hildigunnur (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hildigunnur) wrote2003-03-23 02:19 am
hildigunnur) wrote2003-03-23 02:19 am
An educated opinion and other things.
I promised to talk about the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter. I haven't finished going through it all but I'm going to tackle the whole "Remus Lupin is James Potter" theory proposed in the book.
My thoughts appear in italics. Otherwise I'm quoting directly. (And my apologies beforehand about any typos).
Remus J. Lupin
(see also James Potter)
In the legend of Romulus and Remus, Remus was killed by his brother (or his brother's followers).
Remus Lupin is probably dead. The Remus J. Lupin we know is probably James Potter switched into Lupin's body a Switching Spell. (Was that Lily's work?)
Though I'm not JKR and I don't know everything about the spells in HP, but I find it ludicrous that one can use a Switching Spell to switch souls. What we know about Switching Spells is that Neville is not good at them and Hermione suggests using it when Harry is facing the First Task in GoF, to switch the dragon's teeth with wine-gums. I see the connection to soul-switching right away here ... right!
J.K.R. is dropping hints all over the place about the Lupin septology mystery. She has made it clear that there is something very special about Lupin. When asked who her favorite characters are, J.K.R. always specifically mentions that she loves Lupin. In interviews, such as with the BBC, she says it was Lupin that made Book 3 so important for her to write:
Ok, I might be missing the point here but how can anything regarding Lupin be called septology mystery when there's no mention of him in the first two books? As for Lupin being special. Well, to me he's darn special without being James Potter in disguise. What do you think?
The Book 1 evidence is:
Ok, the Potters have gone into hiding before they are killed and I suppose they are fully aware of the fact that they are at risk so I don't find it strange that they leave valuables with people they trust. For instance Dumbledore (who could have kept both the Invisibility Cloak and a key to the vault. Doesn't have to indicate that James is somehow still alive.
The Book 3 evidence is:
Harry's father, James is now stuck inside the body of one of his closest (but dead) friends. He has had to live like this for 12 years, hiding from Voldemort and his followers. James is now, for all intents, Remus Lupin (complete with the werewolf transformations).
He is unable to reveal his identity (especially now that Voldemort has been seen again), and is paranoid that his own emotions will make him weakand he will let the truth slip. He so badly wants to touch his son, but he doesn't dare (sob!).
James Potter
Prongs lives! WWP [Wizarding World Press - the publishers] believes that all four map-makers did appear (in some form) on the Hogwarts grounds that night in Chapter 21 of Book 3! We are convinced that Harry's father was there too!
James was there. Because he's a big part of Harry, the biggest evidence being Harry's Patronus.
What probably happened to James and Remus:
Thinking that they had doubts about the reliability of Black (their Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm), James and Lupin must have taken one extra precaution. Using a Switching Spell, they managed to switch identities. This was done without the knowledge of anyone else (with the possible exceptiong of Lily, who might have done it). We doubt that even Dumbledore (who never knew they were Animagi) had been told.
After the switch, Lupin (looking like James) stayed at their house, while James (looking like Lupin) left.
Voldemort attacked, and Lupin (looking like James) was killed. Having no body to switch back to, James was now stuck inside the body of werewolf Remus Lupin.
With everyone thinking he is Lupin, James is (at least for the moment) safe from Voldemort, who is convinced he is dead. Even though James has to live the painful life of a werewolf, at least he is not being hunted by Voldemort or his followers. Therefore, Sirius (who he now knows is innocent of betraying him) may be the only one he will trust with the information.
The reason James and Lupin had to go to that extreme is, of couse, still unknown and is at the heart of this entire septology mystery. We have been told that, for some reason, Voldemort wants to annihilate all of the Potters. There is something important about keeping James and Harry alive.
Now we understand why J.K.R gave us all those hints. Thinking about this makes the mystery even more excruciating! The suspense is worse than ever!
(Ultimate Unoffical Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter by Galadriel Waters and Astre Mithrandir, p.384-387)
Ok, I see several things wrong with this theory as you see. And this also fits badly with the Fidelius Charm plot line (and that's obvious because that's almost entirely ignored. Also Lupin seems to get quite smoothly through his life story (in the Shrieking Shack) and has no qualms about refering to James as James or Harry's father. Also in GoF, it's clearly James' Ghost that comes from Voldemort's wand (yes, I know. Remus died in James's body but ... still!) Then there's the fact that I can't imagine that a Gryffindor like James (esp. in his early twenties) would consider to leave his wife and child, knowing that Voldemort would go after them. It just doesn't fit the general Gryffindor mentality and to leave his wife and child ... just no.
And I don't think that JKR would cheapen death in this way. To have the parents the protagonist thought was dead, returning. I've addressed this issue before in my old blog (the very first entry).
