Remus Lupin. Schoolfriend of James Potter, Harry's father, one time Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts

Remus "Moony" Lupin, born circa 1960, was a contemporary and close friend of Harry's father James Potter. As a small boy, professor Lupin was bitten by a werewolf an contracted lycanthropy, he has been a werewolf himself ever since. Lupin's curse was the reason James Potter and Sirius Black, along with their sycophantic follower Peter Pettigrew, decided to become animagi. A werewolf in wolf form will apparently only savage humans, and if his friends could take the forms of animals they would be safe and could stay with him at full moon. Lupin was always the more studious of the group, and was made Gryffindor prefect in his fifth year. Together, Potter, Lupin, Black and Pettigrew made the Marauder's Map and signed it with their animagus aliases, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

In Harry's third year, Lupin returns to Hogwarts to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lupin's presence and support is invaluable to Harry as he attempts of strengthen his defences against the Dementors of Azkaban. It is likely that Lupin was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Harry ever had, certainly ranking higher than either Lockhart or Umbridge. Despite his excellent qualifications, Lupin finds it almost impossible to get work as very few people are willing to hire werewolves, despite that most of the month a lycanthrope is just like everyone else. As a consequence, he is often very low on funds, a fact which is reflected by his generally shabby appearance.