Slytherins and Werewolves (was:Snape vs Lupin/UK vs. US

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 170607

Magpie:

> > I'm kind of fascinated by the way JKR's linked both
> > Snape and Draco to fear or werewolves, as if that's
> > a Slytherin thing (while Sirius is all "Wish it were
> > a full moon! Having a werewolf buddy is fun!).

Betsy Hp:

> I have a couple of ideas. One is tied to the blood
> purity thing. If Slytherins are all about blood-purity
> (which I have a hard time buying, since no other house
> is *all* about just one thing, but yes I'll agree
> Slytherins are more interested in blood than other
> houses, or at least they'll admit to it <g>) it
> stands to reason they'd fear the one creature that
> can take it all away from them. From pureblood to
> half-breed with one bite.
> [...]
> The other is the Slytherin as a female house thing.
> Werewolves are the embodiment of male aggression, so
> naturally the feminine Slytherins fear them, and the
> masculine Gryffindors love them.

houyhnhnm:

Another reason for the werewolf being Slytherins' 
particular bugaboo occurred to me.  Lycanthropy 
represents loss of control and Slytherins are all 
about control, control over themselves and their 
emotions, control over others, control over surroundings.  
This is what I read into Snape's  "Don't ask me to 
fathom the way a werewolf's mind works."  The thought 
of being outside of oneself, of being cut off from 
one's own mind every month must be truly horrifying 
to Snape. A werewolf has no control over when he (or 
she?) transforms, no control over what he does while 
transformed, no memory of what occurred during 
transformation.  Unable to integrate the human into 
the beast, Fenrir chose to reject his humanity 
altogether and be a beast all of the time.  This 
could be seen as a means of re-establishing control.