| lupercus in nocturne_alley @ 2003-04-04 21:36:00 |
Werewolves, Segment III: The Howlocaust
This was a difficult lesson to put together.
Some of you may feel as if you're back in History of Magic, and old Professor Binns is droning on and on and like to cause you all to fall asleep and die of boredom where you sit. (He was once my professor as well, you know.) I apologise in advance if that is the case. However this is an essential part of understanding the modern werewolf - you can only know one if you know the history he's come from. After all, I wouldn't presume to know a Muggle until I've walked a mile in their admittedly strange-looking shoes, right?
With regard to Segment II, I am again very pleased with what I'm seeing from everyone. Five points to Gregory Goyle for providing a riveting if slightly illegible account of Medieval werewolf torture methods. Five points to Harry Potter for a unique point of view on the use of Biblical rhetoric to defend the werewolf hysteria. Five points to Justin Finch-Fletchley for his enthusiastic essay on conspiracy among werewolf-hunters. And finally, five points to Terry Boot for a very, er, interesting theory regarding werewolvism and 16th century bestiality. I fear I may still be blushing.
Now then, on to the lesson.
By the 18th century, the magical society in Great Britain had changed and grown, spreading from Europe throughout the world. Wizards, desiring a more modern approach to government, asked for the disbandment of the obsolete Wizard's Council in favour of the Ministry of Magic – a departmental organisation owing its design to Muggle Parliament and the newer government being formed over in the American colonies.
Among the important changes that came with The Reorganisation was the modification of the Werewolf Capture and Execution Army into the more simplified and humane Werewolf Capture Unit. The hysteria had died down when most werewolves went into hiding, and by the beginning of the 20th century barbaric executions were considered archaic and unseemly.
Slowly, werewolves began to integrate themselves back into society as humans, taking care to disappear at the full moon so as not to cause panic. A black market surfaced for werewolves seeking to house themselves during their transformations, offering enchanted cages designed to lock and unlock at the rise and set of the moon, and silencing charms and special howl-muting spells. While werewolf humans looked and behaved just as a non-afflicted human would, anyone suspected would still be treated as a lesser entity, an inferior. Discrimination and harassment ran rampant, but the werewolves of the era complained little. At least the killing had stopped.
Remarkably, werewolf neighbourhoods formed in the cities, small segments of town belonged to them in the outskirts and rural areas. It was easier, for them, to live among their own kind where they could walk, work and play freely without worry of bigotry. They worked diligently to allow themselves a few civic freedoms, such as holding office and voting. A few werewolf humans had even managed to achieve some status in medimagic, magical law and gold-handling. Still, the Ministry had strict laws about exactly what professions a werewolf could hold – for example, they were not allowed to teach, work in places of large public capacity, or with children.
Still, a calm era had come for werewolves. It lasted nearly two decades, until the rise of Grindlewald brought the entire world to its knees.
Grindlewald's reign began quietly, spreading throughout Europe at an alarming rate. [History of Magic, ch 45] Using fear to manipulate his followers he conquered small segments of wizard society at a time and amassed a great army to battle his cause – a pure-blooded society. To him, flawed creatures such as half-blooded wizards and the Muggle-born were detrimental to the magical world, and he began a genocide that the likes of which would not be seen again for nearly fifty years.
Naturally, werewolves were considered undesirable by Grindlewald's standards. At first he thought he could use them to his advantage, train a werewolf army to attack humans and kill them. However, upon discovering that werewolves cannot be domesticated, and that none of them were really very interested in serving a Dark Lord, Grindlewald changed his tactics and ordered the capture of any persons considered or known to be werewolves.
Grindlewald's methods were systematic. As he took control of the Ministry, werewolves were denied any rights as citizens. Their property was seized, and werewolf children denied education. Every werewolf had his or her wand confiscated. The neighbourhoods the werewolves had built were burned to the ground. Those who resisted were subject to the Cruciatus Curse, followed eventually by a simple Avada Kedavra.
Werewolves were then forced to live in designated areas, sealed off from the public. Grindlewald decreed that werewolves were 'bloodthirsty monsters,' that their only desires were to 'kill, maim, pass on their wretchedness to helpless wizard children.' He barred the public from interacting with anyone thought to be a werewolf, and sealed the neighbourhoods off with impossibly powerful containment spells. The neighbourhoods were often too small to house so many people at once, food was scarce, and during the full moon the werewolves – having no other choice – would turn on themselves. People began to die by the hundreds.
Some werewolves went back into hiding to avoid containment, either in the forests surrounding or the sewers of the cities, though their secrecy was in vain. Forced by the Ministry to wear identification (a crude fabric moon) on the outside of their clothes depicting their status, they were easily located and caught. Also, few wizards were willing to hide werewolves, and fear of Grindlewald caused many of them to turn their neighbours in.
As Grindlewald's Reign of terror spread the mistreatment of werewolves became more and more severe. When the special neighbourhoods became too crowded to handle any more prisoners, werewolves were sent to large-scale enclosures. Characterised by enormous stone buildings surrounded by fencing, enchantments and wards, these enclosures housed thousands upon thousands of werewolves – as well as half-bloods and the Muggle-born. However, unlike the werewolves, who Grindlewald still believed would someday be useful to him, the so-called 'Mudbloods' were sent there strictly to be tortured and then killed, numbering in the thousands [The First Reign of Darkness, ch.4-14]. Only Voldemort has succeeded Grindlewald in that number.
