So I noticed this line in Prisoner of Azkaban and now I can’t stop thinking about how great it would be if Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall became good friends while Remus was teaching at Hogwarts, so here are some headcanons about that:
When they meet for the first time in 15 years, it breaks Minerva’s heart to think about the eager awkward boy she once knew and to look at the broken man with the tired eyes he has become. She notices how much Remus has aged since she last saw him.
For Remus, being back at Hogwarts hurts like hell. As he gives McGonagall an unconvincing smile, he can’t stop thinking of his school days and of how much has changed.
“Hello, Professor. It’s been a long time,“ Remus says slowly.
McGonagall pulls Remus into a hug. He is stiff but doesn’t pull away.
Remus at first being reluctant to talk to any of the other teachers much because he doesn’t feel he belongs there and he’s kind of lost the will to connect with people.
McGonagall making sure that Remus is involved in every staff room conversation
McGonagall adjusting to the strangeness of seeing Remus on his own, not with three other grinning boys
McGonagall joking with Remus about pranks he pulled at school and Remus explaining how they were done
McGonagall correcting Remus each time he called her ‘Professor’ rather than Minerva
Remus and Minerva staying up late in the staff room drinking tea and talking about complex magical theory
Remus asking Minerva “Tell me about James and Lily’s boy, tell me all about Harry”
Minerva telling Remus about Harry’s skill at Quidditch, about how he fought a troll in his first year, how he has two inseparable friends, how last year he secretly brewed Polyjuice Potion and defeated a Basilisk…
Remus confiding in Minerva about how strange he feels when he looks Harry “He’s the spit of James… but Lily’s eyes… I held him as a baby… I heard him speak his first words… and now he doesn’t know me at all… I never would have thought I’d be a stranger to James’ son”
Minerva understands because sometimes she sees James when she looks at Harry
Minerva and Remus chatting about their students’ progress, especially Harry’s
Minerva changing the subject or distracting Remus whenever Sirius Black is mentioned in the staff room because she sees the pain those conversations cause Remus.
Minerva defending Remus whenever she hears other teachers muttering about how it isn’t safe to have a werewolf teaching students
Minerva making sure that she keeps track of the lunar calendar and that gives Remus space when the full moon is approaching
One night when he is curled up in pain in his office on the night of the full moon, Remus is surprised and comforted when a cat with spectacle markings around its eyes finds its way in. The cat sits with him every full moon after that.
When Remus resigns, Minerva comes into his office and asks “Are you sure about this? If you want to stay, I will do everything I can…” but Remus just shakes his head. “Well- look after yourself,” Minerva says like it’s an order.
I like to think that Hermione wasn’t the only one to figure out that Prof. Lupin was a werewolf. I mean, even if Snape assigned that essay to just their class, I can’t really believe that nobody else put the clues together.
Specifically, I like to think that there was some upper year who figured it out because they paid really close attention in class. Like, not just “I have OWLs this year and I need to get good grades” close attention, but “Prof. Lupin is so nice and so funny and he has such a nice smile, and wow, I am really gay” close attention.
Let’s all be real, here, Remus Lupin probably holds the all-time Hogwarts record for “Most embarrassing adolescent daydreams and adolescent sexual/romantic awakenings caused”. There was a lot of math being done about age differences by students, but to no avail, because Remus was entirely oblivious to everything, because they’re all children.
That student just wanted to ask some questions about the latest assignment, is obviously genuinely interested in the subject matter, and all that lashes-fluttering was them probably just having something in their eye. He asked and they said so. (And then they promptly turned bright red and screamed pure embarrassment into a couch cushion later when their friend asked how it went. “HE THOUGHT I HAD SOMETHING IN MY EYE, SAM.”)
The result of this student figuring out Prof. Lupin was a werewolf did not result in a panic about their teacher being a werewolf, though. At least, not the sort of panic that Snape might have expected.
