3rd Jan 2018

Iona Ballentyne, Head of the Ministry's Werewolf Wing, was assaulted on her own premises late on new year's night.

"Three perpetrators were witnessed attempting to leave the scene of the crime," explained a spokesperson from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, "one of whom we were able to apprehend. We ask members of the public to come forward with any information they might have about the other two."

The attack was allegedly unplanned, according to official reports. Culprit Carla Byatt and her unknown associates intended only to commit arson by setting fire to Ballentyne's personal transformation cell. When they were interrupted in the act, Ballentyne was forced to defend herself.

"This sort of hate crime only confirms to me that more needs to be done to support a bridge between the werewolf population of Great Britain and those untouched by the curse," responded the Werewolf Wing Head when reached for comment at St.Mungo's. "No witch or wizard should have to live in fear, and I have certainly not been scared away from the course."

A statement from the Werewolf Alliance not only condemns the attack on Ballentyne's home and personhood, but goes on to demand "the Ministry demonstrates its intolerance for hate crimes against werewolves by prosecuting malefactors to the full extent of the law".

Friends and colleagues of Byatt claim that the witch may have been associated with the Eradicate Lycanthropy Foundation. When contacted, ELF President Alfred Bitterwood assures the Prophet that the foundation would never involve itself in violent incidents of any sort.

The Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Balfour Spectre, had this to say on the attack: "Everyone is entitled to safety and dignity in their own home, and we have no intention of letting anyone believe that werewolves are an exception to that."