Remus Lupin

"You're the best Defence against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!"

- Harry Potter to Remus

Remus John Lupin (March 10, 1960 - May 2, 1998) was a wizard infected with lycanthropy and a member of the First and Second Orders of the Phoenix. During his school years, he was one of the Marauders; he was friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Together they created the Marauder's Map. Remus lost all of his closest friends in various ways by the end of the First Wizarding War, though he and Sirius later reclaimed their friendship. Remus taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts during the 1993-1994 school year, but resigned after Severus Snape revealed to the public that Remus was a werewolf. He fought against the Death Eaters once more in the Second Wizarding War, during which he married fellow Order member Nymphadora Tonks and had a son, Teddy Lupin. Remus was killed by Death Eater Antonin Dolohov during the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998.

Hogwarts Years
As a young boy, Remus was bitten by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback after his father insulted Greyback. He thus became afflicted with the blood infection himself. Though he and his parents were unsure of the safety of allowing him to attend school at Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore encouraged him to become a student. Remus attended Hogwarts from 1971 to 1978 and was sorted into Gryffindor house.

"My transformations in those days were – were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits."

- Remus Lupin to Harry Potter

To secure his safety, as well as that of his peers, a shanty was built outside of Hogsmeade. This shanty had no natural entrances; there was only a secret passage leading to it from under the Whomping Willow, on Hogwarts' grounds. Remus was brought to the structure once a month for his transformations in order to prevent him from attacking other students. However, this isolation caused him to attack himself out of frustration; the villagers of Hogsmeade mistook his screams for that of violent ghosts. Thus, the building was dubbed the Shrieking Shack and attained the reputation for being the most haunted building in Britain. Dumbledore encouraged this rumour to keep people from investigating the noises.

Remus kept his status as a werewolf a secret, but his friends James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew worked out the truth in their second year. Because of their strong friendship, by their fifth year they managed to become Animagi in order to keep Remus company during his transformations, as a werewolf is only a danger to humans. Remus’s friends nicknamed him "Moony" because of his transformations during every full moon.

However, Remus’s frequent disappearances riled unhealthy curiosity in Severus Snape, a Slytherin student in Remus’s year who shared an enmity with James and Sirius. In their sixth year at Hogwarts, Sirius played a malicious prank against Snape by telling him about the Whomping Willow passageway, hoping he would be terrified by what he found at the other end. James stopped Snape and saved his life, but Snape still uncovered Remus’s secret. Dumbledore subsequently swore Snape to secrecy, but Snape teased him cruelly from that point on.

Remus was also a prefect while at Hogwarts, though he had trouble exercising discipline over his friends. Sirius once said that Remus did not participate in the bullying of Snape, but that he regretted never having stepped in to stop it.

First Wizarding War
Shortly after graduating from Hogwarts, Remus joined the Order of the Phoenix along with James, Sirius, Peter and Lily Evans, standing up against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Remus failed to find employment following his education because of his affliction as a werewolf. However, James Potter used his wealth to support him.

By the height of the war, Remus’s friend Sirius Black had come to distrust him, suspecting that he might be a spy for the other side. Thus, when a prophecy was made about a child who would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord and Dumbledore identified infant Harry Potter as a possible target, Remus was not included in the plan to keep the Potters safe, though he was aware that they used the Fidelius Charm. James and Lily Potter wanted to use Sirius as their Secret-Keeper, but Sirius thought that would be too obvious, and thus suggested Peter Pettigrew instead. Not even Dumbledore or Remus knew of the switch.

In October of 1981, Pettigrew betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, who attacked them in their home in Godric's Hollow. James and Lily were both killed, but his mother’s loving sacrifice protected Harry from the Killing Curse, and Voldemort was defeated. Sirius, having discovered Pettigrew’s treachery, pursued him, but Pettigrew escaped by faking his own death, killing twelve Muggles in the process. Sirius was arrested and imprisoned in Azkaban for these crimes without a trial.

Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor
Few in the magical world tolerated the company, let alone the employment, of a werewolf, and almost all are prejudiced against them, thus Remus was often left without a job and with very little money. Even Ron Weasley, who had previously considered Remus an excellent professor, screamed "Get away from me, werewolf!" upon first discovering Remus’s condition. At a time, the Ministry of Magic even passed anti-werewolf legislation which made it practically impossible and almost illegal for a werewolf to have a job.

In 1993, Remus was offered the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, replacing the permanently amnesiac Gilderoy Lockhart. While the students were kept in the dark about his affliction, the staff were made aware that he was a werewolf. Remus taught the class a comprehensive curriculum of identifying and sidestepping dark creatures such as Hinkypunks and Red Caps. He also taught the class about Boggarts. It was during that class that Harry realized his "greatest fear was fear itself" when his Boggart took on the form of a Dementor. After this, Remus gave Harry private lessons in producing a Patronus as a means to control Dementors. Incidentally, being a werewolf, Remus's boggart would take on the form of the full moon. Students who saw this boggart form mistook it for a crystal ball, except for Hermione Granger, who deduced that Remus was a werewolf but kept the discovery to herself.

