Epilogue
"Werewolf classification laws were altered in the summer of 1996." Drones Professor Binns, in his usual unenthusiastic tone. "Prior to that, werewolves were classed as beasts, and could be executed if they attacked somebody. In 1996, they were finally recognised as beings, and so were permitted to live and work amongst normal humans."
On the back row of the classroom, a fourteen year old boy smiles. Professor Binns carries on talking about the developments in werewolf rights, over the past centuries. He talks about how over a hundred years before, werewolves could be executed just for being a werewolf. Alex's friend Thomas looks round at him, shocked to hear that this was once allowed, butAlex already knows it. He doesn't let it bother him any more. Afterall, it couldn't happen in the present. He knows all about what had happened in 1996 as well, having met the person responsible for the changes.
Harriet Rivers is now twenty-one, and works at the Werewolf Support Services. He had met her there last year, when he had first been bitten. As he was a Hogwarts student, his parents were concerned about his going back, but Harriet had reassured them, and she was right. Everything had been OK. She had also asked him what he was going to do about his friends. Would he tell them, or would he try to hide his new lycanthropy, for as long as possible?
"There are two ways to go about things." She had told him. "You either try to be like everyone else, just to fit in, or you can be as different as you like, and people will have to accept in the end that that's just what you're like, and there's nothing they can do about it." He had told his friends, when he got back to school after the Easter holidays. He'd decided that it was better to tell them, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Otherwise they might work it out by themselves, anyway. They had just been talking about what they'd done during the holidays, how many Easter eggs they had eaten and so on, when he had said quietly,
"Last week I was bitten by a werewolf."
His friends all reacted very differently. Thomas frowned, as if to say 'Are you crazy?' His expression was a mixture of disbelief, and curiosity. Samuel had paled, and narrowed his eyebrows, afraid, and Jake had laughed, replying
"Yeah, and I was bitten by a vampire."
There was an awkward silence, as Alex stared at the floor. He had been so nervous about telling them, and they didn't even believe it.
"You're not serious?" asked Jake incredulously. Alex's expression showed that he was deadly serious. "So, you mean that you are a werewolf?" Alex nodded.
"Bloody hell!" Exclaimed Thomas. He was muggle-born, and so the idea that his friend was a werewolf was even more astonishing than it was for the others. Things had changed for werewolves in the wizarding world, but muggle legends and horror films had not altered at all.
Samuel had been the most shocked. It hadn't been so many years, afterall, since werewolves were classed as beasts, and that was the impression he had always been given of them. It took weeks before he had really spoken to Alex again, and even now, Alex wasn't at all sure that Sam trusted him.
Alex wrote to Harriet regularly, to tell her how things were going. It was much easier to talk to her than to any of the other people he knew, because she was young, and she understood what was happening to him. She wrote back occasionally, and talked about her years at Hogwarts, and the year she spent on the run from the Committee.
Reading his account of life as a 3rd year Hogwarts student, Harriet was surprised at how much things had changed, in just eight years. She had been in the 3rd year when she returned to Hogwarts, and it had been very different to what he described. It hadn't been too bad, but it could have been a lot better. She found it hard to believe that things had become so much easier for werewolves in so short a space of time.
And things hadn't just changed for werewolves. Six years ago, Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort, and died in the process. Many hundreds of wizards had been killed in the Second war, including several people from Harriet's own school year, although they had only been at the end of their 4th year. Also, Remus had died in one of the many battles during Harriet's 3rd year, followed by Ron Weasley the following year. Harriet had missed Remus terribly, but was completely over it now. He had been the first person to really understand her situation, but now, working at the Werewolf Support Services, she was constantly meeting other people who had the same problems she had faced. Professor Snape had also died, fairly early on in the war, and Harriet still found it hard to accept that he had been on their side. She had hated him, as he had hated her, but obviously he had not been all that bad.
Thinking about the changes that had taken place made Harriet feel good. Although she would never take all the credit she deserved, she was pleased to be able to see how she had helped. Alex was just one example of how a young werewolf's life now was just so much more normal than hers had been at that age, and she had helped to achieve that.
