Professor Julian Womble (0:00)

For the ones who get it done, the most important part is the one you need now. And the best partner is the one who can deliver. That's why millions of maintenance and repair pros trust Grainger because we have professional grade supplies for every industry, even hard to find products. And we have same day pickup and next day delivery on most orders. But most importantly, we have an unwavering commitment to help keep you up and running. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. Welcome to Critical Magic Theory, where we deconstruct the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Because loving something doesn't mean we can't be critical of it. I'm Professor Julian Womble and today, today, y'all, we are talking about Remus Lupin, y'all. I have to tell you, I have to preface this by saying that I was unprepared and I don't know why I was quite as unprepared as I am was will be for this episode. I don't know why I thought, like, oh, it's Lupin. You know, this will be a nice reprise. We've done two, like, really kind of messy characters. Chaos reign supreme. Lupin will be a nice kind of chill character for us to deconstruct and dive into. And then I read your responses and I said, oh, I've never been so wrong. Just like that. And because of that, I am so excited. Have you ever wondered why Lupin never wrote to Harry over the summer? Or how someone so filled with shame ended up marrying someone who, at least when we meet them, is a literal pink hair tornado? Right? Like tongs exuded so much joy and joie de vivre? Am I fancy? Because I said that in French. And what does it mean to carry something that isn't your fault but still shapes every part of your life, y'all? We are getting into every bit of it. And I have to say that this episode is gonna be a bit of a heavy one because there's a lot for us to unpack here. Okay? And there's gonna be some levity, of course, because that's just what we do here. But I have to say that there are some things that we are going to be talking about that are heavy, y'all. And so just buckle up. But first, before you buckle up, get ready to bop. All up anyways. Get ready to bop. How embarrassing. Oh, I did it again. How embarrassing. But we're bopping in three, in two, in one. We need to talk about Harry Potter. I Hope you danced because it's good for you and healthy. So I hope you did it. Welcome back y'all. Welcome to everyone who's listening. I want to take the time out to thank those of you who joined in on our post episode chat for the Prof. Response episode on Peter Pettigrew. As always, it was so much fun. That episode was a lot of fun to do. We really got into it and talked a lot about friendship. I kind of felt attacked myself from some of the words that I was saying. So frankly, for those of you who felt called in, know that you were not alone because I did it to myself. Also for those of you who participated in the Question of the Week, this week's question was and is if you still want to look into it, who do we think is queer in the Harry Potter universe? Because the Harry Potter universe is so toxically hetero that there's no way statistically and just because life that everyone is straight. So who and people came up with some incredible answers. If you have not checked that out, please go and do that. Speaking of Patreon, please feel free to join us there for free for the post episode chats for the Question of the weeks. You can also join as an outstanding OWL and a Deep Diver for a number of perks, particularly ad free episodes or as a chronic overthinker where you get the episodes early and ad free. Speaking of chronic overthinkers, I want to give a special shout out to those who have joined our ranks recently. A special thanks to Teresa, Tabitha, Santana and Allie. We are so happy to have you with us on Patreon as chronic overthinkers. Thank you so much for your support. Thank you so much for the time and energy that we hope you put into contributing and participating with us as a community. We appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you. This is a musical episode. I think I'm feeling very musical. Okay. Merch. Musical merch. Not musical merch, just merch. The special Voldemort T shirts are up and they are amazing. Mine just came in the mail today and I am obsessed and I know I keep saying this but like the quality is really good and I am obsessed and I will be wearing them this week so if you see me in them, say nothing but wow, you look really, really cool. Because I will. Okay. As well as so many other merchandise, things of nature of sorts are also there. So please feel free to check out our merch site criticalmagictheory.com and you just click the merch link and bing bang bong you're there. I told you. I'm really feeling musical right now. As always, please feel free to, like, rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. It really help get the word out there. I've had so many people talk to me about how they're trying to get their friends to listen or how they started listening because of their friends. So be a part of the change. Be the change you want to see in the world. Okay? As always, for those of you listening on Spotify, please remember that you can comment on those episodes. I really enjoy reading them, and I like to respond if I get the chance. Follow me on social media, roffw on TikTok, Prof. JW on Instagram. And y'all, y'all. The next episode, the next character I should say that we'll be talking about after we do our two on Lupin is the one, the only Minerva McGonagall. That's right. That is correct. The one and only Minnie. My Queen Min. Okay, I. Y'all. Like, I feel like, for me, she's a character that always falls beneath the cracks, and so I'm so excited to be talking about her. But before I rant and rave too long, let's get into this episode. I still remember my pledge to keep it moving. And so we go. We are gonna go now. Bye. Okay. So when I had to think about my favorite Lupin moment, I was like, what are they? So much of his existence feels like in these books, ones where he's either being chastised for doing something that's worthy of chastisement or just kind of depressing. And then I remember this moment, and it's a very, very fleeting moment in these books, but I remember that every time I read it, I always. I don't know, there's something about it that really speaks to me. And it's the moment right before the first less that they have with him in Prisoner of Azkaban, where they're going into the room, into the teacher's lounge, because that's where the boggart is. And Peeves is in there sticking gum into, like, the lock hole, I think. And Peeves is, you know, doing the loony. Loony looping. Loony, loony loopin. And he does the Wadiwa see spell. And it, like, flies and, like, I don't know, flies up his nose or something. And one, I love it because I'm like, wait, so is Peeves slightly corporeal? Because that would be interesting. Is it because he's a poltergeist that he kind of has the ability to have things not go through him. But secondly, and for the purposes of this particular discussion, most importantly, it's fun. It's a small moment, but it's a moment that I love so much because it's delightful and it's petty. Like, it's a part of Lupin, and it's a moment where we don't really get to see from him. It's where we get to see the marauder, right? It's where we get to see, like, someone who knows how to have fun and can, like, make people laugh and enjoy himself. And it's one of the rare moments where we get to really see Lupin be someone who is not so bogged down by his condition. And, I don't know, there's something that gives me, like, the warm and fuzzies about it, because I think we just don't really get to see him through that lens very often. And for me, knowing what we know about Lupin, knowing kind of everything about him and the hardships that he's had to face, it is really difficult sometimes to find even a little bit of joy, even a little bit of hope, even a little bit of fun. And so, you know, to see this moment of yesteryear before all his friends were gone, where he was probably doing this kind of thing all the time with Sirius, James and Peter all the time. And it's just really, really cool to have this one moment and for the students to see it. Because often what else is true is that we don't really get to see teachers really having a lot of fun with what they do. You know what I mean? Like, he kind of makes it into a teachable moment as well. And I don't know. I don't know. It's silly. And I think, you know, but I think there's a moment where you get to look and see maybe a person who Lupin would have been if everyone around him hadn't continuously and constantly told him