Lupin love

Mar 22, 2006 12:25

It is now Wednesday the 22nd.

I love 2 it is my favorite number, so two 2s are great! Plus, Wednesday used to be my absolute favorite day of the week for as long as I was growing up. So, Wednesday the 22nds have always been warm fuzzy days to me.

And, speaking of warm fuzzies...here are some of my thoughts on one of my favorite characters in HP:


Remus Lupin was immediately one of my favorite characters when he was introduced in PoA. I didn't understand why people were suspicious of him, partly because of his mild manner, but mostly because of his overall caring attitude towards everyone, even those who seemed determined to give him trouble, like Snape. Lupin is like all the good a teacher and friend can be rolled into one. And, he's extremely interesting.
We know from what he's said of his past, that he got bitten when he was very young. The curse of being a werewolf was inflicted on a small child, and from this suffering grew his strength of character. He was pretty much doomed from the bite, because of the deep mistrust Wizard-kind has for werewolves. Dumbledore, however, saved him by allowing him to come to school and learn magic. Whether he was from a wizarding family or not, we don't know, but I think it's safe to assume that he is, if for no other reason, than Muggles wouldn't be able to handle a werewolf every month.
While at school, he gained friends, perhaps for the first time in his life, depending on how old he was exactly when he got the bite. This was a singular experience for him, I'm sure. He tried to hide his affliction from them, both because of his insecurity, and because of the necessity of keeping it secret on Dumbledore's instruction. I believe this started a trend in his life of craving and seeking acceptance to the point of sacrificing what's right at times in order to keep that acceptance. When his three friends discovered his secret and embarked on their grand adventures without dropping him, it cemented that trend.
This isn't totally a bad thing, as he gives as freely to others, evidenced by his kindness to Neville (an action that totally won my heart, btw) and keeping him as a part of the group. However, it can be bad as we see by his reluctance to share past misdeeds with Dumbledore for fear that he would discard him, or lower his esteem of Lupin. This endangered Harry, but only partly as our perspectives were mislead through that whole book about just who the villain was.
Which brings us to the split. There had to have been a split with the Mauraders after Voldemort's rise to power. Was it because Lupin is a werewolf and they truly couldn't see past the stereotype? Or did some unknown argument cause the rift? Theories abound on this such as Remus/Lily or Lupin disappearing of his own accord. Was Voldemort luring werewolves? We don't know exactly what was going on with either side, and all our information of the war, even the current one, is sketchy at best.
I think one thing is painfully clear. Lily, James and Sirius all thought that Lupin was the spy. And I believe it is safe to assume that Dumbledore either agreed, or could not disprove, and so went along with that line of thinking. This rift ended up killing almost all of them. But, I believe this is the singular evidence that is needed to disprove S/R. I cannot see how they could be lovers, and yet distrust each other so much. Sirius is nothing if not almost blindly loyal to his friends, and by his choosing Peter, and his own admission in the Shrieking Shack, we know he did not consider Lupin his friend in those paranoid war torn days.
Lupin is a character that invites both pity and admiration. He's a very strong character despite his angst, which makes him very attractive in the hurt/comfort form. The fact that through all his suffering, he remains a good, strong, mild, and kind character puts the icing on the cake. Of all the adult characters, he has the most empathetic personality. He seems very real, if a bit idealized under scrutiny.
His kindness and quiet strength are what attracted me the most to him, though. I admire that so very much, that I just couldn't help but love him. The pathos of his struggles in PoA when he is confronted most brutally by his past was heart rending, and forces one to just want to cuddle him to make it better. Or, maybe that was just me.
When we were treated to some of the mauraders' dynamics in the Pensieve scenes, we see Remus as more of a tag-along than a driving force in their schemes. Peter will always outshine Remus in the third wheel department, but Remus didn't seem to take as active a part in the group as I'd once believed. But, that fits. Because, then if he kept a bit of mystery about him, we can understand how it could have bred mistrust and led to the rift later on. I can't help but wonder if the fifth year incident with Snape started the whole thing.
Anyway, once Sirius and Remus are reconciled, they cling to each other for strength, and for the past. They both live in the past, as their present years are so miserable, and yesteryear so rosy. And, I think that they relied on each other to remind them of those bygone years of fun and joy. But, I do think it was destined for a dead end. Now that Sirius is dead, and only Peter the traitor is left from Lupin's only friends, he's isolated himself even more from everyone. That situation could have spiraled down to the maudlin, but JKR chose to bring him back up with a little romance of his own.
I can't say I particularly like R/T mostly because I don't really like Tonks. She's ok, but not one of my favorite characters, and so one does tend to get a little possessive and think...so and so isn't really good enough for you darling Remus. It's biased, and unfair to Tonks, but that's how I feel about it. However, if they can make each other happy, then I can live with it, even if it was poorly developed, written in a ghastly fashion and totally gutting both of the characters. I'm hoping it will get better.
What I would really like to see is some of what Remus is doing now. He's spying for the Order, and his courage and endagerment is about equal to that of Snape's. Snape being a little higher, because he's close to Voldemort, and I think Remus is mostly with the underlings, however, he is also openly on the good side, so it raises his danger level more to be there.

hbp, ootp, poa, ships, review, me, hp, observation

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