"Werewolf classification laws were altered in the summer of 1996." Drones Professor Binns, in his usual unenthusiastic tone. "Prior to that, werewolves were classed as beasts, and could be executed if they attacked somebody. In 1996, they were finally recognised as beings, and so were permitted to live and work amongst normal humans."
On the back row of the classroom, a fourteen year old boy smiles. Professor Binns carries on talking about the developments in werewolf rights, over the past centuries. He talks about how over a hundred years before, werewolves could be executed just for being a werewolf. Alex's friend Thomas looks round at him, shocked to hear that this was once allowed, butAlex already knows it. He doesn't let it bother him any more. Afterall, it couldn't happen in the present. He knows all about what had happened in 1996 as well, having met the person responsible for the changes.
Harriet Rivers is now twenty-one, and works at the Werewolf Support Services. He had met her there last year, when he had first been bitten. As he was a Hogwarts student, his parents were concerned about his going back, but Harriet had reassured them, and she was right. Everything had been OK. She had also asked him what he was going to do about his friends. Would he tell them, or would he try to hide his new lycanthropy, for as long as possible?
"There are two ways to go about things." She had told him. "You either try to be like everyone else, just to fit in, or you can be as different as you like, and people will have to accept in the end that that's just what you're like, and there's nothing they can do about it." He had told his friends, when he got back to school after the Easter holidays. He'd decided that it was better to tell them, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Otherwise they might work it out by themselves, anyway. They had just been talking about what they'd done during the holidays, how many Easter eggs they had eaten and so on, when he had said quietly,
"Last week I was bitten by a werewolf."
His friends all reacted very differently. Thomas frowned, as if to say 'Are you crazy?' His expression was a mixture of disbelief, and curiosity. Samuel had paled, and narrowed his eyebrows, afraid, and Jake had laughed, replying
"Yeah, and I was bitten by a vampire."
There was an awkward silence, as Alex stared at the floor. He had been so nervous about telling them, and they didn't even believe it.
"You're not serious?" asked Jake incredulously. Alex's expression showed that he was deadly serious. "So, you mean that you are a werewolf?" Alex nodded.
"Bloody hell!" Exclaimed Thomas. He was muggle-born, and so the idea that his friend was a werewolf was even more astonishing than it was for the others. Things had changed for werewolves in the wizarding world, but muggle legends and horror films had not altered at all.
Samuel had been the most shocked. It hadn't been so many years, afterall, since werewolves were classed as beasts, and that was the impression he had always been given of them. It took weeks before he had really spoken to Alex again, and even now, Alex wasn't at all sure that Sam trusted him.
Alex wrote to Harriet regularly, to tell her how things were going. It was much easier to talk to her than to any of the other people he knew, because she was young, and she understood what was happening to him. She wrote back occasionally, and talked about her years at Hogwarts, and the year she spent on the run from the Committee.
Reading his account of life as a 3rd year Hogwarts student, Harriet was surprised at how much things had changed, in just eight years. She had been in the 3rd year when she returned to Hogwarts, and it had been very different to what he described. It hadn't been too bad, but it could have been a lot better. She found it hard to believe that things had become so much easier for werewolves in so short a space of time.
And things hadn't just changed for werewolves. Six years ago, Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort, and died in the process. Many hundreds of wizards had been killed in the Second war, including several people from Harriet's own school year, although they had only been at the end of their 4th year. Also, Remus had died in one of the many battles during Harriet's 3rd year, followed by Ron Weasley the following year. Harriet had missed Remus terribly, but was completely over it now. He had been the first person to really understand her situation, but now, working at the Werewolf Support Services, she was constantly meeting other people who had the same problems she had faced. Professor Snape had also died, fairly early on in the war, and Harriet still found it hard to accept that he had been on their side. She had hated him, as he had hated her, but obviously he had not been all that bad.
Thinking about the changes that had taken place made Harriet feel good. Although she would never take all the credit she deserved, she was pleased to be able to see how she had helped. Alex was just one example of how a young werewolf's life now was just so much more normal than hers had been at that age, and she had helped to achieve that.