Reading, Writing, Rowling

Get to the heart of werewolves in the Harry Potter series in this month’s special double episode! In this supersized episode, John and Katy talk with literary scholars and werewolf specialists Dr. Melissa Aaron (California Polytechnic State University) and Dr. Renée Ward (University of Lincoln, UK) to reveal the true nature of beastly transformations in the Harry Potter series. “Everything you know about werewolves is wrong,” Melissa tells us, explaining the literary origins of werewolf lore and its key elements. Renée explains the diversity of classical and medieval lyncanthrope references, which were not necessarily judgmental but often emphasized martial violence and extreme difference. Melissa cautions that there is no stable “Ye Olde Book of Werewolves” with one static understanding of what werewolves are or were, but you will nevertheless get lots of ideas for your werewolf reading list from our discussion. What do werewolves represent? Often they represent the beast within, and fear of oneself, w