DADA-301 Lessons

I must admit, I am thrilled that all of you have done so well on your assignments thus far. I know I have presented a lot of information since the midterm, but hopefully you leave this classroom feeling more knowledgeable about the world around you and the ways in which people perceive our realities. At the end of class, you will be taking your final examination, which will include information from today’s lecture, so please be sure you are paying attention. Today we will finish our coverage of werewolves. Last class, we covered a lot of the basics, including an overview of werewolves, the history of werewolves, the three different types of werewolves, lycanthropy, and identifying characteristics in comparison to a true wolf. Today, we will be looking at the legal side of being a werewolf, how to protect ourselves against them, and what to do if you yourself get bitten by one. Unfortunately this lesson will not be shorter; there is just too much still to cover.

Legal Side of Being a Werewolf
Becoming a werewolf is not something that is ideal for anyone, but what specifically happens when a person is, unfortunately, bitten? And what happens if a Muggle gets bitten by a werewolf? To help answer some of these questions, I have invited Chief Warlock and former History of Magic professor, Julius Dowler to explain some of this to you. Please give him a warm welcome!

To stand in front of you without wearing this giant cloak of boring history is a relief. Of course, we should all thank Professor Penrose for giving me the opportunity to let me talk about my true inspirations and passions - which are obviously politics. Today I will dive straight into a very subjective topic of legislation regarding the governmental decisions regarding werewolves,  as well as their treatment and acceptance during the last centuries.

For quite some time now, we have viewed werewolves as Non-Wizard Part-Humans, a specific legislative class of wizards, magical beings, or beasts which are neither a wizard, nor completely human. Another good example of individuals belonging to this class, other than werewolves, are vampires, veelas, and goblins. In 1637, eight years after the founding of the British Ministry of Magic, a Werewolf Code of Conduct was created. The thought was, at that time, to solidify the werewolf position in the wizarding community by stipulating ways to treat werewolves and protect themselves and others from their harm. They were supposed to sign this code, thereby legally binding themselves to the code and promise they would lock themselves up securely every month and not attack others. Nobody, however signed this code and since the danger of both threatening situations and political failure was imminent no politician actively searched for werewolves.

It is easy to presume that no werewolf would walk into the Ministry and openly tell (and abide by the legislation) the Ministry that they were a monthly threat and that, for safety, they would lock themselves up for three days. The Ministry of Magic tried to compensate for this barrier by adding the Werewolf Register in 1947 (written by the famous Newt Scamander) to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Unfortunately, the information within this register,, which only requires the names and whereabouts of the werewolf, has been unreliable and incomplete, due to the reasons aforementioned. Shame and exile are apparently both powerful reasons not to come forward.

Currently, there are three active committees in the Department that regulate and care about the treatment of werewolves, albeit there were two between 1993 and 2000. The Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit have been both active in the Beast Division, while at the same time an office for Werewolf Support Services existed in the Being Division. The latter was terminated during the passage of an anti-werewolf act in 1993 - by former Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, but was reinstated in 2000 under the great Ministerial Reform Act, enacted by Minister for Magic Shacklebolt himself.

The office of Werewolf Support Services has been working on positively stimulating the acceptance of werewolves and has been contacting and aiding newly bitten individuals adapting them to their new way of life. For wizards that have been bitten, an extensive program has been set up to help them gather, locate or buy their materials for their monthly doses of the Wolfsbane Potion. They often have support groups that talk about their experiences, which are held closely to, or almost always on, the new moon dates, when the moon is at its lowest, and, a week before the appearance of the full moon, they contact, pinpoint or discuss the location of the werewolf during the full moon.

Occasionally, Muggles get bitten by a werewolf - and actually survive the attack. At that point, several Werewolf Support officials are sent to the Muggle’s residence and introduce the individual to the wizarding world, much the same procedure as with just-turned eleven year old Muggle-born children. Different from children shortly departing for school  is the urgency and privacy the officials take into account when discussing this matter with the individual. If an individual is over the age of seventeen, no other family members or legal guardians are invited to the conversation. The persons, however, may discuss their decision with their close family. The ministry offers two decisions (or three, actually) for an individual to take:

1. The individual and his (or her) Muggle family are relocated to a more rural town, far away from an abundance of people. There they are to live a life of solace in solitude and get monthly visits from the support officials and a steady stream of the Wolfsbane potion. They effectively stay living in their Muggle world, which is the prefered choice.
2. The individual Muggle gets transferred to the permanent ward of St. Mungo’s, where he (or she) receives monthly treatment, guidance, and special one-on-one appointments with the support officials until they are adapted to fully living inside the wizarding world.
1. A Muggle victim may choose to bring a maximum of two family members with him/her towards the support meetings and the three of them will be adapted to our world, or
2. All recollection of the individual will be Obliviated from their minds and basically erases the existence of the family member from their lives.