During his time as a professor, Severus Snape, who had switched sides at the end of the war and became Potions professor, provided Remus with Wolfsbane Potion, allowing him to retain his human mind during transformations.

Slytherin students, encouraged by Draco Malfoy, sneered at his shabby clothes and poor appearance. Regardless, his other students held him in extremely high regard and loved the hands-on style of his classes. He was considered by Harry and his friends to have been their only decent Defence teacher.

For his third years' end of year tests in June, he prepared an unusual exam – an obstacle course out in the grounds in which the students had to (1) wade across a paddling pool containing a grindylow, (2) cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, (3) cross a marsh while being fed misleading directions by a hinkypunk, and (4) enter a trunk to battle a newly procured boggart.

Reunion of Friends
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night James and Lily died..."

- Remus Lupin

The summer before Remus began his tenure as the Defence professor, Sirius Black escaped Azkaban. Remus, like the rest of the wizarding world, had believed that Sirius had betrayed the Potters to Voldemort and murdered Peter Pettigrew.

By the end of the school year, however, Remus knew the truth of what had happened and that Pettigrew was still alive, hiding in his Animagus form – Scabbers, the pet rat of Ron Weasley. Remus was reunited with his old friend Sirius and the two resolved to kill Pettigrew for his part in the deaths of James and Lily and in framing Sirius. They were stopped by Harry Potter, who believed it would be better to hand Pettigrew over to the Ministry of Magic to prove Sirius’s innocence.

However, that night happened to be a full moon, and Remus transformed into his werewolf form. Sirius was forced to turn into his dog Animagus form to protect Harry, Hermione and Ron from Remus, and Pettigrew escaped during the chaos.

After the danger had passed, Remus resigned from his position when parents learned that he was a werewolf, his resignation was much to the regret of the Hogwarts students and staff who had all grown very fond of him.

Break-out of War
When Lord Voldemort returned, Remus joined the second Order of the Phoenix. He participated in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996, and defeated a number of Death Eaters including their leader, Lucius Malfoy. He was one of only two combatants to see the end of the battle unscathed, the other being Albus Dumbledore, proving Remus's exceptional skill at dueling and knowledge of magic. During this battle, Remus was devastated by the death of his friend Sirius Black, who was pushed through the veil in the Death Chamber by a curse of Bellatrix Lestrange's. Remus barely managed to prevent Harry from diving in after Sirius, who was already lost.

Later that year, Remus began working as a spy for the Order, living among fellow werewolves and trying to convince them to join Dumbledore's side.

Battles of the Astronomy Tower and over Little Whinging
The following year, Remus would fight bravely again at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower where he narrowly avoided death by a curse from Thorfinn Rowle. Remus despaired at the death of Albus Dumbledore. However the aftermath of the battle would lead to him to accept the love of Nymphadora Tonks, who pointed out that Fleur Delacour still loved Bill Weasley in spite of his injuries at the hands of Fenrir Greyback. The pair attended their former headmaster's funeral togther, and soon married. They were forced to do so quietly, given the anti-werewolf legislation passed by the Ministry of Magic.

In July of 1997, Remus participated in the Order's operation to remove Harry Potter from his relatives' home before Voldemort could get to him. Remus acted as the protector of George Weasley, who took Polyjuice Potion to become one of the "seven Potters". The party was ambushed by at least thirty Death Eaters, and George was struck by Snape's Sectumsempra spell while he and Remus flew. Remus got him back to the Burrow to be cleaned up, though he permanently lost an ear. Remus was very anxious about the late arrival of his wife; Tonks had been aggressively pursued by her murderous aunt Bellatrix Lestrange.

Remus and Tonks were both able to attend the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour shortly afterwards, and defended the Burrow when it came under attack as Voldemort took over the Ministry.

Height of the War
Remus suffered great mental anguish as the war escalated when he discovered that his wife was pregnant. Remus tore out a clump of his own hair out in anxiety over the possibility that his child would be born with lycanthropy. He offered to help Harry, Ron and Hermione with their search for Voldemort’s Horcruxes, but Harry ran him off, calling him a coward for even considering leaving his wife alone while pregnant. Remus left them in a state of great agitation.

Harry and his friends next heard of Remus on Potterwatch, under the code name Romulus.

Remus came to his senses and reunited with Tonks in time to see his son born. They named him Teddy, after Tonks’ father, who had been killed by Snatchers after refusing to turn himself in to the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Appearing to forgive and forget their earlier disagreement in Grimmauld Place, Remus asked Harry to be Teddy's godfather. He was ecstatic over the birth of his son, but the family's happiness was not to last long.

