#need to go back to my james & sirius for a palette cleanser now 💀

[padfootastic]

From my understanding Remus attended hogwarts mostly bc his dad had a close relationship w Dumbledore and dumbledore hated greyback so he got to go mostly as a favour. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ministry knew but dumbledore had enough pull to let him in (with precautions of course) so they let it slide. We also don’t know how many people are turned as children so his case may have been rare, but I think outside of the general public there are def those who know. Anyone who has worked on him in st mungos for ex would (which would’ve had to be the case before hogwarts if he was getting locked up for full moons) and I doubt in a society as deeply racist/specieist as magical England (like the way giants house elves etc are treated despite being fully conscious beings) and where they can just detect when an underage person is near magic somehow they would NOT have that list.

If you consider it’s meant to be based on the AIDS crisis, I think his actions make a lot more sense. You have a disease that basically makes you an outcast to the point where people are terrified of touching you, where you are blamed for your sickness and seen quite literally as sub human. If your mere association with people ostracises them, how would you even consider building a close relationship with an innocent child? To me Remus is not only protecting Harry from that but is burdened by this view of himself as an actively harmful presence wherever he goes. Not to mention - what will people say? Would Harry have been outcast too if he associated with a werewolf? There’s a shift in acceptance for Remus post OOTP but that seems to have a lot to do with dumbledores trust in him and, at least at first. But I think outside the confines of the order he was probably still treated like shit.

On a different note I also think Remus has a severe deference to dumbledore for the opportunities he’s been given (though arguably if dumbledore gave a shit about werewolves he would’ve sponsored the mass production of wolfsbane and its distribution to all wanting werewolves but oh well) which makes him reluctant to cross a line esp re being close to harry pre POA (and potentially after - dumbledore was very controlling when it came to making sure harry stayed on his timeline and Idt he wanted him close to any adult outside his influence, though I don’t necessarily agree that Remus wasn’t somewhat close to Harry/trying to support him in his own way after book three).

So like - all in all I do really understand where he’s coming from re his relationship w Harry, tho I agree w you re his DH characterisation and the growth across that book in particular for him I think is really cool to witness.

Also re the name thing I always kind of saw it as Harry meeting him as a professor and referring to him as lupin so it’s kept the same regardless of how close they get as a way to distinguish. IIRC he doesn’t really change the way he addresses anyone in his own head at all and he uses first names for a lot of people he isn’t as close to as Remus but who he met in a more relaxed setting. I think it’s less indicative of closeness and more so a way to keep readers from being confused. But I see where you’re coming from too soo 🤷🏽‍♀️

nah that’s fair. i also do kiiiiind of get where remus comes from, and i think he’s one of the more fleshed out characters we get. especially once you hone in on the self hatred and disgust, a lot of things are suddenly much clearer. you see why he keeps a distance, you see why he’s so cautious etc etc. i just don’t know if i like it haha

(there’s another ask i just answered before this that also tackles a lot of this, and comes at it with a similarly sympathetic position so u might like that!) but, largely, i think a lot of my ??? feelings towards remus come from my confusion at how public his status as a werewolf was. like, obv in hogwarts, no one knew. but after that? in the order? etc etc. like, if he’s treated like shit bc he’s a werewolf, then people…have to know he’s a werewolf first, right? so. that’s what stumps me i guess.

oh yeah, that’s fair. i just thought it was intriguing, especially when he mentally switched to remus for a second when he saw the dead bodies. and the shift from black to sirius as well. also interesting because peter is usually wormtail in his head, which is symbolic of his traitor-y actions so i end up attributing too much importance to the lupin thing hehe