And Literally No One Except Mr Weasley Had Said Anything To Harry - Tumblr Posts
i’m seething with tired frustration when stumbling upon fics centered around parental remus that’s more involved in harry’s wellbeing and life in general juxtaposed against an angsty, almost cartoonishly childish sirius, whilst canon events are piping fresh in my mind. i was listening to the poa audiobook recently, and do you know how jarring it was to hear remus chastising harry’s behaviour?
people bring up the point that remus had zero obligation towards harry: he’s a child, not a friend; remus is chronically ill and cash-strapped; it’d be bizarre for a grown man to get to know harry by introducing himself as their dead parents’ friend. well, by the same token, it isn’t as bizarre—or frankly alarming—that a grown adult should scold an orphan for throwing away their sacrifices while insinuating a close relationship to them?
the first time harry has an inkling his professor and parents might have been fast friends is when remus hits him with a biting “gambling their sacrifice by wandering the castle unprotected with a killer on the loose seems to me a poor way to repay them” when remus was shamelessly keeping sirius’ secret to himself at the risk of harry’s safety all along. it seems laughably manipulative and self-serving of a man whose friends spent years learning how to transform into animagi to assist him and keep him company during his lowest moments to not repay their kindness towards their orphan son.
yes, remus is a marginalized member of society, but is he an impoverished muggle victorian wasting away from a dickensian disease unable to procure funds for a horse, too sickly and plagued with mobility issues for a long journey?? he has a wand and apparition license, and he probably could’ve picked up a directory to search for the dursley’s residence if he so wished to check in on harry in secret. travel costs nothing for him. he doesn’t suffer from chronic mobility issues three weeks out of a month (being generous here as post-transformation aches are nasty). he didn’t have to see him in person. he could’ve just lurked in the shadows, maybe even dropped an anonymous tip to wizarding or muggle social services after taking a small peek into harry’s life, troubled over the signs of maltreatment and neglect.
or fine, so he couldn’t accomplish such feats during the first twelve years because his guilt is an infinite abyss deeper than the marinara trench and other unforeseen circumstances. what was stopping remus from slowly getting closer to harry and finding an opportunity to gently break the news he was once close to james and lily when he began his teaching stint? it might have somewhat softened the blow of his words, then. maybe.
honestly, the nerve of a stranger (because again, remus is nobody to harry at that point) to just come up to an orphan and tell him he’s figuratively dancing a jig and spitting on his parents’ graves. you are his teacher, you do not get to tell him off as if you’re a family friend when you’ve been purposefully distant with their son.
remus has nothing on sirius when it concerns parenting or being a responsible adult figure. sirius was on the lam, unable to live in human form, risking capture and surviving on bloody rats just to stay closer to harry. sirius suffered twelve years with soul-sucking monsters who feasted on every last good memory and shred of joy, and sent their victim spiralling into depths of despair from their most horrible experiences—and we can infer his childhood was ghastly—yet somehow remus’ monthly furry problem excuses everything under the sun. but not sirius.
sirius who is battling pstd and depression, and putting on a brave smile for strangers who insult him under his own roof and treat him as an unstable and easily combustible person. sirius who is reliving every hellish childhood memory in that mausoleum of a house and trying to protect harry by keeping his godson informed and injecting some levity into their miserable lives, gets painted as an impetuous overgrown teenager unfit to be harry’s guardian. but not remus.
grrrr.
please don’t strip sirius of his core characteristics and turn him into a caricature of his canon self while propping up or whitewashing remus. he’s not the tall and irresistible brainiac of a casanova fanon has redefined him as. remus is canonically greying, looking like he’s one good hex away from meeting his maker, perpetually exhausted, and possesses a generous heaping of cowardice. he’s not the cleverest among the marauders because he’s scholar-coded. one can enjoy books and reign supreme in a specific field of interest without ranking top of the class. disillusion yourselves; he did not tutor james and sirius because their marks were inferior to his. instead, the duo sailed through their classes without much effort.
to be clear, this isn’t me lambasting remus to make sirius look good. this is a stand against fanon remus (and enforcing the truth of canon remus) because his fanon portrayal has permeated almost every other fic and is being bandied around as the essence of canon remus. and frankly, it’s absolutely cheesed me off to the point of disliking remus entirely. if you want to project your desires and fantasies onto remus or fetishize him, please just include self-insert or original character in the tags.
ok, thanks, bye.