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Name: Shu
LJ: mildly_deluded
E-Mail: alchemykitten@gmail.com
IM: mutant brats
Character Name: Remus Lupin
Series: Harry Potter
Timeline: Shortly after the start of his 7th year.
Canon Resource Link: On the Harry Potter Lexicon, on wikipedia, and on the Harry Potter wiki (all essentially the same information, but I figure too much is better than not enough).
Character Background: There's not a great deal of canon information available about the early life of Remus Lupin, or about his family life, but there are a few things we do know. He's a halfblood, and while there's no canon confirmation of it, it's generally assumed that his mother was a muggle, if only for the following piece of information. Remus' father somehow managed to insult the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, and as revenge Greyback (who enjoyed attacking children) attacked Remus, infecting him with lycanthropy. As such Remus didn't get much of a normal childhood, and it can probably be assumed that, even as a young child he spent his full moons locked away so he couldn't hurt anyone else, forcing the wolf to attack itself (though I stress that this is speculation based on the way he's kept away from other at the full moon during his Hogwarts years, and there is no hard evidence to support this).
Understandably, when Remus was old enough to attend Hogwarts his parents had their doubts, and it's likely that Remus, who has always been aware of just how dangerous he is, did too. What if he hurt another student? What if someone found out what he was and the other parents forced his expulsion? However, with the assurances of Albus Dumbledore and the installation of the Whomping Willow, with it's passage to the Shrieking Shack, Remus did get to go to school, and there he made his (presumably) first and best friends; James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, though events would test this friendship over the years.
The first test came in their second year, when they discovered he was a werewolf. But instead of rejecting him as Remus feared they would, they remained friends, so much so that they studied the Animagus transformation so they could help him with his transformations. It wasn't until their fifth year that they were successful in their own transformations, but once they were they would join him in the Shack to try and make the nights as a monster more bearable. And it worked, under their influence the wolf became tamer, and Remus was able to retain more of himself as he changed, to the point where the four of them would roam the grounds of Hogwarts together (though Remus later looks back on this and laments how foolish they all were to do that).
But their friendship wasn't all about Remus' "furry little problem", as James dubbed it. Though quieter and more studious than his friends, Remus wasn't above joining them in their pranks, even if he disapproved of their bullying ways and casual cruelty. He also seems to be the only one of the Marauders not to actively dislike Severus Snape, if their mostly civil relationship in the future is any indication. It must be noted, however, that despite disapproving, Remus didn't do anything to stop the crueller pranks after a first, failed attempt, instead he turns away and pretends not to see. JKR herself has stated that this is because Remus "likes to be liked", so he'll overlook things just to avoid any friction with his friends.
Remus also shows a rather dry sense of humour; replying with "I think so. One - he's sitting in my chair. Two - he's wearing my clothes. Three - His name's Remus Lupin" when James and Sirius ask him about a question on their O.W.L. exam paper. He's also shown to be kind, supportive and perceptive teacher in Prisoner of Azkaban, and it's probably safe to assume he also had these traits as a student, as well as a level of maturity and good sense. Dumbledore did make him a prefect in his fifth year after all, though it's unclear how long he held this position. It can also be assumed that Remus was an intelligent student (though perhaps not as naturally gifted as James and Sirius), not only because he eventually takes on a teaching role, but because he helps in the creation of the Marauder's Map, a complicated piece of spell work.
I mentioned previously that there were several tests that Remus' friendship with the other Marauders went through, and now seems to be a good time to mention the next one. Once again, it relates back to his lycanthropy, and also incorporates Sirius' dislike of Snape. You see, Snape had been curious about Remus' many disappearances over the course of his time at school, and had seen Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, leading Remus to the Whomping Willow and, unknown to Snape, the entrance to the Shrieking Shack for his transformation.
For whatever reason, Sirius decides it would be extremely amusing to tell Snape the trick to freezing the Whomping Willow so he can find out Remus' secret for himself (one can only hope he was intending to scare the other boy, not actually get him killed and turn one of his best friends into a murdered). Fortunately for all involved, James managed to rescue Snape, though not before he saw Remus in his werewolf form, and no lasting harm was done. The consequences of this prank are never explored in canon, however I would imagine it would have put strain on their friendship for some time, since Remus fears accidentally hurting or killing someone. But whatever the consequences, Sirius is eventually forgiven.
And that is everything that happens in the life of Remus John Lupin until he finds himself in Wonderland. But it's not the end of his story, though the following years are not as kind to Remus as his school days had been. He is unable to find steady work because of his lycanthropy, with the exception of his year teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, and he loses all his friends in one blow; two to betrayal and one to treachery. Though for twelve years he was led to believe it was Peter the betrayed and Sirius the betrayer, before he discovers the opposite is true and is reunited with Sirius for a few more years, until Sirius' death.