that he wasn't worthy of fun or pettiness or anything other than shame for his condition. Right? And I think that that really resonates with me in a way that makes this moment really shine every time I listen to the books. So that's my favorite moment. When asked what word best describes Remus Lupin, the top three words were loyal, tragic, and resilient. These words really do kind of encapsulate so much of how we understand Remus as a person. His loyalty comes through so loud and so clear when it comes to his loyalty to his friends. His loyalty to the Order of the Phoenix, his loyalty to Dumbledore, his loyalty to the idea of what is good. But, like, what I love about Lupin is that he's one of those characters kind of like Sirius in a lot of ways, where some of his choices don't add up to the conclusions that we make about them, right? Like, we know that these are good people. We know that what they do is good. But, you know, sometimes loyalty is not always like, a good thing. You can be loyal to the wrong thing, right? And I think that what we see for Lupin is that sometimes his loyalty to his shame, right? Like, he's loyal to it. Like, he, like, holds that close to him. And I think that there are lots of reasons why, but he doesn't really, really shunt that, right? He's loyal to. Even to Sirius, right? In Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius is on the run. Lupin is of the mind that he actually is this kind of mass murderer and yet somehow he doesn't tell anyone. And some of that is his shame, right? Like, some of that is his own feeling of, you know, if I tell Dumbledore the truth, then he's going to find out that they're animagi and that we've been doing this whole thing. And it's going to make me feel bad or look bad to a person that I am very loyal to and who's offered me an opportunity that I would not have had otherwise because of my condition. And so I don't want to tell him, right? And so we can see in these moments, right? Like, his loyalty to all those things, including being ashamed, like, kind of lead him to make decisions that are not beneficial to himself, to others. I think that when we think about tragedy, I think there are so many things about Lupin's story that are tragic. And it's not really just because, like, he dies in the end, Spoiler alert. But it's also because we never actually get to see him live. Like, so much of the way that we get to experience him is so shrouded. And I was thinking about it, right? Like, these fleeting moments of happiness that he has, we don't even get to see them as a reader, right? Like, him and Tonks get married and it's giving shotgun. We don't get to see any of it, right? It's one of those things that just kind of happens and we hear about it afterwards. So we don't even get to get the same sense that we got for Bill, right? Where we get to see Bill And Fleur be together and be happy and have the support, we don't get that. We don't get to kind of see any of that. And you know, we never get to see him just live. He's always on a mission, he's always working, he's always doing something. And even when we don't know where he is, we can assume he's working because that's what Dumbledore had him do. And I think he keeps himself busy so that he doesn't have to worry too much or think or dwell too much on the state of his life. Right. And so it just feels like his life is like one long apology for any number of things that he has absolutely no reason to apologize for. Now, don't get me wrong, and we'll talk about this in the reflection, there are things he should apologize for, but there are a lot of things in his life that do not warrant an apology. And he just feels like a walking embodiment of someone who is apologizing for something that they don't need to apologize for. And as a person who does that, like, I get it, but I also think it's still very sad and resilient. At the end of the day, we have a lot to say about, like, how he goes about going, but he keeps going. Like he doesn't stop. Like he doesn't allow all of these things to kind of keep him from at least showing up. And I think that has to be very difficult to do for someone who clearly has so much internalized shame. And that is completely and utterly unresolved. And yet he kind of has to function in a society that continually berates him, continually reminds him of what's wrong, continually reminds him of, like, who he is, continually reminds him why it doesn't like him. And he has to keep showing up in the face of all of that. And what's more is that he's concealing a really important part of who he is as a person. Like a part of a thing that has defined him and he can't tell anyone about it lest he continually be shunned. And so that kind of resilience is exhausting. Like, I can't imagine having so much bottled up and still trying to pretend like you aren't bottling things up and having to keep a level head because there are stereotypes about you that would suggest that, like, if you get angry as a werewolf, can you imagine, like what people would do and what they would say? And so you have to find a level headedness that's Crazy. And it also makes me think about, like, well, we won't get into that yet. We'll get into that, into the teaching the teacher moment. Because I just had a thought. I'm gonna make a note of it, but we're not gonna get into that right now. It is time for our arithmancy lesson. It's time for arithmancy lesson. Okay. For this episode's arithmancy Lesson, we had 734 responses. As always, the first question is, is Remus Lupin a good person? About 89% of us said yes, 8% of us said, don't know. And about 4% of us said no. Someone wrote, remus Lupin is a good person, and I will not ever accept otherwise. Let him know he makes mistakes, but he was a young man who lost everything, but he stayed kind. Resilience. He is a hero. He fought and died for the cause. Someone wrote, I don't like Remus Lupin. Not because he's not a good person. He's brave. In the end, he's. But he put Harry and others in danger because he didn't speak up. Someone else wrote, ultimately, I'd still think he was a good person, but understanding his motivation doesn't give him an excuse. Leaving Tonks while she's pregnant. That is not okay, y'all. This is fascinating to me because, you know, I think we have to really square some things, and, you know that this is my favorite thing to do. But I also. I just want to highlight before I really kind of dive into these responses and try to reconcile them with one another, that, again, Lupin is one of our good guys. He is kind of someone who Harry looks up to, even if only because he helps Harry in a really, really difficult moment in his life and helps him navigate it. And the reality of the situation is that, like, he is a good person. Thus, we as a fandom are so hard on him for his transgressions. And it's so interesting, too, because some of these transgressions are just so human. They're just so normal. And I think that we aren't used to having a character quite like Lupin. I'm trying to think of characters that we've talked about that have the same level of kind of shame and. And fear and angst that Lupin has. And I think part of that is those things feel very juvenile. They feel like something that you get as a child. And he's a grown man, a fully grown wizard person. And so we're less forgiving of that, I don't disagree with our criticism of the fact that he has made some choices. I am the firmest of firm believers that Harry did the right thing and dragging him for filth when he shows up at Grimoire Place to leave Tonks. Like, I'm a firm believer that what he did was exactly the things that needed to be done, because not ever. Like, are you joking? And I actually get annoyed with Ron in that scene when he's like, you shouldn't have said that. Because I am not a person who believes in the coddling of male egos for the sake of making them feel like they've made a good decision. No, that was a trash decision. It was a trash choice. And the fact that you could do this and show up at a space with Harry knowing that he has abandonment issues is a crazy thing to do. I don't think, though, that that makes him a bad person. It makes him a person who's made bad decisions. But I still think at the end of the day, right, like, is he the sum of his bad decisions or the sum of his good actions? Like, he's made some bad choices. There's no denying that. But at the end of the day, he fought and died. And I think that if we start claiming that individuals who make bad choices are bad people, then we have to go back and redo all the surveys for so many of these characters. And it's really fascinating because, again, like, it kind of feels like it did in our first episode ever with