Remus Lupin

**Remus John Lupin** was a character in the *Harry Potter book series*. He was a wizard and a werewolf.

Lupin was a friend of James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew with who he was in the Marauders when he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He joined the Order of the Phoenix in the First Wizarding War. For a year, he was Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. He rejoined the Order in the Second Wizarding War and was killed at the Battle of Hogwarts.

## Biography

### Early life

At a very young age, Lupin was bitten by a werewolf. His parents tried everything they could to help him but lycanthropy didn't have a cure and the Wolfsbane Potion was yet to be invented. He had to turn into a werewolf, a very dangerous beast, every month and he thought he would be unable to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

However, when he was due to start Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore was made the new Headteacher of Hogwarts and he was very sympathetic towards Lupin. He agreed he could attend Hogwarts if he agreed to a particular set of rules for everyone's safety. Lupin accepted and the school was adapted before he started. Dumbledore built a boarded-up house, the Shrieking Shack, where Lupin had to go and get chained up when he turned. He built a secret passageway for Lupin to get to the house which was accessed in the school grounds by tapping a knot in a Whomping Willow, which he planted to cover and guard the entrance.

In September 1971, he began attending Hogwarts and was Sorted into Gryffindor House. He befriended James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They were inseparable but he didn't tell anyone he was a werewolf. He invented stories when he kept disappearing but his friends worked it out in their second-year. Rather than shun Lupin for being a werewolf, they were supportive. They trained so they could turn into Animagi to keep Lupin company in the Shrieking Shack. Because he was chained up in the Shack, he couldn't hunt and eat so he scratched himself, broke furniture and howled. The noises caused villagers to think it was haunted, and even ghosts thought a bad crowd lived in it.

Lupin was a good student but he and his friends were pranksters and bullies. He and Peter also ended up in detention a few times even though they run into less trouble than the other two. Lupin was a Prefect but he failed to discipline his own friends even though they broke the school rules. They were very cruel to a Slytherin student, Severus Snape who they kept taunting and attacking. Lupin didn't personally do anything to Snape but he stood by and let it happen. In later life, he wished he had tried to stop it.*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*

Having trained for three years, his friends were able to turn into Animagi. James was a stag and Sirius was a big dog so they were both large enough to control a werewolf if needed. Peter was a rat and was useful for tapping a knot in the Whomping Willow to subdue it. When he was a werewolf, their company helped lessen the pain and his mind was less of a beast. They began to gain confidence with controlling a werewolf and started letting Lupin loose to wander around the school grounds. He felt guilty because he was betraying Dumbledore's rules and acknowledged how dangerous and foolish it was, but he would call these days the best days of his life.

However, one day, he was spotted by Snape being taken to the Whomping Willow by Poppy Pomfrey. He was curious to know why and kept asking Sirius about it who found it frustrating, so he ended up telling Snape how to tap a knot in the Whomping Willow to get into the secret passageway to the Shrieking Shack. James had to pull Snape back, saving his life. Snape saw the werewolf at the end of the passageway and realised what Lupin was. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anyone. The incident was a cause of Snape's bitter anger towards their group.

### First Wizarding War

In 1978, Lupin joined the Order of the Phoenix when he graduated Hogwarts. He struggled to find work because he was a werewolf, so he was financially supported by James because he could afford it. A couple of years later, the Order realised that they had a spy who was passing their secrets to Voldemort.

In 1980, James and Lily Potter had to go into hiding due to a prophecy that their child, Harry Potter would have a power to defeat Voldemort. Sirius suspected Lupin was the spy. He knew James and Lily used a Fidelius Charm and intended their Secret Keeper to be Sirius. However, because they thought he could be the spy, Lupin wasn't told that they had switched their Secret Keeper to Peter. Unfortunately, Peter was the spy and he betrayed James and Lily. Upon their deaths, Sirius confronted Peter who faked his own death. Lupin thought Sirius was responsible for everything. Sirius was sent to Azkaban which left Lupin lonelier than ever.

### Prisoner of Azkaban

In 1993, Lupin accepted a teaching job of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. He was surprised when Sirius escaped Azkaban, and still thought he was a spy. In September, Lupin chose to travel by train to Hogwarts. He was sleeping in a train compartment when coincidentally, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger chose to travel in it too. Ron wondered who he was when Hermione saw he had a name engraved on a trunk saying "Professor R. J. Lupin". She deduced he was going to be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts.