Battle of Hogwarts and Death
Remus was one of the many Order members who answered Neville Longbottom's call to arms on May 2, 1998, when Harry, Hermione and Ron returned to Hogwarts and Lord Voldemort gathered his army to attack the school. He organised and led groups to fight Death Eaters on the school grounds along with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley. His wife initially agreed not to participate in the Battle of Hogwarts, instead staying with their infant son, but was unable to bear leaving her husband to face such danger without her. She left Teddy with her mother and raced to Hogwarts, where she was informed that Remus was last seen fiercely and courageously dueling Death Eater Antonin Dolohov. Dolohov killed Remus, and Tonks was murdered by her aunt Bellatrix Lestrange around the same time.

During the brief pause in the battle, Remus and Tonks' bodies were laid out beside each other in the Great Hall. The nature of Remus's death was not revealed, but his body was peaceful-looking, implying that he was struck with a Killing Curse or Dolohov's own curse; both are known to leave no visible marks on the outer body.

When Harry proceeded to the Death Eater camp to be struck down by Voldemort, he first activated the Resurrection Stone, bringing back the souls of his parents, Sirius, and Remus, the latter of which expressed the hope that Harry would care for his son, lamenting that he would never know him.

Appearance
"There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws."

- Remus transforms by the light of the full moon

Remus is described as having light brown hair that is prematurely greying, and a pale face with premature lines. These are due to the great deal of stress his body underwent with each full moon. He always bore shabby, patched clothing because, as a werewolf, he suffered from poverty.

Personality
Remus was intelligent, calm, tolerant, gentle, and good-natured. Despite having suffered a great deal of prejudice in his life due to his lycanthropy, he managed to retain an ability to see the good in almost everybody and was extremely forgiving. He also had an excellent sense of humour and, when he was a student at school, was one of the 'Marauders'. He could be described as the mature one in the group, however, because unlike his friends he never partook in bullying and even became a Prefect in his fifth year.

There is evidence to suggest that Remus is a more powerful wizard than he let on. While on the Hogwarts Express in 1993, he summoned fire without a wand (wandless magic being difficult to perform) and held it in the palm of his bare hand. Later, during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he was the only fighter besides Dumbledore who was not wounded, killed, or knocked unconscious.

His beverage and food preferences appear to include tea, butterbeer, wine, and chocolate.

He enjoys big band and swing music, as heard during one of lessons concerning Boggarts.

Family


Remus and Nymphadora Tonks came to know each other as members of the Order of the Phoenix, and at some point, Tonks fell in love with him. He initially rejected the idea of a relationship, claiming he was too old, too poor and too dangerous for her, despite reciprocating her feelings. After several attempts to convince him otherwise, Tonks became depressed – as a result, her metamorphic abilities suffered and her Patronus changed. Tonks declared her feelings publicly after Bill Weasley was scarred by werewolf Fenrir Greyback and Fleur Delacour expressed her love for him regardless. Remus initially protested that their cases were not the same, as Bill would not transform into a werewolf, but eventually they began a relationship.

Lupin married Tonks in the summer of 1997, and they had a child, Teddy Lupin, named after Tonks' late father in April of 1998, naming Harry Potter his godfather. However, Lupin and Tonks both died in the Battle of Hogwarts in May 1998, leaving their son behind in the care of his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks – an incident eerily similar to the deaths of James and Lily Potter nearly seventeen years before. Teddy would also spend a great deal of time with the Potter and Weasley families growing up. His hair is described as tufty and rested on the color turquoise, a bright florescent just like his mother.

The Marauders
"...apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends... I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth...and they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

- Remus on his friends

As a Hogwarts student, Remus became good friends with fellow Gryffindors James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. In their second year, Remus' friends figured out that he was a werewolf; instead of shunning him, as many in the wizarding world would have, they learned how to become Animagi by their fifth years to accompany Remus on his monthly transformations, preventing him from hurting himself. Because he was so grateful to have his friends, Remus cut them a lot of slack, for instance, despite being dismayed by their bullying of Severus Snape, he did not attempt to stop them. Even though he was his house's Prefect, Remus had difficulty trying to curb his friends' mischievous behaviour. However, Remus was not without a mischief-making streak himself, contributing to the invention of the Marauders' Map.