Molly, because people are so hard on her, and we don't necessarily extend a lot of grace to her because many of us are like, well, she doesn't deserve it, so why would we even do that? But, you know, there's a rhyme and a reason to a lot of the things that she does. But I also think that we, again arrive at her character with a new lens of life that we have now as adults. And we are not forgiving of these characters when they make outrageously human choices that are not good, they are bad and lead to bad outcomes. Like, there's no denying that. But y'all, like, Lupin is a good person. He's a good person who's trying to navigate a lot of things. And I don't want to make too many excuses for him, but I do think that he is absolutely deserving of some grace, if not a lot of grace, and not even just because of the lycanthropy, but because he's a human person who makes mistakes. And, like, some of them are big. But, like, Harry makes some massive mistakes. And some of us will say, well, he's a child. He's the chosen one. Like, he's the chosen one, right, Draco? Lots of mistakes, Molly, A ton of mistakes. Like, we have so many serious, lots of mistakes. But all of us Wolfstar girlies are loving him and forgiving him and saying, well, it's because of his upbringing and making lots of excuses for him. You know, I'm gonna bring up Draco. I already did, but I'm gonna do it again because we do the same thing. And I think we spent a lot of time talking about, like, the Arrested Development that Sirius had to undergo and what that would do to his, like, mentals and his ability to grow up. And I think we don't spend enough time really unpacking what lycanthropy at such a young age does to a person. And in some ways, I wonder, and this is a question that I hope we can get into in the post episode chat. Like, is Lupin a prisoner inside his own mind? Is it a prison of shame that he is living in? And do we extend the same grace that we would extend to Sirius, to him? If the answer to that is yes, Because I think it kind of is. And, you know, I just. We're gonna spend a lot of time talking about the kind of tragedy that is Remus Lupin, but I'm like, at the end of the day, like, he was a child who was bitten and then immediately turned into a villain and immediately was socialized to understand himself to be dangerous and a problem. And that's not something that you can just shake. That's not something that you can just shunt. Especially when once a month, the very thing that has made people believe this about yourself is the thing that happens. And you bear the scars of that on your physical body every single day. And sometimes you can hide them and sometimes you can't because you can't always control yourself. And so when we think about kind of where he's at mentally, I think him and Sirius are in very similar situations, right? Like, we know that his greatest fear is literally the moon and transforming. And so, like, he's like, the moon is his dementor. And that, I think is a really important thing for us to at least grapple with. You may disagree, and I totally, you know, I welcome that. You know, agreeing with me is not a prerequisite for listening and engaging with me on this podcast. But I do think that we give a lot of grace to Sirius and understandably so. And I think that sometimes we really do forget the circumstances that led Lupin to be in the space that he's in, mentally and emotionally. The next question is, is Remus Lupin a Good Gryffindor? About 78% of us said yes, about 13% of us said no, and about 10% of us said, don't know. Someone wrote, I think he grew up. No, that's not what they said. That's falsities, fake news. Someone wrote, I think he grew into being a good Gryffindor, but he seemed insecure and unwilling to question his friends, which makes it hard to see that courage early on. Someone else wrote, remus is kind of the opposite of Neville. He went along with bullying to belong. He doesn't stand up and face problems. And someone else wrote, a tragic hero. Perhaps the tragedy is that his life was taken just as he had begun to live it and become the good man we all wanted him to be. Y'all, I'm. Is it just me? And maybe I'll just own this for myself, but it feels like crazy brave to be a werewolf child. And even when the opportunity presents itself to go to Hogwarts and then to not become reclusive, but rather actually make friends, even if reluctantly, and let those people actually see you for who you are and know you in your entirety. Like, most of us, I'll say some of us are not the kinds of people who avail ourselves and our totality to people often. And there's a level of vulnerability that comes along with that. There's a level of bravery that comes along with that. And I mean, like, even if we take the example of Neville, right, no one knows what happened to Neville's parents. Like, Neville has never told anyone. And with good reason. And part of it, right, is that there is a vulnerability that comes along with being that person, right? And we see him embody that when the Golden Trio sees him at St. Mungo's. But Lupin shows up and, like, we know, becomes best friends with James and Sirius and Peter. And like, they know him. They see him. They completely kind of have a sense of who he is and they even, in their own way, try to help him navigate this. That's brave to me. It's brave to be that willing because he could have easily just shunted being their friend and been like, no, I don't want to, right? Like, James and Sirius probably would have been fine because, like, you know, they had each other and Petyr would have just gone along with them and Remus could have Easily just been reclusive. He could have easily been someone who just didn't have any friends and everyone would have left him alone. He would have been kind of like a Gryffindor Snape in some ways, right? A loner, very smart, but just kind of left to his own devices because of his own desire to just not have to deal with anyone else. And he doesn't do that. And so I think that it feels important to kind of highlight that because, you know, again, I don't want his lycanthropy to be the thing that like, is like the excuse for his behavior. But I do think that we need to be consistently and constantly reminded of what it is to have been bitten by a werewolf at five years old and like, have to deal with the horror that is a transformation once a month where you are completely, absolutely and truly out of your mind and out of your own body. Especially before the wolfsbane potion, right? And so like, what that does to a person's self esteem and more importantly, how it makes you feel in terms of other people when society immediately marks you as a danger. And furthermore, like, this is something that's not just happening outside. This was happening in Lupin's home, right? Like his father is the reason why he got attacked by Greyback in the first place because his father said some really, really inflammatory things about Werewol and as a result Grayback wanted to get revenge. And I'm not blaming his dad because his dad said his truth and no one listened to him. But according to the artist formerly known as Pottermore, right, Like all of this happened. And so like, he is growing up in a space with a father who is literally one of the experts in dark creatures and has such very strong views on, on werewolves. And even if his father had to grapple with that in some capacity once he was bitten, there are some things you simply cannot just get rid of because it's your child, right? Like those internalized biases take a long time to undo. And on top of that, you know, his parents are moving him from town to town, from village to village to make sure that no one gets any sense that he is a werewolf. He is basically kept away from all the children because they don't want him to expose the fact that he has his condition, like literally sequestered over and over and over again. And he was five years old when he was bitten. So we're talking about someone who probably has never known a life with friends, never known a life of stability, never known a life that Wasn't being on the run because of your condition. Never known a life that wasn't filled with shame. Because you are being taught constantly, both by the moving and by your parents behavior and undoubtedly things that they slip up and say to you in anger that this is your fault and that you are the danger. And then all of a sudden the opportunity comes for you to go to Hogwarts. Something that your parents never even thought was possible for you. And you show up and you're trying your best to hide yourself away so that no one sees you for who you truly are. Because you have been conditioned for the last six years of your life to