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Character: Remus John Lupin
Series/Fandom: Harry Potter
Original or Template version: Original
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Species: Half-blood wizard afflicted with lycanthropy.
Sexuality: Remus hasn’t put a lot of thought into whom or what he likes; rather, he’d be surprised if anyone showed him kindness, never mind attraction. He has a slight fear of mating, loathing the thought of cursing any potential child with his ‘illness’. In addition, he also spends most of his time either making sure his friends don’t get into too much trouble or studying, and therefore doesn’t put much thought into relationships, if at all, unless he’s forced to.
Link to picture/PB of character: http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn63/raitakaara/edwardspeleers.jpg
Appearance: Remus is somewhat smaller, thinner and paler than other young men his age. Most of this comes from what friends call his “furry little problem,” as it drains a lot of his energy, especially when the full moon is near. Expect him to look quite sickly during those times. Otherwise he has light brown hair bordering on the blond side and warm brown eyes, dressing in robes typical of a wizard (albeit somewhat shabbily), though he’s inclined to wear Muggle clothing as well. Remus’s body is littered with the scars of his self-inflicted wounds from earlier transformations, the most noticeable ones located on his face.
When the full moon hits, he turns into what would basically be a normal wolf if not for a few defining characteristics, such as a differently-shaped snout and pupils, and a tufted tail.
Personality: Remus has no doubt suffered a great deal of prejudice over the course of his seventeen years. Despite this, he has an optimistic mentality when it comes to those around him-- he’s both forgiving towards and expectant of the good in each soul he meets. Remus thus frowns upon the way James and Sirius treat Snape, never taking part in their mistreatment of others. He chooses instead to turn a blind eye to that particular behaviour, likely because he knows they’ve got good hearts for deigning to befriend him. After all, he wouldn’t want their beloved friendship to turn sour when it’s one of the few things that keeps him sane.
As the gentlest, most mature and rational of the Marauders, he watches out for his friends as best he can while remaining something of an introvert. He rarely states his opinion or preference unless it’s asked of him, disliking any of the more violent forms of confrontation. In lieu he acts shy and polite to those he’s not close to, bordering on low self-esteem. Around his best accomplices, however, Remus becomes both charming and outgoing, with a witty sense of humor if given the chance to use it.
Remus also has the unfortunate habit of liking to be liked. He’ll show a sincere, almost puppy-like trust towards anyone who treats him kindly-- which will, more often than not, lead to his being taken advantage of. If you’re willing to accept each part of him though, you’re liable to have a companion for life since he withholds the fierce loyalty people of the Gryffindor house are known to possess.
As a finishing touch to this persona, Remus is something of a bookworm. He loves to learn, choosing to spend his free time either with his nose buried in a book or studying in the library rather than raving over Quidditch like his friends are prone to do.
Abilities/Strengths: Being the scholarly sort that he is, Remus graduated from Hogwarts with flying colours and a lengthy knowledge of wizardry, especially when it comes to Defence Against the Dark Arts. He’s powerful for his age, possibly because he’s so studious, as he knows complicated spells and has even begun perfecting the ability to create fire without a wand. Another skill gained after seven years experience at Hogwarts is Apparating, which lets its user travel from one place to another in the blink of an eye, be it miles or a few steps away.
One might consider his strength as a werewolf quite powerful, but he would never wish such a fate to befall even his worst enemy. Remus considers his lycanthropy more of a terminal illness than a gift.
Weaknesses: A magical creature called a Boggart, which takes the shape of a person’s deepest fears, changes into a full moon whenever Remus comes across it. And for good reason. Whenever the moon is full he feels and looks like he’s having a bout of the flu, and once he changes he loses all sense of humanity whatsoever. He will attack anyone who isn’t an animal such as himself, whoever they are, and he hates this fact.
Remus’s loyalty and need to be liked could probably be taken as a weakness, since opening one’s heart to the wrong people is frequently the quickest road to heartache.
History:
Remus was born into the wizarding world during a time of war. The Dark Lord Voldemort was in full reign, and when Remus was just a child he used his most savage werewolf follower, Fenrir Greyback, against anyone who dared defy him. It just so happened that Remus’s father had insulted Greyback, which caused him to bite and afflict his son with lycanthropy in retaliation. This cursed him to turn into a werewolf every full moon, an illness which causes its sufferer to savagely attack even the most beloved friends or family when in their wolfish form.
His parents were thus constantly worried that he would never be able to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, since werewolves were a great danger to society-- in fact, it was nearly illegal for them to hold down a job or be considered normal citizens. Oftentimes werewolves would reject society as a whole merely because of society’s own rejection of the species.
However, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore assured his family that he had a place at Hogwarts, and at eleven years old he entered as a student. A shanty was built outside of Hogsmeade with a secret passageway leading to it through a Whomping Willow (basically, a willow that… whomps) on the school grounds for him to hide during his changes once a month. Such isolation caused him to take his frustration out on himself, and the building was dubbed the Shrieking Shack when townspeople heard Remus’s howls of agony. Witches and wizards alike thought of it as the most haunted building in Britain, and Dumbledore encouraged this rumor in the hopes that it would keep people from investigating the source of the noise.
During Remus’s second year, his friends James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew found out about his secret. Rather than abandoning him out of fear as he’d suspected they would do, they instead began studying how to become Animagi - that is, turning into a chosen animal at will - since werewolves are known to strike only at humans. By their fifth year they’d perfected the skill, spending every full moon together in their Animagus shapes to keep Remus company. It made his changes a lot more bearable, and he grew closer to the three more than anyone else. They even gave nicknames to one another, Moony to Remus and the Marauders to the four of them as a whole. Their skill increased enough for them to create the Marauder’s Map, a map which showed every part of the school along with its moving inhabitants.
His frequent disappearances riled the curiosity of one Severus Snape, a fellow Slytherin to the group of Gryffindors and an object of bullying for James and Sirius, since they believed him to be a practitioner of the Dark Arts. In their sixth year, Sirius played a prank on Snape by telling him about the passage under the Whomping Willow during a full moon, hoping he would be terrified by what he saw. James ended up stopping Snape and saving his life, but the Slytherin still managed to find out about Remus’s secret.
Dumbledore swore Snape to secrecy, though he still teased Remus cruelly on what he’d found out. By their seventh year the four graduated from Hogwarts with high hopes for the future and plans to join the Order of the Phoenix so they could fight against the Dark Lord. During a particular escapade with the Marauders and James’s girlfriend Lily, the five of them Apparated, but rather than landing where he’d intended Remus found himself instead inside a church.