When I read this theory for the first time ... I started thinking about where people could find such non-sense ... surely not in the HP books I've read. That thought wasn't with me for long. I've seen wacky things :D
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amaterasu asked me a question on my ask me a question poll about if she could obtain the Isfolket books in America. I've no idea but I do know that they haven't been translated into English. I know they exist in Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Polish and few other languages. Yeah, I know. Shouldn't prattle on about something most of you aren't able to read.
Speaking of Isfolket ... I promised you to talk more about it yesterday. Hmm. Well. Sorry. But I might make it up tomorrow with talking about smut in Isfolket. How does that sound?
My thoughts appear in italics. Otherwise I'm quoting directly. (And my apologies beforehand about any typos).
Remus J. Lupin
(see also James Potter)
In the legend of Romulus and Remus, Remus was killed by his brother (or his brother's followers).
Remus Lupin is probably dead. The Remus J. Lupin we know is probably James Potter switched into Lupin's body a Switching Spell. (Was that Lily's work?)
Though I'm not JKR and I don't know everything about the spells in HP, but I find it ludicrous that one can use a Switching Spell to switch souls. What we know about Switching Spells is that Neville is not good at them and Hermione suggests using it when Harry is facing the First Task in GoF, to switch the dragon's teeth with wine-gums. I see the connection to soul-switching right away here ... right!
J.K.R. is dropping hints all over the place about the Lupin septology mystery. She has made it clear that there is something very special about Lupin. When asked who her favorite characters are, J.K.R. always specifically mentions that she loves Lupin. In interviews, such as with the BBC, she says it was Lupin that made Book 3 so important for her to write:
Ok, I might be missing the point here but how can anything regarding Lupin be called septology mystery when there's no mention of him in the first two books? As for Lupin being special. Well, to me he's darn special without being James Potter in disguise. What do you think?
The Book 1 evidence is:
- How did Dumbledore get James' Invisibility Cloak, and how did Hagrid get the key to the Potter's vault?
Ok, the Potters have gone into hiding before they are killed and I suppose they are fully aware of the fact that they are at risk so I don't find it strange that they leave valuables with people they trust. For instance Dumbledore (who could have kept both the Invisibility Cloak and a key to the vault. Doesn't have to indicate that James is somehow still alive.
The Book 3 evidence is:
- UNlike everyone else, Lupin never stared at Harry's scar or mentioned his eyes or resemblance to James. (Ch. 5)
Lupin simply addresses Harry by name as if he was already very familiar with him - Lupin seem to able to read Harry's mind (Ch.8)
We have found that characters appear to do that when they have "inside" information, or a close relationship with each other. - Harry tells Lupin that when a dementor gets near him, he hears his mum being murdered by Voldemort. On hearing this, Lupin had made " a sudden motion with his arm, as though to grip Harry's shoulder, but thought better of it." (Ch.10)
Lupin may be relating to Harry's emotions or his own, but he is trying to distance himself from Harry. There is no reason why he should stop himself from just gripping Harry's arm if he were Lupin. Something here is affecting him, too. - Trelawney saud that Lupin "positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him -" (Ch.11)
He's obviously afraid of exposing something. We might have thought he was just afraid that she might discover he's a werewolf, however, we learned that the whole staff already knew of that. - When Harry tells Lupin he is hearing his mum's voice louder, Lupin looks "paler than usual." Harry then tells Lupin how he hears his dad's voice for the first time trying to hold off Voldemort so his mother could escape. "You heard James?" said Lupin in a strange voice." (Ch. 12)
Hearing about Lily didn't make him sad, it made him "pale." Why would Lupin react oddly to Harry hearing James? Because of the odd circumstances - he realized it wasn't James saying it. - Professor Lupin, who was "both shaken and pleased," comes over to congratulate Harry on his spectacular Patronus. (Ch. 13)
Lupin was "shaken" from seeing what we later learn is James' own Patronus. - Professor Lupin enters the room in a "shower of red sparks." (Ch. 17)
A true Gryffindor ... - "I certainly don't want Harry dead ..." "An odd shiver passed over his face." (Ch. 17)
That's not just a teacher or friend saying that. - Lupin: "now that we could all transform." (Ch. 18)
Why wouldn't he say "Now that they could all transform"? - Lupin has "no hesitation" about what Harry's father would think. (Ch. 18)
Why is he so sure about what Harry's father would think? - Lupin's first name is Remus - the legendary wolf-child who was murdered by his brother or his brother's followers. (Such as Pettigrew?)
Well, James couldn't be that much more familiar than Lupin with Harry at the moment in time ... not having seen the boy for most of his life. Lupin would have known Harry before the Potters' deaths and known the boy looked like James but had his mother's eyes.
I suppose this refers to Lupin answering Harry's unasked questions about the potion Snape brings him. Harry is looking curiously at the goblet so it didn't need that close relationship to figure what Harry wanted to know and I'm still not getting it, if James hasn't had contact with his son for eleven years how he could have had much more closer relationship with Harry than Lupin would have had.