basically conceal every part of you that might reveal who you are. And not that the werewolf is who he is, but it is a part of him. It is a part of who he is and he has to hide it so much. And then he meets these boys and he allows himself to become friends with them. Even with all of the hiding, even with all of the shame, he allows himself to become their friend. He doesn't become reclusive. I wouldn't have become their friend. I would have hidden. I wouldn't have even gone to Hogwarts, to be honest with you. Like, there are some things that you cannot just undo and having resources and having friends cannot undo. The feelings that you have about yourself that you have. And these are feelings that the only feelings you've ever known. And so like when we talk about the shame that he has I think we also have to talk about the vulnerability that he has to kind of like not get rid of the shame altogether but not let it keep him from becoming friends with the other marauders, from not going even further into himself right, when they find out that he is a werewolf. I think that there is such a bravery in even the potential of going to a place like Hogwarts knowing that so many people are gonna have those stigmas and opening yourself up enough that people are gonna be curious about why it is that you're leaving once a month, right? Like you have allowed yourself to be. You've done the very thing that you were conditioned by your parents not to do. And you know why? They didn't want you to do it and you did it anyway. That's brave. Like on top of all of the other brave things. Fighting in both the Wizarding wars, going and being a spy amongst the werewolves for Dumbledore. Like all of these other things, like showing up at 11 years old after being completely and utterly conditioned and socialized to see yourself as someone who should never, ever, ever be in any sort of relationship with anyone. And allowing yourself to become friends with these two boys, with these three boys, that's bravery, that's amazing. Because I just don't know that there are many people who, in his condition, who are with his condition and in his position, bars would do that. And so for me, he's a good Gryffindor for that alone. Because the work that has to be done inside of oneself, the unlearning, the undoing, especially when it's all you've ever known and all you've ever done is some of the hardest work. And to even move an inch in the right direction, insofar that you've allowed people into your orbit, into your space, having never done that before because you were told not to, is brave. It's so, so, so brave. This episode, I told y'all it was gonna be one for the ages. And I'm already, I feel like I'm going through it and I couldn't be happier. Thank goodness. That's a preview of Wicked Part 2 for good. Not sponsored, but hey, Wicked people, listen, I'm ready when you are. Anyways, that's not. That's neither here nor there. Okay, the next question is, is Remus Lupin a good half blood? I'm sorry, God, I'm ridiculous. Is Remus Lupin a good half blood? About 61% of us said yes. About 29% of us said, don't know and about 10% of us said no. Someone wrote, he doesn't straddle just magical and non magical. He exists on the fringes. He is treated as a second class citizen because he's a werewolf, yet he remains compassionate. Someone else wrote, I still find it difficult to answer as I'm not sure how to define a good half blood. Fair. Someone else wrote, he wants so badly to be a good man, good Gryffindor, good half blood, but doesn't have the emotional capacity to push himself to it. Okay, so we're going to take the time to define what we mean, hashtag bars, what we mean by good half blood. So we have two options and we kind of talk through both of them. The first is good half blood in the sense of they are upholding the wizarding hierarchy. And by that we mean prizing pure blood supremacy and thus kind of really buying into the wizarding space. The second is a more kind of hopeful, idealistic version, which is they are kind of melding together the Muggle and magical world, or the magical and non magical worlds, which Is again kind of difficult for some people because their half blood status doesn't necessarily always mean that they have a connection to the Muggle world, right. In this case Lupin's mother was a Muggle woman. And so in this case we can see that. But what also is clear from my reading of the post canonical literature from the artist formerly known as Pardemore is that she kind of bought into the magical world herself and was like I'm in. And so kind of jettisoned any sort of non magical connection. And so that's the kind of clarifying point I know it doesn't clarify it too much because you still have to kind of pick and choose which one you want to buy into. We've kind of agreed though that you know, for the purposes of this and our conversations, particularly as we try to relate it back to the purebloods, like we are thinking about this in the not so idealistic version, but we engage with the idea of the aihilistic version. And so when we think about what this means for Lupin, I think that it is interesting that you know, he in some ways, right, like he is a good half blood in that we don't really see him trying to bridge the gap between the magical and non magical worlds. In fact, if you didn't tell me he was a half blood, I wouldn't know, right. I think he's very, very, very kind of locked into the magical world. And I wonder if part of that is because the condition that he has is one that kind of keeps him locked into that world. Again, I don't know that he actually has that much of a connection to it despite having a mom who is non magical herself. And I think that this is a really important thing for us to think about before we start casting judgments on some of these half blood individuals which is like sometimes they are never in the non magical world so they can't bridge a gap to a place they've never been. And it's like it's very difficult we can imagine to try and do that kind of thing when one of your parents or both of them have bought into the wizarding hierarchy themselves. And so like you can't be a pioneer as a child and maybe you could do it as an adult, but if it's the only world you've ever known, then how can you build that bridge, right? And I think that he does kind of subvert the traditional wizarding hierarchy because he is a werewolf who does at least for a year teach at Hogwarts, who is, you know has an internalized shame, but is at least trying to live among magical people at least some of the time. And so he's kind of shunting a lot of the stigma that comes along with being a werewolf that has led many werewolves to kind of form these kind of groups, these communities that are kind of underground. Right. And so I think in that way he kind of. I don't know if that makes him a good half blood insofar that it just makes him like a good proponent of thinking about, you know, what it means to be a human person who has this particular ailment. But I don't know. This is a harder question for him because we know his politic is anti Voldemort. We don't know if it's necessarily pro non magical people. And I don't think that having a non magical mother really altered his perspective on this. I think that if anything, because his ailment and condition are kind of in the magical world and he spent a considerable amount of time in that space, that his connection to the non magical world is non existent. And so we can't really view him through the lens of the idealized version of what we would want for a half blood because there's no evidence that he even has it. But I do think that there's something to be said about being a werewolf in a space and kind of subverting the system by being just being in the space while being who you are. Now, this next question caused a stir on the Internet and you know how that thrills me. Is Remus Lupin a good teacher? 