The Time of the Marauders: Remus Lupin

One of the more fascinating characters in the world of Harry Potter, Remus Lupin is first introduced to readers on the Hogwart's Express at the start of book three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Described as an exhausted and ill looking man with graying hair and an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes, he soon shows his ability by driving off the dementor, a guard from the wizarding prison, which causes Harry to faint. By the end of the book, readers have learned many things about Remus Lupin, such as the fact that he is a competent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and had been one of Harry's father's best friends.

Astute readers might have determined that Lupin was a werewolf from the hints in the book Prisoner of Azkaban. Both his first and last name are clues; as Remus is known in Roman mythology as being kept alive with his twin Romulus by a she-wolf, and Lupin derived from lupine, meaning to have characteristics of or resembling a wolf. Professor Lupin's lesson with the boggart (a shapeshifter that will adopt the form of what frightens the person confronting it) reveals another clue in the shape the boggart assumes when facing him, a silvery-white orb hanging in the air representing the full moon. Professor Snape's insistence on teaching Harry's class about werewolves after showing such an intense dislike for Remus was also a hint that many readers picked up.

Author J.K. Rowling explained in an interview at the Royal Albert Hall in June of 2003 that she was exploring the idea of intolerance when she decided to have Remus suffer from a contagious disease, causing people to fear him. The complex effects of having to live with those feeling are shown at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban when Remus explains about his years at Hogwarts being the best times of his life because he had friends for the first time ever, and when he tells Harry that he has to leave the school because parents wouldn't want a werewolf teaching their children. He shows an acceptance of his lot in life without anger or bitterness.

Debunked rumors about Remus Lupin include that he will return as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and that he will be killed by the silver hand Peter Pettigrew was given at the end of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Note, though, that only the idea that Remus is killed by the silver hand is officially untrue, not the idea that he does indeed die. We'll just have to read the final book to know for sure what happens to one of the most understated characters in the magical world of Harry Potter.