The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (78 page)

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photo credit 89.1
)

Tales of man-wolves have been around since antiquity. Greek mythology tells of a bloodthirsty tyrant named Lycaon who greatly angered Zeus by serving him the flesh of a human child. As punishment, Zeus turned Lycaon into a wolf, although some of his human features remained. This story is the source of the word “lycanthrope,” another term for werewolf. Greek writers of the fourth century
B.C.
described folk beliefs in werewolves, and by the first century
A.D
., the Roman natural historian Pliny was writing of the creatures’ existence as fact.

Werewolf legends and beliefs were fully entrenched in Europe by the early Middle Ages. Surprisingly, the image of the werewolf during this time was not all bad. While in some stories wicked stepmothers and villains turn out to be werewolves, in others the werewolf might be a hero, a saint, or a comic figure. In a famous French tale, when a nobleman confesses to his wife that he is a werewolf, she and her lover steal his clothing the next time he transforms. Unable to return to human form without his clothes, the nobleman is trapped as a wolf. He becomes a tame pet to the king until the truth is finally revealed. His clothes are returned, the evil wife and her lover are banished, and the noble werewolf is triumphant. In another legend, the people of a small village are startled to see a wolf dash down the main street and leap at a piece of meat left hanging up high to dry. Missing its target, the wolf falls into a well. When the townspeople look into the well, all they see is a very embarrassed naked woman!

By the sixteenth century, however, werewolves were no longer portrayed as heroes or figures of fun. Instead, they were regarded as a very real threat. As
witch persecution
gained momentum across Europe, dozens of people in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy were arrested, tried, and executed for being werewolves. Witch-hunters claimed that werewolves were actually
witches
or
wizards
who had made pacts with the Devil that enabled them to become wolves. Accused of horrific acts of mass murder and cannibalism, many of these alleged werewolves confessed under torture.

More than a dozen books on werewolves were published during this period. Many described how a wizard prepared for the transformation by shedding his clothes and rubbing his body with magic ointments made out of belladonna root, deadly nightshade, bat’s blood, cinquefoil, henbane, soot, and an assortment of other, equally unpleasant ingredients. Next, the wizard donned a wolf’s skin or an enchanted belt and uttered incantations to the Devil, who granted him the supernatural strength and speed with which to satisfy his appetite for human flesh and blood.

Why have so many people been convinced that men really can turn into wolves? A medical explanation suggests that at least some supposed werewolves were brought to trial because they actually
looked
like werewolves—owing to a rare genetic condition known as hypertrichosis. Victims of this disease develop dense facial hair that can cover the cheeks, forehead, nose, and eyelids. In some cases, every part of the body but the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet appears furry, making sufferers look as if they’ve just emerged from a Hollywood makeup studio. Doctors have dubbed the gene responsible for this condition “the werewolf gene.”

An equally rare genetic condition called porphyria may explain other apparent signs of being a werewolf. This disease causes extreme sensitivity to light, so that, like werewolves, those affected by it usually venture out only at night. As the condition progresses, it causes sores or marks on the skin, which could easily have been interpreted as the wounds a werewolf was said to receive while running through the forest and hunting prey. Finally, porphyria can cause the teeth and fingernails to become red, making it appear as if a bloody meal has just been consumed.

It is no coincidence that werewolf trials occurred in places where the problem of real wolves was quite serious. Wolf populations had surged in continental Europe after the great plague of the fourteenth century led to the abandonment of land formerly used for farming. Although wolves were much more likely to attack livestock than humans, they did occasionally claim a human victim, and such incidents were often attributed to werewolves. In England, where wolves had become extinct by the sixteenth century, tales of werewolves were quite rare.

hinking of Hermione as a witch can take some getting used to. Most of us imagine witches as cackling old women with long warty noses and pointy black hats. Yet, in many ways Hermione and the other witches of Hogwarts aren’t so different from the witches of yore; they cast
spells
and brew
potions
, turn everyday objects into live animals, ride on
broomsticks
, and keep company with
cats, owls
, and
toads
. These activities have been associated with witches—both fictional and historical—for hundreds of years.

Witches of one kind or another have existed in every civilization, from ancient Assyria and Babylonia to the villages of medieval Europe to the present-day tribes of central and southern Africa. By definition, a witch is simply an individual believed to have supernatural powers.

While the exact nature of these powers differs from culture to culture, it’s commonly believed that witches have the ability to harm or heal with magic herbs, kill from a distance with a glance or a spell, control the weather, fly, or transform into an animal. Although a witch may use these magical techniques with the best of intentions, in most societies witches are regarded as agents of evil and misfortune. Western culture has come to define witches as female, but the term may also be applied to a man. (Sometimes, a male witch is called a warlock.)

The literature of ancient Greece and Rome abounds with tales of witches, who spent much of their time mixing magical potions from herbs and gruesome animal parts. Described as having long disheveled hair and going about barefoot, they were popularly believed to frequent graveyards, where they might be found at midnight digging up bones and poisonous plants or worshipping Diana, goddess of the moon and hunting, or Hecate, goddess of fertility and queen of the night. Some were said to raise up the spirits of the dead, others to kill with a mere glance. The witches of Thessaly, in northern Greece, were believed to be so skilled that they could draw the moon down to earth to use its powers for their own purposes. The second-century Roman poet Apuleius described witches as “capable of bringing down the sky, making springs dry up, [and] sweeping away mountains.”

The stereotypical witch of European folklore
. (
photo credit 90.1
)

During the Middle Ages, the word “witch” was sometimes used to refer to the local wise women who used herbs to treat illness, made
amulets
to ward off evil spirits, and practiced
divination
to find lost property or identify criminals. Many people also believed these “white witches” could perform such impressive feats as conjuring rain, foretelling the future, and guaranteeing fair winds for sailing. Like
wizards
, they were both respected and feared by their neighbors, who trusted them for aid and advice but believed they could cause misfortune if angered.