93% of us said yes. 3% of us said don't know and 4% of us said no. Someone wrote, yes, Remus is a good teacher. His lessons were engaging and helped students feel confident. He took extra care to build Neville up with the boggart. Now, this next passage caused a stir on the Internets and so I need you all to gird your loins. Okay? Someone else wrote, is he a fun teacher? Sure, a good teacher. I don't know, probably, as he seems to get his knowledge across relatively well. But he's definitely not a good colleague. Not to be a total Snape defender, but encouraging your student to ridicule and mock your colleague, thereby completely undermining his authority, is something. Not to mention that he is arguably one of Snape's childhood bullies, or at least at the very least, an enabler of said bullying. So what does. So what he does here just seems like he's continuing James and Ceres Legacy without a crumb of remorse, which he does claim to have, though it is, mildly put, not very professional. And there you have it. And to whoever wrote that, I applaud you, namely, because you brought chaos to our goblet. And that thrills me so much. However, also simultaneously, concurrently, I'm gonna push back on this a little bit because I see your point. I understand where it's coming from. But I think for me, the big part of it, and not even in defense of Lupin, is the fact that, like, no one would have known what Neville's greatest fear was. I mean, he told him when he asked him, what's his greatest fear. But, you know, to the extent that Lupin could control that, and also in trying to help Neville feel better about himself, because right before that, Snape had basically been like, he'll ruin everything unless he has Hermione whispering in his ear, right? So he had kind of tormented Neville. And I guess, like, as a teacher, you really do want your students to feel confident about themselves. And it just so happened that that confidence was at the expense of Snape. Now, I don't think it's Remus responsibility to defend Snape's honor or character, especially when Snape himself, as far as Neville's concerned, had already besmirched it. Besmirched. I never get to use that word. I'm proud and glad that I got to, like, just, like, literally minutes before. And so to the extent that Lupin could have done anything, I guess he could have told Neville after Neville told him, like, well, you don't get to participate. But that seems unfair to Neville. And it's also bad pedagogy because now Neville doesn't get to learn and he doesn't get to, like, face his actual fear. And it is not Neville's fault, or Lupin's for that matter, that Snape is his greatest fear. And Lupin didn't do it to ridicule Snape. He did it to help Neville. And I think that those are two very important things. Now, the end product, the outcome, may have made it look a certain way, but the reality of the situation is that Lupin is there to teach them how to navigate boggarts. And what Neville's boggart looked like is not Lupin's fault. And, like, as a teacher, I'm much more concerned about what is going on with Neville and how Neville is reacting to this than I am about some grown dude who has a grudge and won't let go of it. Like, and to be clear, I am not a Snape apologist. You'll never catch me doing it. But I hear what was said. But I also think that, like, pedagogically, Lupin did his job. And in the midst of also teaching Neville about how you do the spell to get rid of Boggarts, he also made Neville feel more confident in a way that had been completely undermined by Snape. So, like, in that way, I think he is a good teacher. I think that there are ways. I mean, like, one of the big things that annoys me is the fact that he, like, keeps Harry from going up against the Boggart under the auspices that, like, it was gonna be Voldemort. And I'm like, well, who cares if it was? No one knows what Voldemort looks like. Harry doesn't even know what Voldemort looks like. These kids are too young to appreciate that. That's bad pedagogy. But another moment that I think about when I think about whether or not Remus is a good teacher is when he teaches Harry about making the Patronus. And I thought about this because I kept thinking, like, God, this guy, he has such struggles, like, just in general and justifiably so and all that, but I'm like, how does he teach Harry how to make up a. Like, we know how he teaches him, but, like, can he make a Patronus? Right? Like, and if he can't, then that's even more impressive because then it's like, you're teaching a student something that you yourself can't do, which is really difficult. And so, like. But then we see him kind of produce something on the train when the dementor comes, right? It's not a corporeal. It's not a corporeal Patronus, but it's something. And I think, like, there's something to that for me where I think about, like, I remember once I was taking voice lessons with this guy, and he was a professor where I went to college. And I was trying to learn this technique. And it was really important to me that I learned it, because I just was like, this will be the key to unlocking my voice. And I remember emailing him and being like, hi. Like, it was over the summer. And I was like, I'm really trying to, like, understand this thing. And, like, I'm a big vocal pedagogy nerd. So I had been reading up in all of these vocal pedagogy journals about it and finding all these articles and, like, really trying to figure things out. And I emailed my vocal teacher and was like, hey, this is what I'm trying to do, and I'm just wondering if you have any insights. Da, da, da, da. And he basically emailed me back and was like, this is unimportant. Like, you don't need to know how to do this at all. Like, it's dumb, and so don't worry about it. I remember being kind of, like, annoyed because I'm like, it's not like people do this. They use this technique, and it's, like, amazing that they can do it. And then I realized, like, oh, but you can't do it. And, like, there are people who can only teach you things that they can do, like, fully. And they use their own experience as a means by which to be able to do that. And I don't think that there's anything wrong with that. I think that the problem comes in when they can no longer or are unwilling to teach you something because they can't do it. And they're either not willing to learn or not willing to say that. And so they just kind of dismiss it as something that is an unnecessary thing, which is what this guy was doing. I mean, I went on, because I won't be deterred. I went on and learned how to do it. But I just remember thinking, oh, interesting, right? Like, you know, that is such a fascinating position to take as a teacher, where you're like, if I can't do it, I'm not teaching it. And so I think about this for Lupin, because I'm like, for someone who has to find joy in love or some strong emotion that brings out this sense of, like, goodness in you, to create this patronus for someone like Lupin, for whom those feelings are probably very difficult to come by because of all the tragedy, because of all the loss he's endured, it's really amazing that he can find it in himself to teach Harry how to do this in a meaningful way. And I know that, like, some of us may say, well, he didn't really. He understands the logic of it. So, like, to the extent that he actually did anything, like, that's not really good teaching. I think you would be surprised at how many teachers are unwilling to even go so far as to teach someone anything that they cannot do themselves and especially something like this. And so, like, I don't know. I think for me, that's another situation where I find him to be good at teaching. And to his credit, returning back to the scene with the boggart, right? Like, he does throw himself in front of Harry and kind of has to face his own fear. And I think that that is also something that a lot of teachers are not necessarily willing to do, right? To kind of deal with their own stuff in order to become a better teacher, in order to teach a lesson, in order to protect students from information that may not help them in the moment. And so I think when you think about kind of Remus as a teacher, there are lots of things to critique. But I do think that students walked away from that year with a much bigger knowledge base than they had. Certainly from Gilderoy, Lockhart, probably from Quirrel. I mean, it's kind of the basis on which so much of Dumbledore's army is built. Taught right is like that. It's that year. And he actually went by the textbooks. And we know that because when Snape comes to substitute, he jumps them all the way to the end. And Hermione lists all the things that they've gone through. And they were moving through this. So there was a lesson plan. I think a lot of people think he was unqualified. But honestly, there's only a few people who work at Hogwarts that I think are actually qualified. And none of them have taught Defense against the Dark Arts. And so it's not even clear how we get qualifications for teaching at Hogwarts to begin with. But I think overall, Remus really brought something to the classroom that we then didn't see again, which is fun of the fun of learning creativity in terms of the final exam that he gave, which was really, really cool, and just a sheer desire to make sure that his students actually learn something. And I think that for me is really, really important. And I think makes me think that he's a good teacher. Is Remus lupin a hero? 73% of us said yes. 16% of