Werewolves/ Lupin etc.

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 43927

Michelle wrote:
> So put this all together:
> - Prematurely grey 
> -looks extremely ill after full moon
> -wolfsbane potion could be mildly poisonous.
> 
> I was wondering (I've got there in the end!!) if being a werewolf 
> reduces your life expectancy 
> 
> Michelle

Being a werewolf *definetely* reduces you're life expectancy: since it 
is the average age at which people die, werewolves probably have a 
lower one than general wizard population: after all, many are *hunted* 
and killed by fearful wizards. There is a ver apropiate proverb in my 
language which may or may not translate: "Once the dog is dead, the 
rabid is no more" which exposes how lots of people think about that 
sort of thing.

Of course, you are asking if werewolves die of natural causes sooner 
than wizards. Of the conditions you've explained up there (great canon, 
by the way!), one of them: the wolfbane potion effects, are unknown to 
everyone: not just us, but to the wiards too, since it's very recent 
and any long-term secondary effects are yet unknown. On the other hand, 
the other effects, especially the greying hair, are hard evidence: 
Lupin *does* seem to be aging prematurely. Of course, we cannot really 
make a general case or estadistic out of a single case (I know lots of 
people who grey prematurely for non-werewolf-related reasons), so we 
cannot discard that it's just that he's plain unlucky.

What IS true is that the transformation leaves him sickly, and that so 
does the potion. It is not a long stretch to imagine that the sort of 
stress he goes through every month is what is actually greying him. 
Lupin is someone who has gone through a lot of suffering in his life, 
and that is the sort of thing that ages prematurely. However, even 
though being a werewolf is one of the reaosns, it is not the only one. 
He lost his three best (only?) friends in a space of 24 hours. He has 
never been able to find a job. Everyone hates him and fears him because 
of his sickness. And of course, he transforms into a man-eating beast 
every four weeks. All of this *does* pile up after a while, so, even 
though it may be the transformation what is aging him, it may also be 
something wider.


> (sorry if its in FB but I haven't got a copy - I must invest in
> one...)

I heartly recommend you to invest in one: is not really very expensive, 
and it's for a good cause. Besides, if you want to be aspire to be part 
of LOON (League Of Obsesive Nit-pickers), like most members in this 
list, you're going to need it. However, in this case it wouldn't have 
helped: there is quite a bit of useful information about werewolves in 
FB, but nothing about their life-expectancy.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf