12 February 2010

In a report today, the Department for the Regulation & Control of Magical Creatures revealed that irregularities in the records kept by the Werewolf Registry indicate that unregistered werewolves from abroad may be secretly using Ministry safe houses to transform during full moons. 

"This is no cause for alarm," claimed Wilhemena Gunn, spokeswitch for the Werewolf Registry.  "The important thing to remember is that safe houses prevent attacks and are just one of the many benefits to registering fully with the Ministry of Magic.  We are making every effort to identify those sadly cursed individuals so that they can comply fully with the law."

"There is serious cause for alarm," claimed Gervais Bellingham, spokeswizard for the Werewolf Capture Unit.  "These are criminals who are callously flouting the law and claiming services they have no right to."

According the report, names of registered werewolves were recorded as checking in at two different safe houses during the same full moon.  This leads investigators to believe that unregistered werewolves are assuming the identities of registered werewolves. 

The duplications are going unnoticed for months.  "We are only able to review the ledgers every other month, or every third full moon against the Werewolf Registry.  If a registered werewolf is in good standing, we have no reason to closely monitor their whereabouts," said Gunn.  By their reckoning over the past seven months, there could be dozens of unregistered werewolves engaged in this infraction.

According the the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the unregistered werewolves in question may come from southern Europe and northern Africa where resources for werewolves are more difficult to come by.