us said no. 11% of us said don't. No. Someone wrote, he fights to make the world a better place. They didn't say place. I added that in. They said, he fights to make the world better. In spite of fear, he was willing to give up Tonks to protect her. That willingness makes him a hero. Now that's a spin on a tail. Someone wrote, even cowards by nature can still be heroic if they choose to. But he did Tonks and Harry wrong. And another person wrote, if anyone knows what it's like to walk with a target on their back, it's Lupin. And still he took the time to help others. That's heroic. We are really hard on Lupin, and I find it so fascinating. And I don't. I don't. I don't necessarily understand it. Again, I recognize that, you know, like Tonks and Harry, that could have been treated better by him, but to the extent that I think it warrants some of the angst that he's getting, I really am wondering where we're getting this from. Anyways, that's a different line of questioning. We can unpack this in the post episode chat. Is Lupin a hero? Yeah. Even if we just take the involvement in both Wizarding wars, that's heroic. I think, you know, he had choices here. Like, he didn't have to do this. He didn't have to fight in this war. He could have, and he could have admittedly fought for the other side if he wanted to. Right. Like, and the thing is, is that werewolves are not without justification for some of the things that they have to navigate. And so it's like he's a person who's been maligned by society and treated terribly and is unable to get a job and unable to kind of navigate space. And so I'm like, is it unreasonable for him to feel some way about society to the point where he could easily be turned? No, it isn't. And we saw Peter turn for less. And so the idea then that he stayed fighting for the right side is a testament to perseverance, to resilience, to loyalty. Right. To all the things that were mentioned about him at the beginning of the episode. I think that he is someone who has a very strong set of principles that he lives by. I think he's outlandishly loyal and that loyalty really does show up here. And, you know, when I think about, you know, his willingness to kind of sacrifice his relationship with Tonks that I don't necessarily love, it's not that for me feels different, but in this way, I do think, though, still, like, he is someone who is navigating a space that is very difficult to traverse. And I also think that, like, for our Snape apologists out there in the world, like, many of us are like, well, Snape was being a double agent and he had to go back and forth. So did Lupin. Hmm. So did Lupin. Lupin was going down and being sent as an envoy to werewolves to try to understand and get them on the side of Dumbledore and be anti Voldemort. And so he was going back down into those places and spaces. And again, like, this is trauma, traumatizing. Like, this was a. This was a child when he became a werewolf. And he went and was basically socialized to stay away from all of these things, to try to pass as a wizard. To try. Well, to try to pass as a non werewolf wizard, I should say. And now because of his loyalty, he's making a massive sacrifice and re entering into a world that everything that he was taught was to stay away from. And so, like, that is heroic. Like the double agent situation. If we can call freaking Snape one of the bravest men that Harry knew. If we can do that, then we have to highlight the reality of what Remus was doing. And again, I don't love what he did to Tonks. I do not love that he left Harry and could have been there for Harry more. But I refuse to allow those things to dictate, like, what is very clear before us, which is that, like, this man is a hero. This man literally sacrificed his life for the cause. And that's before he died, because he's going back down into a space that he was trying to escape. But also that like he was a victim of in order to parlay with them. Like, that's different than what Hagrid had to do, right? Like Hagrid wasn't a victim. Like he wasn't turned into a giant in a violent, vicious, revenge filled attack when he went to go talk to the giants. Like, this is a different situation. And Dumbledore is asking Remus to go and basically face his fears in a way that I'm like, I would have said no. I said, get somebody else to do it. Call one of your other little homies, because that's crazy work. Like, you want me to do what? To the way of the who? No. Immediately no. And he went and he did it. And that is heroic and that's brave. If we're gonna tie it back to conversations surrounding him being a good Gryffindor, his willingness to put aside his own feelings about a matter or a situation to do what he believes needs to be done for the greater good is heroic. And heroes make bad choices all the time. That's what makes them interesting. And I don't think bad choices can remove the truth about you being a hero or the heroic deeds that you've done. Is Remus Lupin a good friend? 75% of us said yes, 11% of us said no. And 13% of us said don't. No. Someone writes, he fights for his full humanity, his heart, his friendship for love and goodness. What happened to him has turned him into a pariah, but he remains loving. Someone else. Wrote, he didn't Even check on Harry growing up and only came back into his life because of Voldemort. Another person wrote, his loyalty to his school friends saved Sirius life. He's wildly loyal, except for the moment he tried to leave Tonks and the baby. You know, this is tricky because I do think, and I think this is a question that it reminds me of the Fred and George episode where we were kind of asked to think about being. When they were asked if they were good siblings and if they were good friends, and we would say, like, well, they were good friends to one another. And I think the thing about this that's interesting is, like, a good friend to whom and win. Right? I think during their school days, you know, he was a great friend, I think. But I think it's also, you know what? Okay, I was gonna edit this, but I'm not going to. I just had a new thought, and I think it's a better thought. Remember in the Prof. Response episode when we were talking about, like, the hierarchies within friendships and the way that, you know, I kind of gave this hierarchy where it was like, James and Sirius on top, Remus in the middle, and Peter on the bottom. And I talked about the fact that, like, James and Sirius probably didn't see any sort of hierarchical nature within the friendship, but I'm sure that, like, Remus experienced it not because they did anything, but just because of his own internalized shame. And then Peter probably felt it because, like, he actually was that kind of odd man out. But I think, like, for Remus, being a good friend meant doing whatever it takes to maintain the friendship. And so many of us will not like that because we're like, that's not what it means to be a good friend. But, like, remember when you were a teenager? Like, some of us are like, ugh, I'd rather not. But remember, like, especially when you were friends with people who you like, you might have felt like, oh, I don't. Can't. I don't know why they're friends with me, or, like, this is crazy that I'm friends with these individuals or, you know, you know, I'll do whatever it takes to stay friends with these people because, you know, they validate me and make me feel good about myself. I think that that changes the dynamic of, like, what it means for you to be a friend to them. Right. Like, right now in my life, I'm the friend who is king of holding people accountable. I'm like, oh, you. If you did something messy, I'm going to tell you but like, when I was younger, I absolutely was someone who was like, you know, if I felt like I didn't know why you were my friend, I definitely wasn't going to challenge you. If I felt like the nature of our friendship was tenuous, if we were skating on thin ice and it didn't take very much for you to potentially not be my friend, I'm not gonna push you. And for someone who had never had friends before coming to Hogwarts, for someone who knew that like, these individuals might potentially turn around and say, we don't want to be friends with a werewolf anymore, you know what I mean? Like, and I know that that feels crazy because they were so close, but that's the insane thing about anxiety and depression and all of these other cognitive things is like, they're not sensical. One of the things that my therapist says to me all the time is just because you believe it doesn't mean it's true. And I think that, like, when I think about Lupin and I think about like where his head is at for a lot of this. Like a lot of it is probably, yeah, they say they're