Once they were all members of the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius came to distrust Remus, fearing he might be a spy; the reasons for this are unknown. Sirius' distrust ensured that Remus was unaware when James and Lily changed their Secret-Keeper from Sirius to Peter, and thus believed that Sirius had betrayed them when they were murdered by Lord Voldemort. The two reclaimed their friendship after Sirius escaped from Azkaban in 1993 and Remus learned the truth. They planned to kill their traitorous former friend Peter, but were stopped by Harry Potter. Remus and Sirius both became close to their late friend's son, and Remus was devastated when Sirius was killed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Severus Snape


Severus Snape, a Slytherin student in Remus' year, shared a strong enmity with Remus' close friends James Potter and Sirius Black, who outright bullied Snape on occasion. Remus did not participate in the bullying, but he also did nothing to stop it, something he regretted later in life. He also did not call Snape by the mocking nickname his friends invented, "Snivellus", instead addressing him by his given name. Still, Snape disliked him by association, particularly after Sirius told him how to get into the Shrieking Shack while Remus was transformed, a potentially lethal prank that Snape suspected Remus had a part in.

As adults, Remus and Snape were civil to one another, though barely on the latter's part. Snape was irked that Remus obtained the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, which he had always wanted, in 1993. This turned into vindictive fury when Remus tried to tell him that Sirius was innocent of the crimes he had been convicted of and Snape's old enemy subsequently escaped re-capture. Snape exposed Remus' werewolf status, forcing him to resign.

Harry Potter


Remus met Harry Potter, the son of his late friends James and Lily Potter, for the first time since he was an infant in 1993, when he saved him from Dementors. Remus was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry's third year, as well as his favourite professor. It is suggested that Remus's classes were how Harry discovered his talent for Defence Against the Dark Arts. He took Harry aside to teach him the Patronus Charm, assisted him in avoiding trouble with Professor Snape, and returned the Marauders' Map to him once he was no longer a professor. The two met again in the summer of 1995, when Remus was part of the group of Order members to pick up Harry from Privet Drive. Throughout the years, Remus also shared with Harry stories about his parents and godfather. He comforted Harry on Sirius's death, and also offered him advise on other occasions. The only time they ever fought was when Harry was outraged by Remus temporarily leaving his wife for fear of their future child becoming a Werewolf as he was. Harry noted that he'd never seen Remus so angry before, but later they made up as Remus knew that Harry only meant well. When Remus's son, Teddy Lupin, was born, he asked that Harry be the boy's godfather, and after his death, Harry played a prominent role in Teddy's life. Remus was one of the spirits that came out of the Resurrection Stone to speak to Harry as he walked to what he believed was his death, indicating the almost familial bond between Remus and Harry.

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley


Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were among the students who were very impressed by Remus’ teaching when he was professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts for their third year. Hermione deduced that Remus was a werewolf early in the year, but kept this discovery to herself, not even telling her best friends; this is likely because she disapproved of the prejudice against werewolves and knew exposing the truth would hurt Remus, of whom she had a high opinion. Although Ron initially reacted with fear to the revelation that Remus was a werewolf, he continued to admire and like Remus afterwards. Both Ron and Hermione disapproved when Harry yelled at Remus for temporarily leaving his wife in a panic about her pregnancy, although they did not entirely disagree with Harry’s reasoning. They were both very upset by Remus' death in battle.

Etymology

 * The name "Remus" comes from the brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, who were cared for by wolves. Due to this, some fans speculated that Remus had a brother, but Romulus is merely the code name used by Lupin for Potterwatch.
 * "Lupin", is derived from "lupus(a)", Latin for "wolf". Lupin thus means "wolflike" in Latin, and is also the name of a flower.
 * It has also been speculated that his name comes from two Monty Python's Flying Circus skits: a repeated one involving "Professor R.J. Gumby", and one involving "Dennis Moore, the Lupin Thief".

Author's Comments
J.K. Rowling has stated that Professor Lupin is the kind of teacher she wishes she had while she was a student. He is good-natured, kind, and able to extract the best in everyone (e.g., spotting Neville Longbottom's lack of confidence and helping him to overcome it by teaching him how to defeat the boggart). The fact that he's a werewolf and needs to take a potion to avoid hurting people for the rest of his life makes him a symbol of the consequences of prejudice and segregation, as well as society's often negative reaction to the ill and the disabled.

J.K. Rowling has also stated, "Lupin's failing is he likes to be liked. That's where he slips up – he's been disliked so often he's always pleased to have friends so cuts them an awful lot of slack.", hence the reason he did not stop James and Sirius bullying Severus Snape, as mentioned above.

Behind the scenes

 * In the original draft of the seventh book, Remus survived the Battle of Hogwarts. But since J.K. Rowling "wanted to kill parents" and spared Arthur Weasley, Remus was killed instead.
 * The witch who pushes the lunch trolly, Remus, and Horace Slughorn were the only adults seen traveling to Hogwarts on the school train.
 * The youngest of Harry Potter’s children, Lily Luna, may be named after Remus as well as Luna Lovegood, since his nickname was “Moony” and Luna is Latin for “moon”.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
Remus Lupin Remus Lupin Remus John Lupin Римус Люпин