Date: 8 June 1999
Characters: NA
Location: All
Status: Public
Summary: The Prophet's Letters to the Editor page. (Please note: if your char wants to reply to anything the Prophet posts, please ping Kaz to discuss! It will go in the NEXT issue!)
Completion: Complete
To the Editor,
After seeing so many people writing into the Prophet to complain about the recent werewolf attack, I thought it was important to write into your newspaper to make sure all angles of the issue are presented to the public. While I don’t disagree that Fenir Greyback is a serious
threat and needs to found and returned to Azkaban, I worry that the actions of one criminal will lead to stereotyping and discrimination of other individuals who suffer from werewolf related illnesses.
It is important to point out that while Greyback is a werewolf, it’s not that fact alone that makes him dangerous. There are many people in the magical world who are affected by werewolf related illnesses that take serious measures to control their disease and to make sure that
others are not harmed because of it. Greyback, on the other hand, uses his status as a werewolf to harass and intimate others. His actions have made the public fear werewolves as a whole instead of casting their blame on a single individual.
Please consider posting my letter in your next edition, in hopes of encouraging people to gather all the facts before forming their opinions.
Thanks,
Dean Thomas
After reading the letters to the editor this past week, I have been shocked and saddened to see that there is no one speaking up on behalf of the werewolves themselves. It's clear that people forget that except for thirteen nights a year, werewolves are people first. On those thirteen nights, there are remedies to tame their inner wolves so they won't be a danger to others. I know for a fact that most werewolves don't wish to hurt people and go to great lengths to avoid it. And yet they are ostracized and discriminated against, called nasty names, and have the worst assumed about them because of something over which they have no control.
The exception of all that I've said is the werewolf that, sadly, gets the most press. There are those who point to Fenrir Greyback as an example of what werewolves are. To do that is the same as pointing at Voldemort himself and putting him as a sterling example of what it means to be a wizard. Fenrir Greyback is a horrid creature and needs to be put down like the animal he is, just as Voldemort was a horrid creature that needed to be eliminated. However, just because one werewolf is evil and aims to hurt, does not mean that all werewolves are like that.
One of the best professors I ever had at Hogwarts was Remus Lupin. Our teacher clearly knew what he was talking about and how to teach as well. He cared about our well-being, our marks, and our futures. And yet, once the Board of Directors discovered he was a werewolf, they sacked him. For months, he'd made it clear that he posed no threat to the students, and yet his dismissal took little time to decide. He later went on to fight at the Battle of Hogwarts, losing his life and leaving his son an orphan. He is a hero, but there are still people would deny him the honor of that title simply because he was a victim of a werewolf attack.
I fear that if people don't open their eyes and see the truth that a majority of werewolves are decent human beings, that we'll find ourselves in the same place as we were a year ago. However, this time, instead of Muggleborns being put in Azkaban for "stealing magic", it will be werewolves for "stealing humanity".
Lavender Brown
![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