my friends, but are they really, like the amount of self doubt? Yeah, like, I know that they transform, but is it really for me or do they just want to break the rules? Right. Like the amount of self doubt and shame. And again, like, we're talking about someone who's only ever lived with these emotions. And even with friendships, doubt does not go away. Fear does not go away. And so you can imagine that like, as it pertains to being a friend, he is the best kind of friend he can be to them within the bounds of trying to make sure that they stay his friend. And he even kind of alludes to that when he talks about, you know, the fact that like, you know, he was there watching James and Sirius bully Snape. And I think it is easy for us now, many of us as full on adults, if you are not understood. But like, it's easy for us to look back on that now and say, he should have said something. But when you're in a position where you don't think that your friends are actually going to stay your friends. And I think the thing that really like leads me to believe that this is the way he saw their friendship is the fact that he did believe that it was possible that Sirius killed those Muggles, Right? Like, that kind of belief in people who are your best friend means that there's some doubt. There are some, like there's a Lot of things at work here within Sirius brain and I'm not Sirius's brain, within Lupin's brain that are whispering really nasty things. And I think he was the best kind of friend to them that he could be given the mental constraints that he had and his desire to maintain something that he'd never had before. And I know that some people are not going to be happy about that and I'm expecting some pushback on this and I, you know, see you in the post episode chat. But that's what I think. I think that. And I don't necessarily agree with it, but I do think that he did the best with what he could because he had never had friends before. And you know what? We kind of see this with Harry. We see similar behavior with Harry as it pertains to Ronald. There are moments where Ron is really up to mess, madness, absurdity and foolishness. And Harry kind of sits by and is like, and especially after the Yule Ball, when Harry, I mean, when Ron and Hermione get into that big fight and Hermione's basically like, no, like, next time ask me to the ball so you don't get jealous. And Ron's like, blah, blah, blah, blah, you don't get it. And Harry even says like, no, I think her. He what? Internally he says she gets it. But I'm not going to say that to Ron because I just got him back. And Harry is another person who lived his whole life without really having any friends. And when it comes to Ron, not so much Hermione, but when it comes to Ron, he is willing to do whatever it takes to maintain that friendship. And in that moment where the friendship had already been somewhat fractured, albeit briefly, he is so unwilling to hold him accountable. And I think many of us may resent Harry for that. And I think, But I'm like, the reality is, is that he wasn't that much younger than Remus in that moment. And most of us look at him and say, yeah, that's messy, but that's Harry. And I think the same can be applied to Remus. We've now reached the point in the episode where I am going to offer a reflection on Remus Lupin. This reflection comes with a trigger warning because we are going to be talking about assault. And so if that is a sensitive topic for you, I invite you to skip this reflection and or proceed with caution, knowing what comes ahead. I want to start this reflection off with a question. Have you ever apologized for something that wasn't your fault? Like you weren't sorry for it, but it made other people comfortable, and so you did it. Like, I've done this before, and it used to be a thing that I did all the time where it was just like. It seems like this is a moment where I need to apologize for something, and I don't know either what I'm sorry for, but it just seems like that's what you're wanting, and so I'm giving it to you. One of the things that irks me so much is when people, particularly people that I know well, apologize for something and they're not actually sorry. And I think a lot of people talk about the kind of performative nature of apologies as of late. Right. And how it's like, you know, apologizing with words is different than apologizing with a change in behavior. But, like, one of the things that is clear to me, right. Is that we as a society really do kind of come to understand the idea of apologizing as this act that is meant to kind of absolve us of all sorts of things and really is kind of a tool to make other people around us feel comfortable in a space when we may have said something that was true or made the space feel uncomfortable with truth. And the reality of it is, it's like, that's Remus whole life. Like, he. I would say that he's not a coward. He does things that are cowardly, but I don't know that I would characterize him as a coward. Like, surviving in a world that makes you feel like a monster every single day. Cowards don't do that. Right. Like, we spent a considerable amount of time talking about Peter Pettigrew last week and his cowardice. And I do not think that he and Lupin are even remotely close to one another when we're talking about the notion of what it means to be a coward. And, like, I want to be so clear, when we think about Lupin and this idea of him, his existence, being the embodiment of an unnecessary apology for something that you didn't do. Because Remus didn't do anything to become a werewolf. He was attacked as a child by Fenrir Greyback, who literally hunts children. And still society made Remus the threat, and he didn't choose this. I think it's really, really, really important, and it's something that we don't talk about enough. Remus is the survivor of assault, and no one treats him with the care that he requires. Right. The moment that this happens, his parents go into a. We can't let anyone know what's happened to our son mode. And so there's no care, there's no compassion, at least from what we get. And even in the post canonical lore, like, we don't get a sense that his father or mother were trying to like, console him and make him feel better about what had happened to him, to make him feel like this wasn't his fault. And it's so crazy because, like, in such an instant, his life so completely changed. And what's so wild about the thing is that, like, the possibility that he might harm someone is only even biologically possible 12 days out of the year. 12. That's literally 3.3% of the calendar. I had a calculator do the math because math is not my strong suit. But that 3.3% ruins 100% of his life. His job opportunities, his friendship, his self worth. And people look at him like he's the problem, right? No one is asking, are you okay Now? I don't think he's above critique, and he's not. And I don't want this to feel as if I'm trying to excuse his behavior. There are real moments where his shame ends up hurting other people. Like you didn't tell Dumbledore that Sirius might be dangerous and had access to get into the castle. You walked out on Tonks while she was pregnant. Really? You didn't even send Harry a hey, kid, hope you're doing well. Owl. Like, that's ridiculous. Like, bare minimum. And I, I struggle with that and it pisses me off, honestly. Particularly when he shows up at grimaud plates. Like I said before, that makes my blood boil because I'm like, so you really thought that you were just gonna like, walk out on her because you made a choice to like, sleep with her? Fully understanding, I'm assuming. I mean, I don't know that they have sex that at Hogwarts, but like, you know, babies are made birds and the bees. Anything like Professor Benz has gotta be teaching them something. Madame Pomfrey something. But like, you knew what you were doing and you made a choice. And after that choice, you decided, hey, I gotta go. I. Nope. I'm so sorry. I have no compassion for you for that. Like, I think you deserve to get dragged. And I think it's hard for me because I think that he very much cares for Tonks. I do think though, that shame is the only language he knows. And I think that even when he tries to be a person who doesn't navigate, doesn't have to navigate shame, he still does navigate it a lot. And I think that when he gets afraid, he defaults back to his kind of default. Right? He defaults back to what he knows. I remember I'm giving a lot of, like, voice anecdotes today, but one day I had to sing in a recital. I wasn't a voice major, but I was taking lessons. And so I was singing in a recital. And my teacher and I had been working very, very hard on, like, trying to sing a particular