Harry Potter: What Lupin's Patronus Is (& Why He Hid It)
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) teaches Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) how to conjure a Patronus charm, but his own Patronus is never seen — here's why. The Patronus is important to a witch or wizard's identity: Harry's is a stag (like his father James' Patronus), the Weasley twins (James and Oliver Phelps) both have magpies (hinting at the UK saying «one for sorrow, two for joy»), and Snape's (Alan Rickman) is a doe, which symbolizes his lifelong love for Lily Potter. In Lupin's case, the answer is an obvious one: a wolf.
When Remus was invited to teach at Hogwarts, only a handful of teachers knew he was a werewolf — no parents would want their children anywhere near one. In fact, Remus only accepted the position after Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) promised him an endless supply of Wolfsbane Potion, which Snape would unenthusiastically supply, restricting Lupin's monthly transformation to an ordinary wolf. It had always been Remus’ worst fear that he would kill while out of his right mind, and a school full of students was the worst place to be in this respect. There was a great stigma surrounding werewolves: Lupin receiving the Order of Merlin posthumously for his Order of Phoenix contributions was the first step in lifting this stigma. Unfortunately, during his life, Remus had to hide his identity as a werewolf — and thus his wolf-shaped Patronus, too.
Related: How Harry Potter's Final Battle Is Different In The Books
Stigma is not the only reason Remus Lupin hides his wolf-shaped Patronus, as the wolf is generally a reminder of his pain and tragedy. When he was only four, Remus was bitten by the notorious Death Eater and werewolf Fenrir Greyback (Dave Legeno), who wanted to get his
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