a strong difference - and it was something of a purpose, trying to help him heal.
Then Voldemort rose again, and Remus was called back to the Order.
Personality: Remus is a very reserved person. He values control a great deal - he loses it completely once a month, when he transforms, and so does his best to wield it at all other times.
This doesn't mean he doesn't care. He cherishes his family and friends, is passionate about learning, and is willing to fight and die for what he believes in. That's the situation he was thrust into as soon as he left school, and he rose to it - not merely to prove himself, as he'd always longed to do, but to fight for a better world.
There were those in the Order of the Phoenix who did not entirely accept him, nor trust him, but he did his best to take it in stride. After all, there were three people who knew him for who he was, and still cared for him unconditionally. There was a leader who'd given him a chance when no other would have.
At school, they were the Marauders, brilliant pranksters of Hogwarts. Remus hid his mischievous streak well, and was often the diplomat. He didn't always agree with what his friends did, but they accepted him, and that meant the world; he couldn't risk that. Besides, he knew they would mature - and they did. They would fight the War together.
When one betrayed the rest, Remus found himself wishing he had died with James and Lily (and, he thought, Peter). It left him despondent and hollow, and he had no idea how to cope with it, with the core of his world left raw and shattered.
He survived, though, struggling and studying and supporting others like him in the ways he could; he never lost his yearn for knowledge, nor his kindness.
Becoming a teacher was an old dream, thought long discarded, and he was just as masterful at this as he was as a spy, for many of the same reasons - calm, firmness, patience, insight.
In the same year, he got Sirius back, damaged but not broken. Still one of his very best friends.
Then his year of teaching was over, and he turned those skills to his old friend, to helping him recover; then Voldemort rose again, and it was almost a relief, because that was a simpler sort of battle, and he knew it could rejuvenate them both.
Abilities: Remus may not look it, but he's a powerful wizard. He excelled in his studies, and had to hone his skills in a frenzied, horrific war; he began to train for it before even leaving school, and kept it up after the war ended. He is a fast, efficient, determined dueller. He's also a proficient researcher; he knows and understands more magic than most, and is always learning more.
He is also something of an Occlumens, meaning he can shield his mind; it was a necessary skill, for his role in the war, and he took to it well because of his natural restraint.
As a werewolf, he heals faster than most, and has more strength and endurance as well as enhanced senses. He tries not to bring attention to it.
Possessions: The frayed, tattered robes on his back; his wand; the old school trunk he'd been looking through, stuffed with books and pictures and notes and such.