It All Started With The Whomping Willow

Chapter 5

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It was now nearly winter, and Lupin had agreed to help Snape learn how to be best accustomed to being a werewolf. Before Lupin was to "train" him, as he so liked to call it, Lupin thought that Snape should come to understand what being a werewolf meant. So, of course, the two boys headed to the library.

Lupin had given Snape a variety of books to read, including a book on wolfsbane, Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and another werewolf's autobiography.

One of the books had a more detailed description of defining a werewolf, and it stated:

A werewolf is a creature that has been known for centuries. They are humans who change into wolves every full moon. To become a werewolf, you would need to be bitten by a werewolf while it's in its wolf form. If you get scratched by one, you are not likely to be able to transform but have wolf-like qualities, although certain cases have been seen where a werewolf scratch leads to the victim being turned. It is unknown if you can become a werewolf by having a werewolf as a biological parent. There are no reported cases of this, but it is theoretically possible.

Werewolves can't choose whether to or not to transform every full moon. While being in their wolf body, werewolves can't remember who they are or who they know. This means that they would quite willingly kill their best friend if she/he comes across their way while being a wolf. When they are human, the individual will most likely remember parts of what happened while being a wolf, but often they have a horrible headache after the full moon.

Another book Snape read had a section on werewolf mates.

Like any other creature in this world, werewolves have mates. Every werewolf, again like every other creature, has a mate, whether they be a werewolf themselves, or a different creature, or a human altogether. However, it is most common for werewolves to have a mate of a different creature. And a werewolf typically mates for life. Although the species of a mate can vary for a wolf, how one mates is the same. 

Werewolves often find their mates when in their wolf form during a full moon, and the wolf is the first to mark the mate. The mate is given a bite mark, a claiming mark, not a turning mark. This mark is to show that that person is now taken. After the mark is given, it is believed that the werewolf and their given mate have until the next full moon to mate while the werewolf is in their human form.

And although Snape probably had more knowledge on wolfsbane than Lupin, he was told to read parts of the book nonetheless.

Wolfsbane does not serve to cure lycanthropy, but to preserve the human memory of a person transformed into a werewolf. It is a very advanced potion, and its brewing should only be handled by a master potion-maker. Brewing time may vary, but on average, it takes a little less than two months to make.

Ingredients include aconite, pulverized black quicksilver, giant moonwart, myrrh pickled in carrow spider ichor, dittany, and the moon itself, or moonlight. Other possible ingredients include powdered moonstone, moonseed, and valerian root.

After their long research session, Snape advised that they should make sure they had enough wolfsbane. Although he had made wolfsbane only once before and was quite assured of his abilities, he wanted to make sure he didn't need to make any more. The potion took quite a long time to make, and Snape didn't feel the need to spend another month's worth of sleepless nights due to brewing unless he had to.

The two ventured down into the potion classroom's storage closet, and both were assured that they had enough wolfsbane to at least last them the next few full moons if it was needed. Lupin wasn't really one to use it, as he had very rarely asked for Snape's help with it in the past.