First try. Hurrah. Minus the outcome I would have been satisfied.
[Cheap Free Account Poll]
Subject: Professor Lupin returning to Hogwarts.
If this were to happen in the actual books, which will likely not, I would leap for joy. I give a little whoop when he shows up in fics; however, he does show up often enough that I find it wearisome (at least when his presence shows no plot significance). What are your feelings (whether within fic or books)?
[a] I like him to return!
[b] No, bitch, he already taught.
[c] Doesn’t matter to me either way.
[d] I prefer to write out my own answers, thank you very much. And I will go do just that....
Sorry, did that get a bit bitchy then? ^_^
I agree with you; he resigned on his own free will. And though I am always fond of the thought of Dumbledore asking him back for whatever reason, rather than him applying again, it disrupts the flow of the books, really...there's always been a new Defense teacher. Eh. I like Lupin--but, the flow must go, yo.
Glad to be agreed with! I always like that. ^_^
And I agree. I love the different Dark Arts teachers every year, I'd be so let down if we got someone back! It would just be a "NOOOOOO!" moment! *cuddles the two as-yet-unknown Dark Arts teachers and hopes she isn't cuddling another Umbridge type*
I'm thinking [a] if he has some kind of reason for being there. Otherwise [b].
I agree with some of what you stated; though, I do find it responsible that he resigned, having realized what a silly risk it was to take the job in the first place.
Lupin has a really BAD habit of neglecting things until he's got no choice but to act on them -- his management of his werewolfism is one of the most egregious examples. It's no wonder he drives Snape, who is anything but passive, up the wall.
So, will we get to see both your Dumbledore and your Lupin rants?
can anyone point me toward a resonable explanation of What The Hell Dumbledore Was Thinking In The Fifth Book?!
i honestly don't get it. my thirteen year old cousin tried to explain it to me but i couldn't follow him. i just don't have the mental agility for making sense of dumbledore. that's for people like my coz, who can play chess and go and think ahead and whatnot...
or maybe i should just stick with the instinct that tells that D(oldemort, umblydore) is a Scary, Crazy Old Man. O_O
You wouldn't want to crosspost it to
Lupin... bothers me beyond all reason. I vacillate between loving him madly and wanting to disembowel him. I like to think of him as being extremely... self-absorbed, distant. He has this nice, pleasant, harmless personality that he shows to the world, but inside he's writhing in his own misery. I feel that the disparity between the two emotions partly explains (but does nothing to excuse, of course) his actions in the third book. He was existing in two worlds, and just didn't make the connection that the werewolf-mourning-traitorous-mate reality affected the kindly-professor-sirius-who? reality at all... And so it was possible for him to become confused, to forget.
At the same time, he's a passive aggressive jackass who wouldn't know true responsibility if it bit him on the arse. He's got quite the gift for selective memory, hasn't he? I recently reread PoA, after having read OotP, and actually had to rant and rave and scream my frustration at how horribly Lupin treats Snape. Brushing off the "Snivellus" years as... Snape jealous. UGH!!!
I truly can imagine Lupin *selecting* Snape as a Sirius-replacement and being utterly clueless as to how insulting and insensitive that is.
...And at the same time, I can't hate Lupin because it all makes sense. He's a werewolf. He has to protect himself, think only of himself. He has to actively subvert all the agression in his personality. It's just survival instinct. What really irks me is how it harms other people. Like Snape. ;_;
...At least I feel that JKR is jiving with me on this. Anyone else notice how frigid the relationship between Lupin and Harry is? If Lupin were really as kind and friendly as he acts, one would think that he would be there for Harry a little more. He's almost as qualified as Sirius for the surrogate-parent position, but he does nothing about it, makes absolutely no move other than teaching Harry the Patronus. And Harry, on some level, notices, calls him "Lupin," not "Remus."
But again, I can sympathize with Lupin. He wasn't friends with James the way Sirius was, and heaven knows he has plenty of reasons not to get close to people...
Accursed complicated character. If I think only about Lupin, I pity and love him. If I think about Snape, I hate his guts. ...What's a girl to do?
Ah, someone else who can't decide if Remus needs a hug or his head held under water. Glad it's not just me, then.
At the same time, he's a passive aggressive jackass who wouldn't know true responsibility if it bit him on the arse.
That's something that *really* bothered me in OotP, that Remus is revealed as someone who *won't* stand up when it's his right and his responisbility. He works fine when he's with the other Order members, but he's someone I wouldn't trust solo.
In light of the revelations of OotP, all of Lupin's behavior in PoA, especially the Shrieking Shack scene, looks dramatically worse. From using Snape's given name repeatedly without permission, to not telling Dumbledore about Sirius' animagus form, to his willingness to *murder* Pettigrew without trial on Sirius' say so, Remus looks much more machivellian and callous than the persona he projects.
I really wonder where JKR is going with that, and if Sirius, Remus and Severus are supposed to be object lesson on responsibility over the course of books 5 through 7. I doubt that Remus or Severus will be alive at the end of book 7, either.
I love Remus Lupin, he's my favourite character after Snape and Harry. But he will probably not be back teaching at Hogwarts. For many reasons that were given above :) If he was coming back, I'd definitely not mind. And if he wasn't, well, we still have him in the books, thanks to the order, so it's okay.