Possible silly question about Werewolves

[S Handel]

No: HPFGUIDX 78257

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Darklady" <kkreinke at e...> 
wrote:
> I'm sorry if this has been covered , but I searched the posts and 
> couldn't find it.
> 
> I was listening to my Harry Potter tapes ( unabridged American 
> version ) at work today and was suprised by one line. 
> 
> (Spoiler here - but not for anything recent ) 
> 
> Lupin, in discussing his lycanthropy, says that "they didn't have a 
> cure BACK THEN." (Emphasis obviously my own. ) Would that 
> not imply that there is a cure NOW? If so - why has not Lupin 
> been cured? Is it perhaps like a rabies cure - that is only 
effective 
> if started before the disease takes hold? When was the cure 
> discovered? Obviously fairly recently. ( At least within Lupin's 
> lifetime.)  Would this explain why the Wolfsbane Potion is 
> currently rare? (Because few new werewolves are created - so 
> few would need it. ) What effect would this have on current 
> werewolves? On the laws re: werewolf bites? ( Which - while still 
> dire - would be less terrible if they did not also pass on the 
> curse.)
> 
> Is this something strange re the Potterverse - or an I 
> misunderstanding? Every fan-fic seems to treat lycanthropy as 
> an ongoing risk, but? Just curious.
> 
> Thank you.

Hi,
In OOP Mr. Weasley refers to a person in St. Mungos "Bitten by a 
werewolf, poor chap. No cure at all."  So even now there is no cure.  
I think in the book you were listening to they meant that when Remus 
was bitten there was no "treatment" either.
Susan