Defence Against the Dark Arts - Lesson Two (First to Fifth Years)

Rhys's excited was doused when he heard they would be having a theory lesson, he was eager to be learning some practical offensive spells. At least he had an incentive to come back to the next lesson.

The Professor asked what the students knew about Werewolves two Gryffindor's answered, the young Gryffindor girl he had to smile at when she was responding to the question, because it was like there was no filter between her thoughts and mouth, he half wondered if she had gone off into her own little world without realising she was still in the present one.

Rhys then raised his hand after the Gryffindors and waited to be called "I read that when a Werewolf transforms every month that it is a highly painful process and some Werewolves try self medicating themselves with pain killers" Rhys said before lowering his hand and picking up his quill.

Naomi ran down the hall to her class, knowing that she'd be late no matter how fast she went. She hated when she Saw in her sleep; the dreams wouldn't end before they were completely over, but she never saw anything of use. She might glimpse an arm or a leg, but not a face, or part of a scene, but never the whole, just like visions that hit her while she was awake. Not only was it extremely frustrating, but it also made her sleep past wake-up time and made her late for class, like right now.

Easing her way into class, Naomi was glad to see that she hadn't missed much. It seemed like only one question had been asked. Murmuring an apology to the professor, she chose a seat behind a knot of students her own age, though she looked at her desk instead of them as she pulled out a quill and parchment and scrawled "werewolves" in sloppy cursive. As Rhys spoke, she scanned the board, scribbling down the other students' answers before raising her hand to add her own. "Werewolves have no choice over their transformations, or what they do while in wolf form," she answered, her voice quiet, but clear. "They don't have any memory of what they do while transformed."

When the Professor opened the up the discussion Rhys listened to the Gryffindors speak, he quickly scribbled down "Lycanthropy" as for he wanted to learn more about this condition, it seemed that magical illnesses was something that interested the young Ravenclaw.

"I agree with Felix, I think its important that people are aware if a person is a werewolf, I personally believe that they should be contained in some form of an institution at least until the wizarding world can create a potion in which allows werewolves to keep their conscious minds when they transform" Rhys paused for a moment contemplating what ingredients would be needed for such a potion before continuing on with his train of thought

"I mean I understand they are only a threat to society once a month, but that still does make them a threat, a threat dangerous enough to make it impossible to ignore" Rhys said with such strong conviction for his age, he had always been articulate and thought why waste his talent.

The call to lock up werewolves shocked Naomi, although Finley speaking up surprised her even more. She smiled at his answer. "I agree with Finley," she announced. "Muggleborns often exhibit less fear of werewolves because they didn't grow up with the same social stigma as the Wizarding world. We need education to counter the misinformation that makes some people nervous, like the nature of werewolves in their human form, and we need to teach acceptance in schools so that those kids grow up and teach their kids acceptance."

Naomi paused, then added, "Rhys' idea isn't bad, I just think it needs to be different. They shouldn't be locked up all the time, but it could be nice to have safe spaces for werewolves to go during their transformations, maybe walled sections of forests with Muggle repelling charms on them could be set up. That could also help with the fear, if people knew that werewolves wouldn't be roaming the countryside while transformed. If it was a forest, they'd be less likely to hurt themselves, as long as there were things to hunt. Does anyone know if werewolves are pack animals while transformed? Because having a pack might help them too." Finally, Naomi fell silent. It was the longest she'd ever spoken in a class.