Remus John Lupin, nicknamed Moony, is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. He first appears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. In the films, he is portrayed by David Thewlis as an adult, and James Utechin as a teenager. There is evidence to suggest that Lupin is a more powerful wizard than he lets on. In Prisoner of Azkaban, he produced a handful of flames in his bare hands, a possible show of wandless magic. In Order of the Phoenix, he is the only fighter besides Dumbledore who came through unscathed from the battle at the Department of Mysteries. Similarly, he emerges physically unharmed from the Battle of Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince, even remarking that a Killing Curse had barely missed him at one point. Lupin often acts as the voice of reason within the Order of the Phoenix. He is more willing than Molly Weasley to let Harry and the other students know what is happening, but he also will not allow them to be inducted into the Order and stops Sirius from telling them too much. Lupin is a half-blood born, according to the series, to a wizard and a muggle woman on.