Remus' Childhood

How did Remus become a werewolf? What was his life as a werewolf? Did he have any friends before Hogwarts? What happened to make his friends (the Marauders) accept his furry little problem? How did he handle the stress of transformation every full moon in the beginning? Did he date at all, or did he consider himself a threat to people, or was he just not interested?

Discuss away..

Good discussion! Well, I think it was said in HBP that Fenrir Greyback was the werewolf who bit Remus when he was still at Hogwarts. From what I can gather, he hated being a werewolf more than anything else and didn't live a single day where he didn't wish he could be normal again. Before Hogwarts, I think he probably had some friends, that he was probably a normal boy who got along well with most other kids. And I think the other three Marauders really liked him and felt badly for his being a werewolf and that they wanted to make him more comfortable, that's why they all became animagi. I think it was Sirius' idea to do that in the beginning, or maybe it was James (not Peter's) I don't think he handled the transformation stress very well and looked forward to it with dread every time. And I don't think he dated because he was too worried about infecting someone (look at how he was with Tonks years later for a while!) I doubt if he dated a single girl the whole time he was at Hogwarts.

It was Fenrir that infected him, but what do you think his father did to Greyback for him to take revenge on his son?

I think in the beginning it was very hard on him, he probably felt miserable being a werewolf. I guess the transformation was the most difficult part for him, having no human feelings. He hated that part of himself. I think at first he had no friends, (he's the kind of person that keeps to himself, as he thought anyone who knew about him would be repulsed) but as James' and Sirius' curiosity led them to find out his secret, they became best friends.

As for dating, I agree with Linda, I don't think he was shy; he just didn't want to be rejected when the girl he dated found out his secret. I'm really happy that Tonks had accepted what he was before falling in love with him; he really did deserve someone like her!

I agree with the dating; he had such a hard time accepting his feelings for Tonks and trying not to enter a relationship with her that he had probably never allowed himself to be in one before. I would be easy for his to contaminate someone during transformation that he thought it better to be alone. Since werewolves were largely persecuted against, he had a fear that it could put not only his partner but their family at risk - that is why he was reluctant to be with Tonks.
School must have been particularly difficult but he obviously trusted his friends enough to let them know of his 'affliction'. I agree with what Ginevra_P said, James and Sirius would likely have found out anyhow and their acceptance likely led to them becoming such a close group. Peter, of course, would have followed James and Sirius no matter what so probably became an animagus just because they were, not because of any concern for Remus.
Fenrir was a cruel and brutal werewolf so I can't imagine it took much offending for him to contaminate Remus. Perhaps just a passing remark about werewolves would have been enough for him to attack Remus.

That sounds accurate for Greyback; he is the worst kind of werewolf out there. I still wonder though...

I believe that Remus had been bitten before he came to Hogwarts (PoA, chapt 18), since I remember it being mentioned that Dumbledore had facilitated his entry into the school... the planting of Whomping Willow for one thing. He was scared of being exposed as a werewolf, thinking he'd be shunned outright for his affliction, bigotry against werewolves was already a problem for him by then.

The transformations and the stress related to it, must have been horrendous! From what I understand, the Wolfsbane Potion is a recent invention, and only a few Potion makers could handle its trickiness. So young Remus did not profit from it for a very long time before it was offered to him. (Snape made it for him while Remus was professor at Hogwarts). Anyway, he had to endure the physical pain as well as the related dementia without the calming effects of the potion.

I would believe that Remus became a more introspective 'creature' because of his monthly transformations. A loner by necessity. To whom could he confide his secrets to? As for dating, I think the mere idea of it was too big to tackle as an adolescent. He would have been scared of infecting another person. And how could he explain his monthly disappearances to a potential girlfriend without exposing his secret? The fact that he eventually did have strong bonds with his fellow Marauders, just shows us that with a little prodding, he welcomed people near him if he felt they were safe from possible infection. He is a kindhearted individual that had to adopt a particular way of life to protect himself and others.

I don't think anyone else would have dealt with being infected as Remus had.

We know how kindhearted he was, and that helped him to keep in touch with his human feelings whenever he transformed. And it was that kindness that made him think about other people's feelings. I like him because he's always so thoughtful about other people... I guess that's why he didn't have friends before.. He never wanted to put others in danger.

Yes, he didn't want to put others in danger, but that may be the reason he might have never dated. I have to agree with mmesnape's point. His friendship with the Marauders had to be as far as he got to be with other people. Wolves travel in packs, and the Marauders were his pack. The death of James would be like the death of the alpha wolf and Sirius stood up to the plate, untile he too died. Now, Remus was well alone when they found out a little rat became a traitor. Since he was now the last true Marauder, a wolf without a pack, it can be easily seen why he did not want any connection with Tonks but might have felt close to her because she too was different.

I think as a young boy, after being bitten, he was probably really lonely, which is why he was so shocked to have friends who stuck by him through thick and thin and why he gave them so much leeway.

I'm not sure how Mr Lupin Snr could have offended Greyback, but it's been said above that he's so dangerous and unpredictable that spilling his pint in the Leaky Cauldron would have been enough if Greyback was in a bad mood.

The transformation into a werewolf, and back again, is undoubtably painful. The thought of a child dealing with that has always chilled me. JKR has said that Remus being a werewolf in an analogy for disability in society. It is causes both phyisical pain and mental anguish and it causes people to be discriminatory. I think she's got it spot on.

When it comes to girls, I think I'm going to have to be the voice of dissent on this one. I have a feeling that he would have been a source of intrigue for the girls at school. The quiet, sensitive, kind, intelligent boy who might really understand them? I spent my teenage years dreaming about boys like that
I think that as an adult he might have had a girlfriend, someone he loved who rejected him when the reality of dating a lycan really set in. When he intially rejects Tonks he is trying to spare her the stigma of his 'fury little problem' but he is also trying to save himself heartache; he probably believes that she'll leave him for someone young, rich and safe eventually.

Well, very good discussion. First off, Remus became a werewolf when he was a young child, by Fenrir Greyback. He thought that his life was pretty miserable, because apparently people who knew his secret couldn't see past that, except those who loved him. I think he stayed in his house most of the time, before he went to Hogwarts because, he was afraid to hurt anybody, and that like I said before, no one could see past his secret. I think the Marauders saw how Remus was always alone and that he was smart, and a nice person on the outside and the inside. So they saw past his "furry little problem" and thats probably how they became friends. Transformation during the full moon seems like a very tough problem to cope with, and so I think because he had to bite himself and be alone in the shrieking shack, I think the stress got to him a lot, and he just had to suck it up. So I think he had to keep the stress and pain inside him, for a long time until he could tell someone. I think Remus thought himself a threat to people, so I don't he ever felt dating would be the right thing to do. He probably thought some girls were pretty, but he just didn't want to put them in danger.