“I read that the transformation is really painful, that’s so awful,” says Oliver Beamish, doodling hearts on his Defense essay again. “Do you think he’s okay? He always looks so sick. I mean, he’s so handsome, but he looks ill. I want to smother him and feed him soup, is that weird?”
“Yes, Beamish, that’s really quite queer,” Linda Peakes says, even though she knows that he isn’t actually listening. Replying makes her feel better, though, for having to sit through this and having Oliver Lupin written over every bit of spare parchment that comes into proximity of her friend.
“Is he eating alright? I read that werewolves should eat more before a full moon to help with how exhausting the transformation is - and there was something about filling the bloody and animalistic hunger, but that sounded like bullshit. Do you think he’s getting enough sleep? He should get more sleep; if full moons are really so awful, he definitely needs it. I don’t know if I could take that, though, since he already looks so handsome with rings under his eyes. I want him happy, but I’m not sure I could cope.”
“I already can’t cope; you’ve become a lunatic,” says Linda, weighing the benefits between having a competent Defense teacher and having to listen to Beamish wonder about how to care for his imaginary werewolf boyfriend.
Lunatic, indeed.
She is a master of humor.
Sadly, she has plans for her school path and career track, so the competent teacher side wins. Also, Hufflepuff House took a poll and he’s been rated the nicest and most well-liked teacher after Sprout and Flitwick; she’s pretty sure most of their house would cry if he left, and a heartbroken Beamish might be worse than a mooning one.She’s not willing to risk it.
Heh, mooning. She’ll have to remember that one too.
(She begins plotting the death of Severus Snape when Remus Lupin is fired. She has plans, damn it. Also, so many puns ruined.)
what i love about both remus and lily is that they both seem to do this thing where it’s like “oh you’re an asshole? then you may right now immediately go fuck yourself” like when snape called lily a mudblood she was instantly like “ok you deserve whatever you get also your underpants are gross #evansout” and then when remus finds out that peter is alive he’s instantly just down to calmly fucking murder him “shall we kill him together?” like dad please
Remus and Lily will stick by you through hell and high water, even if they know you’re in the wrong and kick themselves for enabling you. But if you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you don’t deserve it and you never did, then you are well and truly invited to a game of Hide and Go Fuck Yourself.
remus would have been so good at finding loopholes for the marauders to slip through like i mean as a prefect he would have had to know all of them to an extent and i can just see sirius hopping onto his bed like “hey moony can we do this thing without technically breaking any rules” and remus would be like well no but you could do this and then guess who doesnt have detention despite the fact that all anyone at the slytherin table has had for dinner the past four days is haggis
remus would have been so good at finding loopholes for the marauders to slip through like i mean as a prefect he would have had to know all of them to an extent and i can just see sirius hopping onto his bed like “hey moony can we do this thing without technically breaking any rules” and remus would be like well no but you could do this and then guess who doesnt have detention despite the fact that all anyone at the slytherin table has had for dinner the past four days is haggis
can we give remus lupin some credit for not BURSTING OUT INTO TEARS when he woke up and saw harry on the train?? he hadn’t seen him for more than 10 years and he managed to keep his composure
also
hello
“There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames.” (PoA, pg 83)
Alright, look, all the remus is half French/Italian/Spanish/etc. Headcanons are cute and all, but guys, GUYS!
-he’s canonically half Welsh already! WELSH!
I honestly feel like this isn’t appreciated nearly enough.
*dreams of a Remus with the cutest twang of a welsh accent*
- Imagine Hope teaching him the language on the days of the moon so his little mind will be busily occupied while her hands shake unseen in her lap with fear and sympathy for her little boy.
-imagine Remus being startled into swearing in Welsh the first time he is pranked by his new dorm-mates.
-imagine their faces splitting into delighted grins and the following hours of swapping increasingly outlandish swears (Sirius knows some wild ones in French himself).
-imagine Remus studying Welsh magic, knowing that it’s supposed to be very potent.
