| “ | No, Harry, it wasn't him. Somebody did betray your parents but it was somebody who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead! | „ |
| ~ Remus Lupin exposing Peter Pettigrew's treachery. |
| “ | Others will tell him what his mother and father died for. One day, he'll understand. | „ |
| ~ Remus Lupin's soul advising Harry about his and Tonks' newborn son. |
Professor Remus John Lupin , also known as Moony in the Marauders group, is a major character in the Harry Potter franchise.
He is a half-blood wizard, the son of Lyall (a wizard) and Hope (a muggle) Lupin. His father worked at the Ministry of Magic and encountered the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, who was on trial for killing two children. Lyall was the only one at court to realize that Greyback was a werewolf, seeing as he was an expert at all kinds of Dark creatures. Greyback pretended to be a Muggle tramp, and his rags were enough to fool the rest of the Ministry. Outraged when Greyback was released, Lyall voiced the opinion that Greyback deserved nothing but death. This opinion cost the Lupin family dearly, as Greyback decided to revenge himself upon Lyall by targeting his son. The next full moon, as the nearly five-year-old Remus slept peacefully in his bed, Greyback (in his werewolf form) forced his way in through the window. Though Lyall was able to get there in time to drive Greyback off with powerful spells, he was unable to prevent him from completing his evil goal. Remus became infected with lycanthropy and he became a werewolf himself; the creature which his own father despised the most.
In the films, he was portrayed by David Thewlis, who also played Edward Douglas in The Island of Dr. Moreau and voiced Earthworm from James and the Giant Peach. In his werewolf form, he was portrayed by Marnix Van Der Broek and Spencer Wilding in motion capture.
Personality[]
Remus Lupin was a level-headed, caring, and compassionate man who loved his friends and family dearly. Despite the harsh prejudice directed towards werewolves, Remus bore little to no hatred towards wizarding society or the Ministry of Magic. He bravely stood by the Order of the Phoenix and fought in the first and second wizarding wars against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Remus was driven by a strong desire to protect those he loved, all of whom he deeply cherished, as they were willing to trust and befriend him despite the unpleasant stigma that surrounded werewolves. These people included, but were not limited to; Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, James and Lily Potter, and their son Harry, the latter of whom he would go on to teach during his time as Hogwart's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Unlike his more boisterous and hot-headed friends, Remus was more mature, gentle, considerate and kind-hearted. He never took part in James and Sirius bullying other students at Hogwarts, especially Severus Snape. Moreover, he also befriended Peter Pettigrew and took pity on him due to the boy's low popularity and ineptitude at studying and magic, something that would later form their close-knit group of four friends, the Marauders.
As a teacher, Remus was good-natured, practical, tolerant, and engaging with his students, often employing humor and doing things that made his classes enjoyable. He took a particular nurturing role to Harry Potter, having saved him from a Dementor and later conversing with him about the memories he had of his parents. This went a step further when Remus agreed to teach Harry the Patronus Charm to help protect him against Dementors. He also kindly gave his students chocolate to help ease the symptoms of a Dementor attack.
Despite his gentle and caring nature, Remus was more than willing to engage in combat if it meant defending his loved ones. During a battle against the Death Eaters, Remus scolded Harry for using the disarming charm ("Expelliarmus"), saying that the time for disarming enemies was long gone and telling him to stun if he wasn't prepared to kill. At the same time, he wasn't avoidant of conflict or a pushover by any means; he reprimanded Harry for not handing the Marauder's Map in and using it to go places he shouldn't after hours, confiscating the map and chewing Harry out for risking his parent's sacrifice by wandering around at night with Sirius Black (who was believed to be a murderer at the time) on the loose.
While he was willing to try and live among wizards unlike many other werewolves, who stole and sometimes killed just to survive, Remus was still deeply ashamed and scared of his affliction, something demonstrated by his Boggart taking the form of a full moon, fearing his werewolf form running amok and harming others, especially his loved ones. Because of this, he kept quiet about his lycanthropy to James, Sirius and Peter, fearing that they would desert him in fear or disgust had they learnt the truth. He would make up many false stories regarding his disappearances once a month, but was surprised when they didn't abandon him at all, and instead chose to become Animagi (a magical ability that allows wizards or witches to turn into animals at will) to accompany him during his transformations. It was also mainly because of his lycanthropy that he was reluctant to pursue a relationship with Nymphadora Tonks, despite the latter clearly holding feelings for him.
Remus's shame for his affliction reached its peak when his wife Tonks had become pregnant, being terrified that he had passed his condition on to an innocent child, while also believing that his baby would grow up to be ashamed of him, even if they weren't born a werewolf. This caused Remus to leave Tonks and their unborn baby, instead wishing to help Harry, Ron and Hermione in their hunt for Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. After being rebuked by Harry for running away from his family however, Remus came around, realising that his wife and their soon-to-be born son needed him and that they loved him regardless.
