Regulus: He really was quite a good guy. It seems strange that he would have been so seduced by the dark side in the first place. I sense issues. A stronger bond with Kreacher than normal (possibly his only friend, at least as a kid?), and a desire to prove himself against the example of Sirius and /or avoid the rejection of Sirius by their parents by living up to the expectations of the family.

Kreacher: While I enjoy the deepening of the character, I am at this point becoming a little tired of the simplistic "he only needs love to be good" thesis.

And I know that there is a tendency to see Lupin's attempt to run away with the Trio as a fall from grace, but I cannot agree. And no, I am not just saying that because of an obsession with the character. It is one of his most believable scenes. And I cannot see it as a negative. It is not an attempt to recapture a lost youth or run away from responsibility, as Harry frames it (too many people are wont to accept Harry's framing of events, despite his continued misreading of everyone around him). It is a natural continuation of the worry that kept him from accepting Tonks in the first place (and I am speaking now from the position of someone taking the Tonks/Lupin relationship at face value, not as my usual self shipping Lupin and Sirius with Tonks as an unfortunate aside), and of what he has experienced of the attitudes both from the Ministry and the wider wizarding world in regard to werewolves. We see it only as Harry see it, but there have been some very strong indications earlier in the books as to how they are treated. I see Lupin's attempt to distance himself from his family as a fairly unselfish act, founded in a fear of the taint he risks bringing on them. I am not saying it is wholly rational, but it is not selfish. If I sound overly defensive, that is because I have had this discussion before.

Scrimgeour: Somewhat rehabilitated in dying without betraying everyone. Which shows, I suppose, that he was trying to do the right thing, not just out for his own success. You can bet anything Fudge would have rolled over in a heartbeat.