Remus Lupin read the Daily Prophet every morning over breakfast. It was a habit that started in his fourth year when he needed a physical boundary between his food and James Potter, who was attempting to master the spitball. Relatively inexpensive and informative, reading the paper was a healthy habit that provided him with a structured morning and something to talk about with the men in the office. Remus, who had not had a proper social life if nearly a decade, was desperate to have something to talk about over break room tea that was not work-related. Manuscripts did not lend themselves to stimulating conversation. So Remus would skim the paper each morning, find the most interesting article, and present it with a joke during his lunch break every day.
He already had a few dirty quips lined up about the scandal between the minister and his aid. Benny, the young man who was the only other editor in Remus' department, would almost certainly laugh and join in.
Ministry Rules New Werewolf Management Laws
Time and time again, werewolves have proved themselves as dangerous, ruthless creatures. At least once a month even seemingly docile wizards can turn into bloodthirsty beasts that will stop at nothing to kill any human they come across. Their ability to hide their true form and lurk in the darkest parts of our society, posing as normal witches or wizards, make them even more dangerous. Despite our best efforts to keep safe during the full moons, we are still not safe from these creatures.
Werewolves have begun to attack both wizards and muggles during the day and in their human form. Last month sixteen people (eleven muggles, five wizards) were sent to the hospital after being attacked; nine out of the sixteen survived. The victims' names were not released but Healers at St. Mungo's told us that they all suffered severe lacerations and those that survived were affected mentally by the incident. These human form attacks have not spread the curse to any victims but they are still deadly, and the ministry has been forced to take action. Based on the number of attacks that resulted in injury or death in the last six months, the Creature Care and Control Committee (the CCCC) predict up to another 200 attacks in the upcoming year.
To make werewolves safer and more civilized members of our community, and to prevent any more vicious attacks like the ones we have seen the ministry has approved the Werewolf Domestication Act.
"Multiple studies, from as far back as Frode Enger up to those by Lyall Lupin have proved it," Mr. Taxidermy, the head of the CCCC and the Department of Magical Creatures said this morning after announcing the bill's approval, "Werewolves are more amiable when they have significant bonds to other werewolves; no matter which physical form they're in. Like most canines, they are pack animals. A sense of camaraderie is healthy for everyone- even monsters."
Taxidermy was referencing the groundbreaking Halfbreed Society Studies by Enger in 1507 and, of course, the scathing Half Human Evaluations by former department head Lupin in 1963.
Werewolves have less social graces, to say the least than the rest of wizarding society. It is near impossible for them to create the interpersonal bonds they need to calm their inner beasts for an extended period. Because of this, the act has given the Ministry the right to create environments for werewolves to ensure the most effective bonds.
Werewolves' new environments will promote these kinds of bonds Most werewolves are being removed from their current dwellings and are being placed on a reservation, or a "camp of brothers" in Mr. Taxidermy words, where they will share housing, community, and resources. It will inspire the camaraderie they need to allow the rest of us safety. These reservations will be highly supervised, but werewolves living on them are to be allowed to lead to their regular, daily activities after the ministry completes its primary evaluations. These areas will be safely kept away from condensed human populations and will be fully governed by non afflicted ministry workers. Werewolves living on these reservations will earn their stay by performing menial (most likely physical) jobs for the ministry.
Other werewolves- females, and those deemed most capable of civic decency- are to be placed in pairs; united by law and the sacred nuptial bonding spells. This is the most experimental piece of the act and has faced great criticism. While drafting the bill, even members of the CCCC questioned if it was safe to exempt these few creatures from the constant monitoring that was available at the reservations and if it the old pure magic of the nuptial bonds would latch onto the soulless halfbreeds. Taxidermy has assured the Ministry and the press that these werewolves will be monitored closely, but for this level of interpersonal bonds to blossom they need privacy, and that he has complete faith in the bonds and the officiants who cast them.
The Ministry believes that werewolves in this arrangements will "experience great happiness as they are hand-picked for each other" and will "likely be stronger and more successful than the ones in the reservations."
Werewolves will be receiving notices about their new placements via owl this week and relocated before the next full moon. On Thursday, 17 June, they will be meeting in the ministry to discuss these placements with the officer that will be overseeing them. Failure to attend this meeting or to comply with The Domestication Act 's rulings will result in time in Azkaban.
The Ministry assured us all that werewolves inside the ministry will be under close surveillance and all ministry workers will be safe. The ministry will be closed to the public on days of high werewolf circulation for the safety of the public. It will be the first time the Ministry has asked any werewolves, very well all the werewolves in Britain, to gather together.
And while this news is both shocking and relieving to all of us, no matter how we beg, no press is outside on in the Ministry on this date to get more details.
Remus Lupin's face and knuckles stayed a ghostly white long after the shock had turned to fear.
The news came out of nowhere, and he had to read the article three times to believe it. He felt as if a large bird and flown into the back of his head. The paper crinkled in his hands.
No one, not his father, not Dumbledore, not the Ministry, not even the other werewolves had said a word about it. He shuddered to think of the rampages the other werewolves were going on after hearing this news. The other werewolves he was going to have live with.
He would have to leave his home- his parents' home, his childhood home, the home he had just gotten back- to live with those monsters by the end of the month. It was something he has sworn never to do again.
Monsters. The paper crumpled between his fingers. He shouldn't be so harsh, after all, he was one of too. He was a monster, according to the Daily Prophet, and The Ministry, and every other living being who knew about his condition. Those who had forgiven his curse had left him on this earth long ago.
When he last spent time with them in a group- a pack, Greyback always insisted- he was doing so as a man disguised as a monster. He went because he had a job to do. Now he was to go plainly as a monster, no disguise or employment to keep his humanity.
Remus Lupin's face regained all its pigmentation once the fear turned to anger.
The passing of the act was not only sudden but stupid. Lupin had seen werewolves: one on one, in a group, in a pack, in human form, in wolf form, in the mirror. It was safe to say he knew a thing or two about them. He knew that they were outcasts. He knew a great deal of them worked for You-Know-Who back in the day, and that a few must still be in Azkaban. He knew they were territorial. He knew they had to shave three times a day around a full moon once they turned 14. He knew they did not play nicely with one another in wolf form. He knew they were not brotherly, and that they held ranks not hands. He knew to have them around each other brought out more canine behavior than human. He knew they had a nasty habit of mauling and murdering people.
He knew those studies (More accurately; he knew one of the studies. However, Remus felt that if you read one well-renowned study on werewolves, you had read them all. Seeing his father's name on the page ignited a familiar fire in his chest.) did not give enough information to properly back the acts rulings. He knew the law would not protect the general population nor would it make the werewolves more domestic; it just a way to make people feel safe and monsters feel weak.
He knew the whole deal was absolute fucking bullshit. He knew this fact, and felt it crawl up this throat until he had no choice but to say it out loud three times, and throw the paper across the kitchen. The paper wasn't heavy enough to make to the far wall and landed open on the table. A quidditch play flew across the pages. He looked wildly around the kitchen for something else to throw.
He knew it was childish to have such a tantrum, and later in the evening, Remus would reflect on his behavior with disgust. As a man who spent the greater part of his existence focused on discipline and control, he found wild outbursts (something he experienced regularly) particularly shameful. Small flames turned the coils of the stovetops red.
Remus Lupin's face- now almost beet red- turned a slight shade of green when he saw the Ministry Owl on his windowsill.