This last option (2.b.) is not a popular choice, but has to be enforced through the International Statute of Secrecy, in which we are obligated to keep Muggles as far from our world as possible. This option, therefore, has always been the preferred ministerial choice, even though option one is a more humble solution for both the individual, its family, and the Ministry.

With that, I conclude this short political summary regarding the ministerial view on the recent growing support of werewolves. Although the general idea that werewolves are always bad and dangerous is an old and long-lasting story, keep in mind, though, that going near a werewolf in transformed state is never a good idea - even for adult wizards. And now, I will leave you in the capable hands of Professor Penrose, again thanking her for allowing me to speak to you today and thanking you for your attention.

Thank you, chief warlock. There certainly is a lot more to the legal components of becoming a werewolf than it would first appear. He brought up several points that I would like to further elaborate on. Primarily, I want to elaborate on his mention of the several Ministry divisions that have been created for the assistance and regulation of werewolves. These services, one in the Beast Division and one in the Being Division, has caused a lot of conflict over the years. No werewolf would willingly walk into the Ministry and enter the Beast Division, accepting that they are, in some eyes, less than human due to their unfortunate illness. This is why the Werewolf Registry contains only a very small percentage of known werewolves.

On the other side, Werewolf Support Services was housed in the Being Division, but it, too faced similar problems. Even though the division was meant to help werewolves make their transformations more bearable, many of the workers, at the time, would require that the werewolf be on the Werewolf Registry before offering them services. Many werewolves left disgruntled or were forced onto the Registry because Ministry officials would not let them leave until they registered. As you can guess, this caused a lot of hard feelings. Word got around and werewolves stopped going to the Support Services office, which is why the Chief Warlock said it had been closed. Since its reopening, it has had much more success; it helps immensely that a werewolf, Remus Lupin, is listed among the war heroes of the Second Wizarding War.

Now that you probably have all been bored to tears, let’s get into some of the information that you came to this class to learn - how to defend against a werewolf!

Defending Against a Werewolf and the Myths Around It
Since werewolves are classified as XXXXX beasts, it is imperative that you remember you should not attempt to directly engage a werewolf at any time. Your best method of defense is to not be around a werewolf at all when they are in their wolf form. That being said, there are certain times that you will be forced into a situation that you must defend yourself in. Here we will discuss both ethical implications of defense and, as always, ways to kill if necessary, though this should be an absolute last resort and only if it has come down to your life versus theirs. Remember, it may be aggressive in its wolf form, but when the full moon goes down, that Beast will transform back into a being.

If you are forced into an encounter with a werewolf, your best chance is to keep as far away from it as possible. If you are running away from it, run in a straight line; do not zigzag or turn unless absolutely necessary. The werewolf will already be fast and any movement that slows you down will only be to your detriment. You also cannot count on silver weapons. The stories you may have heard about silver weapons or silver bullets being more effective against werewolves have no factual basis. You can choose to use silver, but it will not be any more effective than a regular weapon.

It is possible for a werewolf to be killed, even in their wolf form, but ethically this is not something that should be done. Not only will the injuries sustained as a wolf transfer over to the human when the full moon goes down, but if you kill the wolf, you also kill the human. If you can justify it ethically, it will take an immense amount of strength to end the life of a werewolf. Their bodies are much more powerful than the body of a human and can take much more damage. Shooting or stabbing them will not be as effective and it will require a lot more injuries before the wolf goes down. You can also attempt other methods, such as burning, having them fall from a great distance, or drowning, but the result is the same - their bodies are made for survival and they can take a lot more damage and, if you attempt any of these methods, it is most likely that you will just anger the werewolf. You have to go extreme in order to succeed; this feat, though explained here, is something that you likely will not be able to do unless you ever become Ministry trained.