The werewolf population was put to work during the days leading up to their transformations. They were poorly-treated, underfed and subject to countless applications of Crucio if they stepped out of line. Identification numbers were burned into their flesh at wandpoint. At the full moon they were locked away below ground, without food or water or even fresh air, in small windowless cellars. Driven by their madness and vicious instinct, they fought amongst themselves. By morning, hundreds at a time would be dead.
It was the Reign's method of keeping the population in check and preventing uprisings, by turning it upon itself.
With the passing of the years came more atrocities visited upon hundreds, now thousands of men, women and children at the enclosures. They were systematically murdered, by squads of dark wizards armed with the Unforgivables. Their bodies were buried in mass graves in the forests or burned and their ashes dumped into rivers. It is said that wolfsbane flourishes where the bodies lie, or wherever the ashes fell. In truth, Wulfsbayn Forest – site of the largest and most infamous werewolf enclosure in Europe – is one of the premium sources of the otherwise innocuous plant.
Those who were not killed were experimented on by Grindlewald's own followers, seeking a way to 'harvest' the curse from its victims and perhaps use it as a weapon of some sort, or create a potion to give all the so-called benefits of werewolvism (strength, speed, viciousness), but without the eternal effects. [Harnessing The Moon, ch. 4] These trials were notorious for their unnecessary brutality and disregard for human suffering. Test subjects were tortured until they died, or went insane and were then killed. There were always more where they came from.
Liberation finally occurred in the late 1940s, when the Humanitarian Organisation of Werewolf Liberties (H.O.W.L.), on the heels of the defeat of Grindlewald by Albus Dumbledore, successfully invaded the enclosures and brought down the Reign. Victims were brought by the thousands to hospitals where they were treated for starvation, infected wounds from transformations, and insanity. Some never left the hospitals. Most were able to leave, but they never forgot. [Howl Eternal, by Luna Leystock]
In 1947 the Ministry was re-established and two new departments were formed. Werewolf Support and the Registry were founded by beast enthusiast Newt Scamander, who decreed that Werewolves were, for the most part, Beings, and should be represented equally. Werewolf Support provided information, education and legal services to the newly-afflicted. It also offers relocation services and a small, but necessary dole service to the unemployed werewolf.
The Registry however is more or less a grim echo of Grindlewald's legacy. Every werewolf is required to be 'tagged' no more than five days after receiving the bite. An identification number is imprinted onto a limb, made permanent by magic and remaining visible whether one is man or wolf. Werewolves are required to alert the Ministry whenever they relocate or travel, and their passports stamped with a large, blue "W". They are not allowed to leave the country without a certain type of visa, and special permission from the county they are travelling to. Usually, the latter requires a substantial amount of money.
Little has changed since then. A werewolf's freedom remains extremely limited. They are not permitted by law to marry. Before 1994, werewolves were not permitted to hold any positions of employment that put them in direct contact with the public (and despite the law being since relaxed the practise of hiring werewolves is still frowned upon). They not allowed to bear or adopt children.
It can be said that a werewolf bears two curses – one of the moon and one of our history. In this lesson you have learned of the suffering visited upon one particular group of people based on who – what – they are, and of the centuries of mistrust and misinformation about these creatures.
However because of the ignorance and fear surrounding werewolvism there is little recorded historical information about the other curse – the transformation from human to animal at the whim of the moon. We will cover that in Segment IV: Anatomy of the Werewolf on Monday.
QUESTIONS:
- Grindlewald desired werewolves as an asset in his uprising. Discuss the many uses they might have had at the hands of a dark wizard. Give examples.
- Provide a brief description of the typical werewolf enclosure used during Grindlewald's era (such as Wulfsbayn, Rabidhauwl, Lunasae).
- Provide details of H.O.W.L.'s historical efforts in favor of werewolf rights.
Over the weekend, I would like you to write at least twenty inches of parchment about what you knew of werewolves before these lessons. Please give me examples of any urban legends, myths, or hearsay you may have picked up. Try to be as honest as possible about whether or not you believe the things you have heard or been told. I am not judging anyone by what they turn in. I am interested in hearing what you have to say.
Have a good weekend.
Comments:
| lupercus @ 2003-04-05 12:18 am UTC |
Is there something you'd like to discuss with me, Miss Patil?
- Professor Lupin
| divineparvati @ 2003-04-05 12:43 am UTC |
Well.. maybe Not.
Well - actually, Professor, there is. Could I come and see you Tomorrow morning? Or would you rather I wait until Monday, and leave your weekend Free?
~ Parvati
| lupercus @ 2003-04-05 01:10 am UTC |
I always have time for my students. Especially if they're being made to feel uncomfortable in any way or being subjected to unfair treatment.
I'll expect you in my office tomorrow morning, Parvati.
- Professor Lupin
| divineparvati @ 2003-04-05 01:18 am UTC |
Thank you, Professor. I'll certainly be There.
~ Parvati
| lupercus @ 2003-04-05 12:19 am UTC |
That's very frightening of you, Mr Boot.
Nice penmanship on the eyeliner.
- Prof. Lupin
