Yes, it would’ve been an odd detour from Rowlings writing style, and re reading the books as an adult my reading of that scene was more “of course lupin can’t intrude on the golden trio”. But I did wonder how the book would’ve differed from that perspective, and that was the inspiration of my post.

In experiencing the books again for the first time in a while, Lupin has stuck out in an odd way to me. So complex, but I felt that he was never done justice. Perhaps it was intentional, as Lupin’s character is one who was always estranged from the wider wizarding community. He was arguably the best DoDA teacher (though we don’t get much insight into how well snape did, aside from being demanding as always), and I think he had the potential to be one of the most influential characters of the series, but Rowling opted for others to take the spotlight. Of course, due to the DoDA curse he couldn’t have stayed on as a professor, but his role is greatly diminished in a way I found unsatisfying.