So what other options are there? Well, because werewolfs change due to a magical effective, they have an increased tolerance to magic, but they are not resistant to magic. Therefore, if you have the appropriate willpower and can overcome both the will of the werewolf and its magical resistance, you can use spells to either slow the werewolf down or stop it in its tracks in order to get away. Some spells that you can cast now that would be helpful to you are the Immobilization Charm, the Full Body-Bind Curse, and the Leg-Locker Curse. However, you likely do not yet have the developed willpower to cast any spell with enough strength to overcome a werewolf. For now, it is enough that you know that these methods are available to you.

Treating a Werewolf Bite and Preparing Yourself
Before I let you take your final exam, there is just a little more information you need. Though the odds are slim, there is always the possibility that you will be bitten by a werewolf. If this is the case, you need to be prepared for what is to come. There are two separate problems that must be dealt with if you are bitten by a werewolf: healing the bite itself and preparing your home for your transformation.

First, we will deal with the bite itself, since that is the logical first step. I hope that you all remember the information were covered in your first year about bites when we were talking about gnomes. When dealing with a werewolf bite, the process is somewhat similar, but there are some very specific guidelines you must follow that I will outline here.

1. First, you must get to a safe place. This step should be obvious, but most people seem to forget this in the emergency of treating the wound. Please make sure you are in a safe place before stopping. One place you may feel safe, but are not, is up a tree. If you can climb the tree, so can the werewolf.
2. Second, you must rinse the wound under cool water for two minutes. This does not include the use of soap, just hold it under a stream of cool water for the two minutes. This can either be a faucet or a gentle stream from the Water-Making Charm (a spell you will not learn until later in your magical career).
3. Now you will wash the wound with soap. You should wash it for a total of five minutes, rinsing it at least twice to refresh the soap. You want to make sure that the wound is fully cleaned out so that it can heal to the best of its ability.
4. Let it air dry. At this stage in the process, contact with any drying material, even one with good intentions, could do more harm to the wound than good. By letting it air dry, you ensure that no unintended bacteria or infection can get into the wound and make the situation worse.
5. Apply an antibacterial potion and let it dry. This is the final step to make sure that the wound will not be infected. Werewolf teeth are very unsanitary, so a lot of unexpected disease could have gotten in. The antibacterial potion will kill any remaining bacteria.
6. Apply a mixture of Essence of Dittany and silver to the wound. This combination, as odd as it may sound, will actually help seal the wound faster. The Essence of Dittany aids the healing process and the silver will seal the wound. This, in part, is how the myth of silver killing werewolves has been debunked.
7. Cover the wound with an appropriate sized bandage. Even though the wound will seal faster, it still needs to be protected until it is completely sealed. By placing a sterile bandage of appropriate size, usually a gauze pad, you are most likely to avoid further infection.
8. Change the bandage every four (4) hours and apply more of the Essence of Dittany/silver mixture. This will help keep the wound clean and lessen the amount of infection that gets back into the wound from any seeping pus.
9. You may take a potion to help with the pain. If this is necessary, make sure that it is a non-habit forming potion and that your healer is aware that you are taking it.

Once you have taken care of the wound, you must begin preparing your home for your transformations. You can either make it a Do-It-Yourself project or have a specialist from the Ministry come in and assist. The most important thing you need is a room with no windows that can be secured. Since werewolves are known to be stronger than average, it is recommended that you have a steel room within which you can be locked. Steel, especially thick steel, will be much harder to escape from (though make sure the room is still ventilated). It will also be necessary for someone to place a steel bar over the room’s door from the outside. This will make sure that you cannot easily break through the door or just push it open.

The house should also be well stocked with Wolfsbane Potion. You will want someone to talk to a local apothecary or a trusted potions master to properly brew the potion and provide accurate instructions for storing it and taking it for maximum effect. As a final recommendation, make sure that the room you will be locked in is comfortable. If you have taken the Wolfsbane Potion, you will keep your own mind and be mostly harmless, but you should still stay in your room. You will want to be comfortable or it will be a very long night for you; longer than it already will be.

With that piece of advice, we come to the end of our third course together. Hopefully you all have found our lessons both informative and engaging. Next term will be a little more sporadic and keep you on your toes. I hope you are all ready for what is to come. Now, go, take your final examination, and complete your other assignment(s).

Class dismissed.

Original lesson written by Professor Jericho Penrose