Lupin has always come across to me as a rather reserved person. So I'm not surprised he didn't touch Harry's arm. Nuff said.
Yeah, I'm sorry but I would also run the other way if Trelawney would want to offer me a crystal gaze. I think this is more an effort on JKR to emphasize on the fact that no one in their right mind would give Trelawney the pleasure to ramble on and on about some horrible destiny. I'm sure Lupin has better things to do with his time than that.
Pretty weak argument IMO. You know ... I would have worried about the effects this would having on Harry, to hear his mother louder and louder. And Lupin should have been pale with worries. And about the strange voice ... I've always thought that Lupin got more emotional to hear that Harry hears his father and thus Lupin's voice sounded strange.
Erm ... the stag was James' Animagus form ... and I think the sight of his old friend's Animagus form appearing as the son's Patronus would be sufficient to shake Lupin up.
This is seeing a hint where there isn't a one, I'm afraid.
And the reasoning for that is ...?
Well, he was transformed into a wolf ... so when all the Marauders had become Animagi ... they could all transform ... pretty straight forward to me.
Hmm ... well, I usually can tell very well what my close friends would think.
Well ... perhaps Pettigrew may have something to do with the death of Remus ... but that then has yet to happen ... the silver hand, remember? But I don't like the silver hand theory for obvious reasons.
Harry's father, James is now stuck inside the body of one of his closest (but dead) friends. He has had to live like this for 12 years, hiding from Voldemort and his followers. James is now, for all intents, Remus Lupin (complete with the werewolf transformations).
He is unable to reveal his identity (especially now that Voldemort has been seen again), and is paranoid that his own emotions will make him weakand he will let the truth slip. He so badly wants to touch his son, but he doesn't dare (sob!).
James Potter
Prongs lives! WWP [Wizarding World Press - the publishers] believes that all four map-makers did appear (in some form) on the Hogwarts grounds that night in Chapter 21 of Book 3! We are convinced that Harry's father was there too!
James was there. Because he's a big part of Harry, the biggest evidence being Harry's Patronus.
What probably happened to James and Remus:
Thinking that they had doubts about the reliability of Black (their Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm), James and Lupin must have taken one extra precaution. Using a Switching Spell, they managed to switch identities. This was done without the knowledge of anyone else (with the possible exceptiong of Lily, who might have done it). We doubt that even Dumbledore (who never knew they were Animagi) had been told.
After the switch, Lupin (looking like James) stayed at their house, while James (looking like Lupin) left.
Voldemort attacked, and Lupin (looking like James) was killed. Having no body to switch back to, James was now stuck inside the body of werewolf Remus Lupin.
With everyone thinking he is Lupin, James is (at least for the moment) safe from Voldemort, who is convinced he is dead. Even though James has to live the painful life of a werewolf, at least he is not being hunted by Voldemort or his followers. Therefore, Sirius (who he now knows is innocent of betraying him) may be the only one he will trust with the information.
The reason James and Lupin had to go to that extreme is, of couse, still unknown and is at the heart of this entire septology mystery. We have been told that, for some reason, Voldemort wants to annihilate all of the Potters. There is something important about keeping James and Harry alive.
Now we understand why J.K.R gave us all those hints. Thinking about this makes the mystery even more excruciating! The suspense is worse than ever!
(Ultimate Unoffical Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter by Galadriel Waters and Astre Mithrandir, p.384-387)
Ok, I see several things wrong with this theory as you see. And this also fits badly with the Fidelius Charm plot line (and that's obvious because that's almost entirely ignored. Also Lupin seems to get quite smoothly through his life story (in the Shrieking Shack) and has no qualms about refering to James as James or Harry's father. Also in GoF, it's clearly James' Ghost that comes from Voldemort's wand (yes, I know. Remus died in James's body but ... still!) Then there's the fact that I can't imagine that a Gryffindor like James (esp. in his early twenties) would consider to leave his wife and child, knowing that Voldemort would go after them. It just doesn't fit the general Gryffindor mentality and to leave his wife and child ... just no.
And I don't think that JKR would cheapen death in this way. To have the parents the protagonist thought was dead, returning. I've addressed this issue before in my old blog (the very first entry).
When I read this theory for the first time ... I started thinking about where people could find such non-sense ... surely not in the HP books I've read. That thought wasn't with me for long. I've seen wacky things :D
amaterasu asked me a question on my ask me a question poll about if she could obtain the Isfolket books in America. I've no idea but I do know that they haven't been translated into English. I know they exist in Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Polish and few other languages. Yeah, I know. Shouldn't prattle on about something most of you aren't able to read.Speaking of Isfolket ... I promised you to talk more about it yesterday. Hmm. Well. Sorry. But I might make it up tomorrow with talking about smut in Isfolket. How does that sound?