When do werewolves transform

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Do werewolves in Harry Potter only transform under moonlight? Ask Question. Asked 9 years, 9 months ago. Active 7 months ago. Viewed 5k times.

Researching another question, I came across a quote I was looking for that seems to show werewolves only transform in the moonlight: A cloud shifted. Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid.

Then his limbs began to shake. Anyone see a way to reconcile these? Improve this question. Kevin Kevin Wayyy behind on this one, but only just saw the question - I always assumed the point of the Shrieking Shack was not to hide him from the moon, but to give him a safe space to be wolfy. The Shrieking Shack is rumoured to be haunted because of villagers hearing Lupin's howling - as a wolf.

So, he does transform in the Shack, regardless of direct moonlight. They didn't want to leave him in the castle as other pupils would hear and panic. The moon coming out at that point is just dramatic effect, and reminds the characters of Lupin's condition. Luna I agree—but by the time he transforms in PoA , the Moon is already high enough to be behind clouds and casting dim shadows on the ground.

That means it must have been a full moon for quite some time even before sunset. Really, Lupin ought to have transformed several hours before he did here. JanusBahsJacquet A full moon rises exactly at the moment of sunset. The full moon occurs only on the night when the moon is exactly on the opposite of the Earth from the Sun.

So when the Sun sets, the full moon rises, and when a full moon sets, the sun rises. On other nights, moonrise does not coincide with sunset. The moonlight scene in the movie implies the moon had risen much sooner, but was obscured by distant clouds and hills.

The implication was that Lupin must be in moonlight. Maybe the Shrieking Shack had windows or cracks in the boards that allowed Lupin to see moonlight. I don't have a full answer so this is just a comment, but didn't he have to take a potion everyday even for a few days before? I could be wrong but if he only missed the current days dose it might mean that only direct moonlight was strong enough to start the transformation like he was partially vaccinated but missed a top-up , and that if he hadn't taken ANY of the doses he would transform the moment the moon came up as normal - that could explain the need for moonlight on this occasion instead of just the moon being up — Matt.

Good idea, but the potion doesn't stop him transforming, it only stops him going berserk when he does. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Before that night's events started, Hagrid sent the following note to Harry: Lost appeal. Improve this answer. David Stratton David Stratton It is this bacteria that can cause the human body to be capable of werewolf transformation. Unlike vampires, werewolves don't carry a significant amount of this bacteria in their bloodstream.

At least not the strains that can infect a human. Werewolves almost exclusively carry the infectious bacteria in their saliva.

Thus, when a human is bitten by a werewolf, there is a good chance that the saliva will enter the human's blood stream where the bacteria can do its work.

If you are bitten and don't want to become a werewolf, it is best to begin an antibiotic treatment as soon as possible. Success rates are not great with antibiotics, but they are the only known way to possibly kill the bacteria.

Following a bite, the bacteria strain will begin duplicating itself immediately in the human bloodstream. The process takes roughly six to nine weeks to fully integrate the human cells. During this time the human may experience insomnia, headaches, and flu-like symptoms, but will not show any external signs of werewolfism. Once the bacteria has fully integrated with the cells, the human will become a werewolf, and as such will experience transformation each night from that point forward.

Of the three ways to become a werewolf, the curse is by far the most rare. In fact, we know very little about it other than that it exists. The first werewolf was created by this curse , so we know that the original deity that created the curse has the ability to give it to others. Some later tribal legends suggest that the original werewolf, Matchitehew, was able to bestow this curse onto others, and though it is clear that he did so without biting people, it is not totally clear if he could "cast" the werewolf curse onto them directly.

Personally I've never been able to come up with plausible reasons why the fact that the moon is in a position to reflect more sunlight would trigger changes in the average lycanthrope, anyway, so I just go with them being able to transform at will and are not forced into changing by lunar phases. Of course, nights of the full moon - with the extra light it affords and yet the ability to melt into deep shadows at will - could well be popular times to take on wolf form.

Since wolves tend to hunt at night or dusk, maybe werewolves don't transform during the day because it isn't a good time the night makes a good cover for a giant wolf monster or because the "wolf curse" is conscious and is asleep during the day.

I always took the moon idea to be somewhat influenced by a woman's menstrual cycles, which have in some cultures been thought to have been influenced by the moon. While it generally isn't noticeable, men's hormones wax and wane in monthly cycles too. There are cases, though rare, where it is noticeable; there are some men who get considerably more aggressive during the time of the month where their testosterone is at its highest point. Still, I think some of the older werewolf stories had them changing when they put on a belt made out of wolf fur.

There's an old French one that, if I remember it right, could change into a wolf whenever he wanted, but couldn't change back unless he could find his clothes so of course, in the story, someone hid his clothes from him.

And then there were cartoons like Fangface , where just looking at a picture of the full moon would trigger an involuntary transformation, and seeing the sun or a reasonable facsimile thereof would change him back. There's a character in the anime version of Megaman Star Force who was the same.

Looking at anything round while possessed by the Fm-ian Wolf alien made of radio waves caused him to start transforming into their Wave change form Wolf Woods. I'd imagine it'd be possible for a full moon in the daytime to cause a werewolf transformation The article you posted even says this. A full moon occurs when the moon is directly behind the Earth in relation to the sun.

As such, a full moon will rise at sunset and set at sunrise, and it's actually the only phase of the moon that isn't found in the daytime sky at any time. Other phases close to the full moon can be visible in the daytime sky near sunrise and before sunset depending on whether those phases come before or after the full moon, but not a true full moon. Funny how nature completely cooperates with the rule of werewolves only appearing at night.

Now how it works can skew towards more traditional depictions ex. A werewolf only transforms under a full moon at night or away from them ex.

A werewolf can transform at will regardless of the time of day or lunar cycle but they have to do the Hockey Pockey first. Or for extra fun you can follow the traditional model closely to a point, only to have an individual completely break those rules in order to demonstrate how far beyond other characters they are.

This isnt the gestation period of a humpback whale. This isn't hard facts about the real world. Werewolves are fantasy and can be manipulated to the author's desire. My werewolves are actually wolves bitten by humans who can only assume their original forms after they help a busy business woman find true love in New York City. Hilarity Ensues. I think this would sound kind of pointless, because on the day of the full moon, you may see the moon juuuuust above the horizon in the late afternoon or early morning.

While it's true that normally sunlight would be strong enough to completely overpower the effects of moonlight, at that time of day the sunlight is quite weak even if it is still in the sky, as it would be either an hour or two before sunset or an hour or two after dawn. On a different note, I can imagine things would be interesting for a werewolf living above the Arctic Circle, where near the winter solstice you get 24 hours of darkness.