Werewolf

Werewolf
Name	Werewolf
Originated	Northern Europe
Locations found	Worldwide
Ministry of Magic Classification	Being (in human form) Beast (if transformed) (XXXX)
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Last appearance	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The werewolf is a human being infected with lycanthropy. They first appear in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. People who have lycanthropy have been bitten by another werewolf and cursed to turn into one every full moon. For this reason, their kind are shunned in the wizarding world and finding employment is very difficult. Upon transforming, they have the mind of beast and forget who they are. They will even kill their best friend if they have the chance.

About

Infection

A person can only turned into a werewolf if they've been bitten. There is no cure but recent developments have led to potions that can alleviate the worst of its symptoms. When they are human, a werewolf can otherwise be sane and normal. Once transformed, they forget who they are and are a murderous beast. Lycanthropy is not inherited but a stigma exists around it so that werewolves very rarely marry or have children. A known child of a werewolf is Teddy Lupin but he is not a werewolf.

Transformation

The transformation is started with the human going rigid until their limbs begin to shake. Their head and body begin lengthening, their shoulders hunch, fur starts growing on their face and parta of their body curls into clawed paws. They snap long jaws and snarl. If a werewolf is chained up and therefore can't hunt or eat, they are in anguish and will even scratch their own body. They prefer to hunt and eat humans.

If a person is bitten by a werewolf when they have transformed, they will also develop lycanthropy. It is an illness that infects the blood. If they are scratched by a werewolf when they are human, they will not be a werewolf but will develop wolf-like tendencies, including a fondness for raw meat. Any bite and scratch from a werewolf will leave a permanent scar.

If a werewolf takes a Wolfsbane Potion every day in the build-up up to their transformation, they will keep their human mind and turn into a harmless wolf.

Treatment

By the end of the twentieth century, several potions and remedies have been invented to help a werewolf. There is no cure for lycanthropy but the Wolfsbane Potion eliminates a lot of the pain and danger if taken, enabling a werewolf to keep their mind human during their transformation. It is a very difficult potion to brew and it has lots of complicated ingredients. Remus Lupin thought it tasted very bad. Adding any other ingredients including sugar to make it better will render it useless.

Appearance and behaviour

The appearance of a werewolf during a transformation is near-identical to a true wolf, but a werewolf has a slightly shorter snout, smaller pupils and a tufted tail. The main difference is in the way they behave. A werewolf is very aggressive in comparison to a true wolf and they prefer and target human prey. When they return to their human form in the days following a transformation, a lycanthropy sufferer will look pallor, thinner and have dark circles under their eyes.

Society

The wizarding society shuns werewolves out of stigma and fear. There is a fear that they pose a danger even in human form and people look at werewolves in disgust of what they can do. They are called insulting things like "half-breeds".

Finding employment is very difficult and werewolves live in poverty. Remus Lupin was forced to resign when he taught at Hogwarts after parents found out he was a werewolf. Because of the way they are treated, there are werewolves who grow to hate the wizarding world and create their own society. They live "underground" in unknown locations and are easily lured by the Dark Arts.

Wizarding governments do not adequately understand and respect werewolves and so they have incompetent laws that do not improve their relationship. The Werewolf Code of Conduct of 1637 has a framework for how werewolves can safely co-exist in the wizarding world, stating that they have to be locked up when they transform and they have to sign a copy of the code to say that they comply.

In 1947, they established the Werewolf Register which they were required to sign and therefore admit to being a werewolf. There was a Werewolf Support Services which closed because no-one ever used it. They can't determine whether a werewolf is a Being or a Beast and shunt their services from Being to Beast divisions for years. The Werewolf Support Services is in a Being division but the Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit are in the Beast Division.

History

Werewolves are thought to have originated in northern Europe.

In the 20th century, Newton Scamander created the Werewolf Register.lf. There were stories about werewolves living in the Forbidden Forest.

In 1975, an unknown author wrote Hairy Snout, Human Heart about the struggle of being a werewolf. Newton Scamander called it "heart-rendering" and it appears to have to helped garner sympathy and understanding.

Prior to 1992, Gilderoy Lockhart wrote a book called Wanderings with Werewolves about a time he supposedly spent fighting werewolves and defeated the Wagga Wagga werewolf. In Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, he had Harry Potter act out werewolf scenes in the book. Lockhart was eventually found to be a fraud and that story was probably stolen from another wizard if it ever even happened.

In 1993 to 1994, Defence Against the Dark Arts was taught by Remus Lupin who was a werewolf. Professor Snape had to concoct Wolfsbane Potions for Lupin. Werewolves were taught to third-year students at Hogwarts School. Snape had to fill in for Lupin for a lesson, and he purposely taught students about werewolves. It was done in an effort to get Lupin to feel awkward, especially when he was given homework back about finding and killing werewolves.

Fenrir Greyback was a ruthless werewolf who joined the Death Eaters. He purposely infected people and killed, and fought in the Second Wizarding War. Lupin spied in an underground werewolf society for the Order of the Phoenix, but it's unknown if they took part in that war like Fenrir. However, they thought that under Voldemort's rule, they could have a better life and that was why they were inclined to favour the Death Eaters, but even they thought low of werewolves.

Trivia

• There are notable inconsistencies in how lycanthropy triggers the transformation; a full moon obscured by clouds seemed to be enough to prevent Lupin's transformation when he ran out at night to the Shrieking Shack, and he only transformed when under the light of the moon itself. However, this isn't stated as a way to avoid transformation entirely, as Lupin otherwise needs the Wolfsbane Potion to remain properly safe.