The last years of his life do have some points of light, though even these are bittersweet. He gains a wife in Nymphadora Tonks, who refuses to let him push her away because he is "too old, too poor and too dangerous" for her, and together they have a son, Teddy. Remus runs away when he first learns of Tonks' pregnancy though, unable to deal with the idea that he may have passed on his lycanthropy to an innocent child at worst, and that the child would be better off without the stigma of a werewolf father at best. It takes Harry calling him a coward to send him back to his family, though Remus never gets the chance to see his son grow up, as both he and Tonks are killed in the final battle against Voldemort.
Abilities/Special Powers: Well, there's that fun little ability he has to turn into a bloodthirsty monster every full moon, at great physical toll to his own body and the peril of everyone else (mods, I'm not sure how his lycanthropy would work in-game? Should I assume he can find a place to lock himself away for the full moon so he won't be a danger to others?). Other than that, he's a (not quite) fully fledged wizard, of the wands and verbal spells sort. And while he's seems to be pretty accomplished with wandless and non-verbal spells as an adult, I think it's safe to assume that he wasn't quite so good at 17.
Third-Person Sample: It was one thing for the staircases of Hogwarts to move on their own, and once you got over that initial shock of terror at several tonnes of stone (Remus suspected he might have been exaggerating the weight, but with no feasible way to actually weigh the staircases he'd let it be) moving under your feet it ceased to be anything more than a mild inconvenience. But moving corridors? That was something new and unexpected. It was also extremely bad timing, since Remus was already late for charms - through no fault of his own, he'd just finished showing a group of very lost first years to the potions classroom.
Briefly he wished he'd thought to bring the Map with him, but it had hardly seemed a necessity just to get to class, and he wasn't sure it would have done him any good anyway. It wasn't like they'd had any need before now to add spells that would plot moving corridors, if such corridors could even be plotted. He would have to mention it to the others this evening he thought with a smile, imagining the looks on James and Sirius' faces when he told them, there would be no keeping his friends away from the corridor. But right now he was faced with two choices; to carry on moving forwards, or to retrace his steps and take an alternate route to charms.
The second option was the sensible one of course, and Remus was nothing if not sensible. He would only be about ten minutes late at most, and once he explained he'd been helping first years he was sure he'd be let off a detention. But on the other hand here he was, staring down a brand new corridor in a building he knew like the back of his hand, a corridor he was certain he'd never seen before, and who knew whether he'd be able to find it again. Besides, what was the worst that could happen really? The corridor would just take him to a different, familiar part of the school and he could be on his way from there.
"I suppose that settles it then," he muttered, taking his first step into the unknown. It wasn't long before he was brought up short again though, as the end of the corridor led on to yet another unfamiliar passageway. "What on earth…?" There was something very strange going on here.
Moving slightly to get a proper look at his surroundings the side of his foot caught the edge of something small and black and sent it skittering across the floor. The sound, loud in the silence, startled Remus and he realised for the first time just how alone he was. Where were the rest of the students? Where was Filch, with his uncanny knack of finding students who were out of class?
Sliding his wand into his hand, being careful to conceal the action just in case he was being watched, he crouched down to examine the object he'd just kicked. After a moments hesitation, just to be sure he hadn't triggered anything by kicking it, he picked it up for closer inspection. It didn't look particularly magical, and a couple of quick spells told him it probably wasn't cursed, which meant it was probably muggle in nature, even if it looked nothing like any muggle device he'd encountered before. "Today is just getting stranger and stranger," he mused, absently tapping the device against his lower lip.
First-Person Sample: [Ladies and gentlemen, may I present for your viewing pleasure one Remus Lupin. Or rather, an extreme close-up the chin and throat of one Remus Lupin, as he's currently tapping the top of the communicator against his lower lip while he tries to puzzle things out.]
Today is just getting stranger and stranger…
[There's movement as Remus straightens from his crouch and shifts the communicator to the palm of his hand, fortunately the right way up so he can look at it.]
And I wonder what you are? Muggle-made, I'd say [and he taps the plastic casing to highlight this suspicion] which rules out this being a Slytherin prank. And I'd like to think James and Sirius would have told me if they were planning something on this scale. That's assuming you've actually got anything to do with this. [He looks away from the camera, gesturing with his other hand to his surroundings. And… is that a wand in his hand? Yes, it is.]
Oh well, forwards or back, which should I choose? Either way should lead somewhere familiar eventually. [He hopes.
He takes a moment to make up his mind before sliding the communicator into his pocket, managing to shut off the feed as he does so.]