Or, Why Dumbledore Probably Ships Wolfstar So Hard It Hurts 

Let us all take a moment to enter Emeline’s world of head canon. 

I always believed that Dumbledore broke the news to Remus, in person. That he apparated to their [Remus and Sirius’s] flat, to wait for Remus to wake up, so that Dumbledore could tell him before he had the chance to read it in the paper. 

Not only would it be really terrible in any circumstance to read in the papers that all of your friends were murdered by your other friend/boyfriend/soulmate, who is now spending the rest of his life in prison, BUT I imagine Dumbledore saw a lot of his own life in Remus’s situation. 

I imagine the Sirius/Remus relationship was something the original Order was aware of, though it wasn’t something anybody talked about, except between Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, and Peter. It wasn’t explicitly stated, but most people just kind of figured. Basically, they were as canon to them as they are to us— the main authority [Sirius and Remus, J.K. Rowling, respectively] hasn’t said it, but c’mon. We’re not stupid. 

So, there sits Dumbledore, in Remus’s flat, with terrible news, and a certain look in his eyes, more than pity. Because Dumbledore has experienced this. He’s lost everything— his family, his friends, his lover— in roughly the same way. He fell in love with a man who wasn’t who he seemed to be. At that moment in time, that’s exactly the way Sirius looks to Remus and there’s no doubt that Remus lost everything that Halloween. 

Fast forward. Sirius breaks out of Azkaban sometime during the summer. Dumbledore may or may not have already hired Remus at that point, but I bet he was still looking and Sirius’s break out brought Remus to Dumbledore’s mind. He knew Remus was likely having trouble finding steady work and was likely alone— because Remus already didn’t trust readily, but after everything that happened? The man was completely alone for twelve years, too, he had to be. 

And then there’s Sirius, fresh out of Azkaban, and Dumbledore needs to hire Remus. Any number of things could happen. Sirius could go looking for Remus. Remus could go looking for Sirius. Or, the least dangerous option but still not a good one, old wounds have been ripped open for Remus by Sirius being thrust into the forefront of everyone’s mind again and Remus should not be alone for that. 

I’ve always imagined that, throughout his life, though Dumbledore never spoke of it, mentioned it, or revealed it in any way, Dumbledore had a soft spot for Remus Lupin, who was so marginalized, so long-suffering, so good, so mature, so intelligent, and so lonely. 

But here’s the best part. Here’s the really beautiful part. 

Sirius is not Grindewald. Sirius is the man Remus thought he was. The betrayal was not vindictive, fueled by power or hate or anger. It was a simple, emotional, human mistake that escalated to something unspeakably awful, for both Remus and Sirius. 

So when Remus, Harry, and Dumbledore learn of Sirius’s innocence… so when Dumbledore tells Sirius to “lie low at Lupin’s,” there’s a twinkle in his eye. 

Because Dumbledore ships it. He had seen himself in Remus, in the boy betrayed, in the boy blinded by a love he thought was real. But with Sirius innocent, Remus gets the one thing Dumbledore always wanted. How many times, earlier in his life, do you think he wished things were different? How many times did he wish it weren’t true? That Gellert wasn’t dark and power-hungry and dangerous? How many times did Dumbledore wish it just could have been? 

Sirius and Remus get the redemption Dumbledore always wanted. It wasn’t true for him. Dumbledore lost it all through falling in love. But he’s so happy, so happy, that Remus can get it all back.