Full moon question for the folklorists

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 97479

I haven't studied werewolves (or vampires, for that matter), so I
can't answer this question, but maybe some of the folklorists can. How
long is a "full moon"? Is it just one night, or does each phase (new
moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter) last about a week for
werewolves as it does on a Muggle calendar? In other words, how many
days each month would Lupin be confined to the Shrieking Shack (or his
living quarters at Hogwarts)? Surely it can't be a full week. Even
five days each month seems like a lot to manage without arousing the
suspicions of many students. But one night--*the* full moon--seems
like too short a time. Anyone have authoritative opinions on this?

BTW, for anyone who's interested in Lupin's monthly transformations
and how they fit with the calendar for a particular year, I found a
site with phases of the moon for every year from 1700-2035:

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html

BTW, the site shows the full moon for December 1993 as falling on
December 28, but Lupin missed the Christmas luncheon three days
earlier. Either JKR had her dates slightly wrong, or Lupin's
transformation was already beginning three days before the official
full moon, which would suggest that his transformations last about six
days. As for Godric's Hollow, the full moon was on October 23, so even
if the transformation lasted a full week (October 20 to October 26),
he would have been back to his human form that time. And September 1,
1993, the day of Hogwarts Express trip, was the exact date for the
full moon that month, so if JKR were following the calendar, he should
have been in full werewolf mode rather than recovering from a recent
transformation, which is how I read his tiredness, pallor, and
hoarseness (from howling) in that scene.

Carol

Carol