The Omen interviews Maya Irene-Strangely
22 January 2012 at 7pm; Wizarding Wireless Network
Thursday nights at 7pm is the broadcast hour of The Omen, the WWN’s politics and issues programmes hosted by Tanis Quickwood.TQ: Welcome to The Omen. I’m
Tanis Quickwood. Today I interview
Maya Irene-Strangely, perhaps the most storied and controversial werewolf scholars alive today. We’ll discuss the recent werewolf-related violence and the status of the Werewolf Registry.
Madam Irene-Strangely, welcome.
MIS: Thank you for having me.
TQ: Let’s begin by putting recent events into context. Last full moon, January 2012, there was an attack at a Ministry werewolf safe house in Dumfriesshire in Scotland. An intruder impersonated an attendant, attacked both attendants, and then proceeded to check-in all of the werewolf guests.
[1] Aurors say the intruder brutally killed two of the werewolves now identified as
Robert and
Richard Dunnigan. Put that into context for us. How does this fit into other werewolf-related violence in the past few years?
MIS: I believe that starting in 2008, Britain has entered a new period in anti-werewolf violence. The attempted assassination of Greyfriar by Cinead Tawse -
[2]TQ: Knox Greyfriar, a Wizengamot Elder.
MIS: Yes, the attack a deliberate loosing of a werewolf. Then the Ides of March
[3] incident where the Ministry’s Wolfsbane Potion supply chain was tainted. And we cannot forget the emergence of
Direwolves and the deliberate attacks that year as well. Ira Almasy’s werewolf pit fighting and kidnappings.
[4] The last there years have been momentous, unprecedented. However this month’s infiltration of a safe house could devastate our entire system.
TQ: Tell us, how so?
MIS: Werewolf registration in Britain is predicated on a sacred oath from the Ministry of Magic to British werewolves. ‘Reveal yourselves,’ they say, ‘come out from the shadows, expose yourself to the dangers of being known and we will protect you.’ With registration comes the opening of the gates the Ministry has shut. Access to Wolfsbane Potion is under lock and key, and the sanctioning of safe houses for secure transformation on full moons. Now that this safe house invasion has occured, that oath has been shattered. Now that this has happened, how can the Ministry be trusted?
TQ: But this seems like an extraordinary circumstance. A depraved act, surely, but unprecedented. No system can be perfect -
MIS: Dozens of witches and wizards sit in Azkaban today but for 'extraordinary circumstances'. The system is imperfect, but werewolves are not allowed to be imperfect. A layered tragedy of this event will be the penalties endured by those who can no longer entrust their safety to the Ministry. A promise destroyed. There are layers of betrayal here and the consequences for werewolves are catastrophic.
TQ: What, if anything, can be done to repair that? In your opinion, what could salvage that trust?
MIS: I think the British werewolf registry will not survive in its current form, not now. Its infallibility has been tested and broken. Other than the racket that is Ministry-controlled access to Wolfsbane Potion, safe transformation has been the only compelling incentive to participate in werewolf registration. That is now gone.
TQ: What about increased security at the safe houses? If the Ministry can show they’re taking measures...?
MIS: Attacks upon law-abiding werewolves is now part of the vocabulary of destabilizing criminal actors. Further security measures by the Ministry of Magic will be countered, I believe.
TQ: I know you’re not saying the Ministry should do nothing -
MIS: Of course not. The Ministry must ensure the safety of werewolves at safe houses, they must make good on the promise because werewolves have no choice in the matter. But they must also understand that as a result of this attack, we will see more and more werewolves declining to register and I think we’ll see registered werewolves ceasing compliance.
TQ: You think registered werewolves will, what, stop using Wolfsbane Potion, stop using safe houses?
MIS: No. But they may take their survival into their own hands. There are underground networks that attempt to offer the same supports. My estimate is that there are at least a hundred werewolves in Britain who have not registered and they are more at risk than ever.
TQ: At risk of what?
MIS: Well, targeting by these terrorists, of course. But without access to Wolfsbane Potion, safe houses, medical care -
TQ: Medical care? Explain?
MIS: The Ministry of Magic requires St. Mungo’s report unregistered werewolves. My research has shown this policy has directly contributed to death and injury to werewolves and without the proven increase in registrations. The policy is only effective in deterring werewolves from seeking treatment they need.
TQ: We have interviewed St. Mungo’s healers, and former healers. Some find a way to turn a blind eye.
MIS: Yes.
TQ: But to your point -
MIS: Yes, in addition to the current material risks unregistered werewolves face, we are beginning to see an increase in anti-werewolf discrimination. Interpersonal violence, in the workplace, and in the zealous over-prosecution of werewolves not in compliance.
TQ: And the murder of Alec Carter,
[5] that’s been attributed to a werewolf attack.
MIS: Yes, this was an orchestrated werewolf attack. It was no accident, it was the work of Purist terrorists.
TQ: So what is to be done?
MIS: The Ministry must dismantle the Werewolf Registry completely, release Wolfsbane Potion, and provide special social protection of werewolves.
TQ: You’d abolish the Werewolf Registry.
MIS: I would. It must go. The beneficial support services can still exist in a Werewolf Wing, but the registry, the criminal penalties, they serve only to put witches and wizards of this country in lethal danger. We are forcing them back into the shadows.
TQ: But in the past you’ve been a vocal supporter of registration.
MIS: Yes, but --
TQ: You’ve been quoted in the Daily Prophet as recently as 2008 calling registered werewolves ‘responsible’ implying unregistered werewolves were not. You publicly encouraged all werewolves to register.
[6]MIS: I did, and I did so because my research at that time lead me to --
TQ: You’ve been called a hypocrite for --
MIS: There’s nothing hypocritical about changing a stance based on new evidence. The events of 2008 and 2009 were a catalyst for a new understanding. I believe now the system was flawed then and is flawed now and I have seen the costs are too great for it to continue. It is critical we continually examine our assumptions based on what we learn. And I think we have learned a crucial lesson.
TQ: Well, I want to thank you for joining us today on The Omen.
MIS: Thank you for having me.
TQ: Join us next time when we explore the past and future of squib rights activism in Britain. I am Tanis Quickwood and this has been The Omen. Good night.
[Jan 22] The Omen interviews Maya Irene-Strangely