Character Profile | Remus Lupin

The Character: Remus Lupin

First Appearance: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Favorite Quote: "Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

I'm a fan of splitting my favorites up into categories. My favorite book series is (obviously) Harry Potter, my favorite classic novel is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and my favorite novel is The Time Traveler's Wife. The same can be said for my favorite characters. My favorite Harry Potter era character is Fred Weasley. My favorite Maurader era character is Remus Lupin. You get the gist.

Let's talk about poor Professor Lupin. For one slightly off topic thing, he is my favorite character in A Very Potter Musical (actually in A Very Potter Sequel, but semantics). I don't think a single other character made me laugh harder than Bryan Holden playing Remus Lupin. If you haven't seen any of the three musicals on YouTube how can you call yourself a Harry Potter fan? Spend an afternoon watching them. If you've ever wondered where Darren Criss got his start now that he's a big star with an Emmy nominee under his belt now you can learn where he started.

Loony, Loony Lupin. No one suffers more than he does. His life is full of tragedy: he is bitten by Fenrir Greyback, his best friend is murdered, his other best friend is arrested for said murder, and his other other best friend actually did the murder and got away with it. However, despite the tragedy in his life, he doesn't let that change how he interacts with people (are you taking notes, Snape?). Throughout books 3-7 Lupin becomes somewhat of a semi-father figure to Harry. Obviously, Sirius, James' right-hand man is Harry's true father figure in the series, but Lupin I would argue is almost like a replacement Lily.

Look, I'm sure you read that and you were like,

"What?! Surely not!"

You know, like how normal people speak?

Hear me out. Sirius is brash. He's quick to jump into situations that are dangerous and risky. Throughout the time he was a teenager until his dying day, Sirius stared into the face of danger and laughed at it. He never lost an opportunity to lash out at Snape (and hey, who wouldn't? He's actual trash) and he constantly fought for the people he loved and considered family.

I'm not saying that Lupin wasn't also brave. He too put himself into dangerous positions. For example, under Dumbledore's orders he attempted to infiltrate the werewolf population even though everyone knew it was an uphill battle. He was a vital part of the Order of the Phoenix and he didn't believe that he deserved anything good in the world just because of one thing that he had no control over.

I'll give you a second to dry your tears. The poor boy can be such an idiot sometimes. Of course he deserves love and affection. In my opinion, Sirius is the Maurader that encourages Harry to try new things and to not be afraid of the consequences. Lupin is that angel on Harry's shoulder that says "yes, but maybe don't kill yourself along the way." He takes Harry under his wing and teaches him how to protect himself.

Let's talk about Lupin's Love Interests. Ok, we all know Lupin's end game. He falls madly in love with Tonks, thinks he doesn't deserve her because he's an absolute idiot, and then admits he loves her. They have a baby and then they live happily ever after. Just kidding they die tragically because J.K. Rowling doesn't think we deserve happy endings.

But have you ever thought that maybe Tonks wasn't his first and only love? Broaden your horizons for a second. My theory is that Lupin and Sirius were actually secretly in love with each other. I'm sure you all know that Wolfstar is a big thing amongst the Harry Potter Fandom. This theory is by no means a new theory, and it's actually largely thanks to the HP Fandom (especially on Tumblr) that I am part of Team Wolfstar.

Look, the guys spent probably every waking day together at Hogwarts. We already know that Harry is not a very observant guy (Half-Blood Prince anyone?) so I think we can make a pretty safe assumption that James probably wasn't all that observant either. Maybe the romance sparked around the time that James and Lily started dating. Maybe it didn't happen at all and they were just orbiting around each other not knowing how to approach the other. Regardless, once Sirius was accused of murdering the Potters Lupin was probably heartbroken. Maybe that's why he didn't go looking for Sirius when he learned that Sirius had escaped Azkaban. Maybe that's why he wasn't immediately on Sirius' side when he cornered him in the Shrieking Shack.

Once the truth about Peter was out however, the story changed. Dumbledore encouraged Sirius to hide out at Lupin's place. True, they were once best friends, but couldn't they also be more? They give Harry joint gifts, they bicker like a married couple, and they are constantly supporting one another. Before Half-Blood Prince we don't even see Lupin and Tonks together in any romantic way. She is several years his junior and pretty much a 180 personality-wise. It isn't until after Sirius dies at the end of Order of the Phoenix that we really see a shift in Lupin. Maybe he seeks out Tonks for comfort after the man he loves dies. Maybe she supports him in his grief. We'll never really know since we spend the entirety of the series looking through Harry's eyes.

What we do know is that both Lupin and Tonks suffer afterwards. She is pining for a man who is pining for the man he lost. It takes an entire year for him to come to terms with the loss of his best friend and lover and to realize that he does deserve to have someone who loves him. I don't mean to take anything away from Lupin and Tonk's relationship. Honestly, they're one of my favorite couples in the entire series (behind Arthur and Molly of course. OTP, much?), but I just can't shake the feeling that there is more to Lupin and Tonk's rocky relationship. I'm sure that being married to a werewolf is not an easy thing and I'm sure that he's afraid that he will accidentally hurt her or, God forbid, she will leave him for someone less broken. However, I'm also sure that he wasn't fully healed from the loss of Sirius before he could turn to a new relationship and a new love interest.

The poor guy has already suffered so much loss. Could he really survive more?