Due to the loneliness he experienced while growing up, as his parents forbade him from interacting with any children in case he ever let slip of his condition, Remus enjoyed the company of others and liked being liked, something that would prove to be one of his weaknesses. During his time at school, while he never partook in the bullying of Severus Snape alongside James, Sirius and Peter, he also didn't make any attempts to stop them, and this inaction would lead Snape to resent him during adulthood. Remus himself admitted that he held guilt over never trying to stop the bullying, and upon being made a prefect during his time at school, he let his friends get away with more than he should have. Furthermore, while he was suspicious (and later proven correct) that Sirius had used his Animagus ability to escape Azkaban, Remus could not bring himself to tell Dumbledore, as this would mean telling him that he had helped his three friends become Animagi illegally during their school years, when Dumbledore allowed Remus to attend Hogwarts when no other headmaster would.
Despite his gentle and caring nature, Remus was also extremely brave and was one of the few people who would refer to Lord Voldemort by his name. This bravery was displayed through how he would put others before himself and fight on the behalf of his loved ones, even if it would cost him his life. Remus demonstrated traits true to that of a Gryffindor; determination, bravery, chivalry, and courage. However, what defined Remus the most by far was his compassion. Almost ironically, despite being a werewolf and becoming a savage beast once a month, Remus demonstrated a great level of humanity, the very thing that distinguished him most of all.
Fictional Biography[]
He was born as Remus John Lupin on 10 March 1960. After he was infected by Greyback, Remus' parents worried that he would not be able to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, the school's headmaster Albus Dumbledore visited them and assured them that he would make special accommodations so Remus could attend Hogwarts.
Remus attended Hogwarts from 1971 to 1978 and was sorted into Gryffindor house. During his school years, he was one of the Marauders; he was best friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Remus would go to the Shrieking Shack on his transformation days to prevent his werewolf form from hurting anyone.
After discovering that Remus was a werewolf, James, Sirius and Peter learnt how to become Animagus (James: a stag, Sirius: a dog and Peter: a rat) in order to accompany Remus during his monthly transformations. Together the quartet created the Marauder's Map. After Hogwarts, Remus and his friends joined the Order of the Phoenix and fought in the First Wizarding War. However, Pettigrew betrayed James and his wife Lily to Lord Voldemort, out of fear. Remus lost all of his closest friends in various ways by the end of the First Wizarding War, though he and Sirius Black later reclaimed their friendship.
Remus taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts during the 1993–1994 school year. He was also a teacher of Harry Potter, James's son, whom he taught how to conjure a Patronus, but resigned after Severus Snape (who was bullied by Remus, James, Sirius and Peter in their school years) revealed to the public that Remus was a werewolf. In 1996, Remus fought against the Death Eaters once more in the Second Wizarding War, during which he lost his friend Sirius. In 1997, Remus married fellow Order member Nymphadora Tonks (who was 13 years his junior) and had a son, Teddy Lupin. Remus fought at the Battle of Hogwarts, during which his wife was killed by her Death Eater aunt Bellatrix Lestrange. Remus was also killed by a Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov, during the same battle in 1998. However, he briefly appeared again through the Resurrection Stone for Harry (whom Remus had made Teddy's godfather), along with James, Lily, and Sirius in 1998.
Following Remus's death, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin: First Class, being the first werewolf to ever receive this award. Remus's involvement in the war helped remove a lot of the stigma that surrounded werewolves, and his friend and fellow Order member, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who would go on to become the Minister for Magic, likely removed the persecutory laws that affected werewolves. Overall, Remus was considered a hero amongst all the other wizards and witches who died in battle, and his actions would go on to help his kind live better lives.
Trivia[]
- Lupin is generally considered to be one of, if not the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in the original Harry Potter series.
- He is also the only Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to have no ulterior motive against Harry or later turn into his enemy.
- Remus's Patronus took the form of a regular wolf, which are known to be intelligent and protective creatures (Tonks’ Patronus, which was previously a jackrabbit, took the form of a wolf after she fell in love with him). However, Remus was disgusted by anything wolfish as it was a constant reminder of his affliction. He also feared that it might have given away his lycanthropy, so he would purposefully hide it by casting a non-corporeal patronus.
- Remus was the last of the Marauders to die, following James, Sirius and Peter.
- According to JK Rowling, the stigma that surrounded werewolves was based heavily on old stigma that surrounded HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), a condition that can cause irreparable damage to one's immune system and was often believed to be fatal upon diagnosis (before medication to it was introduced), not helped by the fact that it can be transmitted through unprotected sex. Remus demonstrates a lot of the stigma that surrounded a person with HIV, including being ashamed of his condition, reluctant to pursue friendships or relationships because of it, and being terrified of passing it on to his newborn child.