During their trip to Hogwarts, Lupin didn't wake up even when Hermione tried to offer food. They used Lupin's presence to deter Draco's gang when they appeared, pointing out a Professor could hear their taunting. The train later stopped when the Dementors needed to enter it to search for Sirius Black. One searched their compartment and started attacking Harry instead of searching for Black. Harry fainted and Lupin woke up and intervened using a Patronus Charm. He gave Harry a piece of chocolate when he woke up, telling him it would help him to feel better.

Lupin went to speak to their train driver and sent an owl ahead to Hogwarts to tell the school what had happened. He popped back later to check on Harry, who he had to encourage to eat the chocolate he had given out earlier. Even though Harry hadn't been introduced by name to Lupin, he found it very curious that Lupin had known it anyway. When they arrived at Hogwarts, Lupin overheard Draco taunting Harry and Ron and asked if everything was okay. He was introduced to the school at the Start-of-Year Feast to a very dull applause and a glaring Professor Snape who still loathed Lupin.

A few days later, Lupin taught third-years Defence Against the Dark Arts in their first lesson. He wasn't there when they arrived but when he did, he had a shabby briefcase and looked healthier than he did on the train. Harry thought it was because he had eaten a few meals since then. He informed the class it was a practical lesson for which they only needed their wands, and guided the group to the staff-room. On the way, they encountered Peeves, who to everyone's surprise, was less respectful towards Lupin than the other teachers. Lupin smiled while he was called "loony, loopy Lupin".

In the staff-room, Lupin introduced the class to a Boggart that was living in the wardrobe. Snape was sitting in there and asked Lupin to leave the door open so he could leave, not wanting to witness the class fail. He warned Lupin that Neville Longbottom failed at everything and couldn't be trusted unless Hermione was telling him things. Lupin responded that he would be trusting Neville to help him in the first part of the lesson. He taught Neville how to repel a Boggart, suggesting he transform Professor Snape's outfit into his grandmother's clothes.

He encouraged a group of students to face their Boggart and defeat it with the spell "*Riddikulus*". However, when Harry stepped forward, Lupin intervened and revealed his own Boggart. At the end of the lesson, he gave Harry and Hermione House points for answering things correctly. Harry wondered why Lupin didn't let him face the Boggart. He thought it was out of fear of what it could turn into. Lupin was a popular teacher, with only Draco and his friends having a problem with him. His next lessons were also interesting. Having heard about Neville's Boggart, Snape was particularly angry for a few days.

One day, Lupin saw Harry walking around the castle while everyone else was in Hogsmeade. He invited Harry to talk where he told him why he didn't let him face the Boggart. Lupin thought it would be Voldemort, whose name he spoke confidently. Harry admitted he thought of Voldemort first and changed his mind which Lupin thought was wise because it suggested what Harry feared was fear itself. Snape arrived to bring Lupin a goblet of Wolfsbane Potion. Harry wondered what it was and the only thing Lupin told him is he was feeling sick and Snape was the only person who would produce the potion.

Lupin did not attend his next lesson with the third-years because he was too sick after a transformation. The lesson was instead taught by Snape who told the class about werewolves. They were not studying werewolves with Lupin, and Snape spent the hour criticising Lupin's teaching style. Lupin recovered for their next lesson where he was surprised to find out Snape had set homework on werewolves. He told the students they did not have to write it. After the lesson, he talked Harry so he could ask about the Dementor attack which happened during a Quidditch game. Harry told Lupin he heard his mother's dying voice whenever he was attacked and asked if Lupin would teach the Patronus Charm to him so he could learn defence. Lupin agreed to arrange lessons.

In December, Lupin was feeling sick and did not attend dinner on Christmas Day. In the new year, Lupin started teaching Harry the Patronus Charm every Thursday with a Boggart. During their first lesson, he produced a white fog but fainted twice. Lupin gave Harry chocolate to recover. Harry told Lupin he could heard his parents' voices when they died. Surprised to hear that Harry heard James, he asked about it in a strange voice. Harry curiously asked if Lupin knew James, which he confirmed. He tried and failed to produce another Patronus Charm which Lupin intervened with. He ended the lesson for the day. When Harry was leaving, he asked Lupin if he had also known Sirius Black. Lupin replied that he thought he had.

Harry's next four lessons were a bit successful. He stopped fainting but he still couldn't produce a corporeal Patronus.

## Appearance

Lupin had a young face when he was in his mid-30s and light-brown hair which had flecks of grey. But because of the suffering he endured being a werewolf, he tended to look tired and pallor and his face had lines in it. He usually wore shabby clothing.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 7
2. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 17
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 18
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 19
5. ↑ JK Rowling at Carnegie Hall
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 5
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 8
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 9
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 10
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 12