high note in a very particular style. He was a very big classical guy, and that's not the kind of music that I sang, but I was trying to sing this note the way he wanted me to. And I was in the performance, and it was like a works in progress. It was very low stakes, but he was there, and I was singing through the song, and I got to the high note, and I freaked out because I was like, I don't think I'm gonna sing it. It's early in the morning. I'm gonna crack. And, like, you know, for all the people who have experienced voice changes, like, there's nothing worse than a voice crack. It's just terrible. And so I reverted back to the way that I knew how to sing the high note, and it came out fine. My teacher was livid and never spoke to me again, But I felt fine because I knew that, like, I had done the thing. But in that moment of fear, I reverted back to what I knew. And I think that that is what Lupin does all the different times, right? Like, he reverts back to a place of, I'm no good for Tonks. We shouldn't be together in the first place. Harry doesn't want to hear from me. Like, you know, I'm part of the reason why his parents are not here anymore. And none of these decisions make any sense to us. We're like, dude, get a grip, right? And it's annoying because, like, he doesn't try to heal himself. He doesn't try to fix it. He doesn't even imagine a version of his life where he's not ashamed. And, like, maybe that's just because that's who he is and it's all he's ever known, right? And maybe that's because he doesn't have a model, right? His friends are gone, his dad is gone, his support system is non existent, and all the while, he has society whispering, you're dangerous. You can't be around us over and over and over again until it becomes that inner voice that I've been talking about over and over and over again throughout the episode. And while we're on the topic of this, I really obviously can't go throughout the episode and not bring up the anecdote or the allegory that Rowling offers us in terms of thinking about like, HIV and AIDS and y'all. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. And like, I get the intent and like, yeah, the stigma is there, but like, the intent without care just feels like negligence to me. Because if this was an allegory, like, where is any sort of support? Right? Like, this is the thing about J.K. rowling that kind of drives me crazy is that she just writes what she knows. And obviously she wrote this during the 90s and probably earlier than that. Right. And so that was really at the height of the AIDS epidemic and everyone was afraid and no one knew what was going on and people were just dying left and right. And so I can understand why this, why she would say that that's what this was meant to be. But at the same time, it just feels so half assed. It feels so, not at all capturing so many aspects of that particular moment in history. And so I don't like it. I don't like it. But what I do think it is an allegory for is being a survivor. Well, I think it's an allegory for two things. I think it's an allegory for being marginalized. Just in general. I think that there are many marginalized people who, if we sit and think long enough, can see a lot of parallels in Remus's journey. Right. As I was reading through your comments and thinking about the episode, I found myself really kind of having a lot of understanding about him. But what else is true is I think that Remus is the survivor of assault. He was violated, blamed, and then left to carry the blame for the rest of his life. And like, just like in real world survivors, he has to pretend it didn't happen or get over it. And when he can't do that, he's kind of punished by way of isolation. And I think that, like, some people have made the argument that, like, well, he had community, he had resources offered to him. But again, I think that we're really underestimating what stigma and shame can do to a person. Like, especially when you've been taught from literally the most of your life and all that you can remember that like, you are not worthy of any of those things, you're not worthy of the resources available to you, you're not worthy of friends. You're not worthy of having support. Because you are a bad thing. You are a bad person. Even though the thing that people are afraid of only occurs 3.3% of any given year, you are to blame for this. We don't care the circumstances that led to you being bitten. The fact is that you were and you are dangerous when that is constantly on repeat in your mind over and over and over again. How can we expect him to appreciate all the things around him? It seems so difficult. And if we juxtapose Lupin's journey with Harry's, we can see it even more, because both of them were marked. But Harry was turned into a legend and Lupin was turned into a warning. Harry's scar made him special, and Lupin's scars make him scary. And that tells you everything you need to know about how society makes a person heroic and makes you want to hide. And like, when we think about what's the real difference, right? It's love. Harry has people. And the other thing is, is like, Harry has people and support, and so did Lupin. But Harry never felt like he didn't deserve it. And that's what makes Harry magical, because he should have felt that way. He should have been have felt deprived of all those things and questioned whether or not he was actually worthy of it. And he doesn't. He is surrounded by people who love him and he knows it and he believes it. Whereas Lupin is surrounded by loss. All he has are memories. And when you live in that kind of loneliness, loneliness, loneliness long enough, hope stops feeling like a possibility and it starts feeling like a setup. And still. And still he shows up, he teaches, he tries, he loves as much as he can. In the same way that I said, you know, I think he was the best kind of friend to the other marauders as he could be within the bounds of his own shame. I think that's true for the way that he loves people. I think he loved Harry, he loved Tonks. He tried to do right by their son, even when he didn't believe he deserved any of it. And I think that that's the thing. It just keeps coming back. And I think that we have to find grace for Lupin. Because I think that it's not even just that he was bitten. It's not the lycanthropy. It's the fact that there was no one in his orbit early on who convinced him that he was worthy of all the things that he ultimately gets and then ultimately loses. And he deserved so much more than what he got from the wizarding world, from the people around him, from the author who wrote him. Like, he failed. But he was not a failure. He is what happens when a child is told over and over and over again that he's a threat, that he is dangerous, that he can't have friends, that he can't go out in public, that he's the reason why his family has to move over and over and over again. Right? And when you hear it over and over again, you begin to believe it. It becomes integral to who you are as a person. It weaves itself into your very being. And so when we think about who Lupin is and how he arrives at that and the choices that he makes and what we would call weakness and what we would call cowardice, the fact that that man shows up at all, to me, is the pinnacle of bravery. It's the pinnacle of courage. Remus is someone who spent his entire life apologizing for simply existing. He is someone who spent his entire life apologizing for making them feel uncomfortable, for something that he had absolutely no control over. And what's worse about all of this, as if it could be any worse, is that right at the moment, right at the moment where he starts to get things he never thought he'd be able to have. A wife, a child, he dies. And that's it. And the cycle continues. This has been another very heavy episode of Critical Magic Theory. I'm Professor Julian Womble, and if you liked today's episode, first of all, thank you. Please feel free to, like, rate, subscribe, and do all the things that one does where pods are cast. Do not forget to join us for our post episode chat on Patreon patreon.com criticalmagictheory Y'all, thank you so much for participating in this survey. You know that we will be having a Prof. Response episode after this, so please join us for that post episode chat so that I can get all of your thoughts before we get there. Please feel free to follow me on social media at ProfW. On TikTok and Prof. JW on Instagram. Send me an email at criticalmagictheory.com y'all. I cannot wait, wait, wait, wait, wait to hear your thoughts. I know this was a heavy episode. We're gonna have a lot to talk about. And until then, be critical and stay magical, my friends. Bye.