Scientifics

Why the Moon Causes Insanity
by Ruralin Fiddlestop

It is a well known theory in the wizarding world that the moon causes insanity, but unfortunately, it is yet to be proven. We here at Alte Sententiam have gathered together all theories concerning this strange idea.

Many astrologists believe that those born when the moon joins Pluto in the 11th house, the result is a rather less able being (off their head may be more accurate). However, I interviewed Professor Trelawney who gave me some valuable information which opposes the original theory.

"I have been studying the actions of my 6th year pupils very closely and have discovered certain occurrence of a rather odd nature where they are not welcome. Just yesterday I was handing out the crystal balls when Eric Nollyspot began to sing. I was outraged at the time," she assured me, "but when I looked closer into what had happened I discovered that this particular boy had been born on February the 18th!"

However, February the 18th is not the time when the moon is joined in the 11th house with Pluto! No, at this particular time it is joined by Jupiter! This is but one occurrence observed by one teacher and numerous other examples have been provided to show that it is far more usual for Pluto to be the detonator to release craziness from within the depths of the moon.

Of course, there is another side to the story--without the help of astrological predictions. The full moon is a time when werewolves undergo their painful transformations to become fearsome beasts. This has led to a theory that suggests a werewolf bite will only create a corporeal form of a beast and that it isn't only werewolves who have obtained this creature form. The theory suggests that on a full moon, when werewolves transform, humans also undergo a change. But instead of this being visible and ferocious, it is not a noticeable physical change and is most often silly. These insane happenings are most often found at late night parties which take place during A FULL MOON! Therefore the statistics are in favour of this theory.

Many so-called "realists" say that all of these occurrences are coincidental and the supposed "fact" that the moon causes insanity is utter nonsense and cannot be proven. But this can easily be argued, because of howunlikely it is that these extremely common happenings are coincidence. It is unlikely that this debate will be solved any time soon, with all sides providing solid arguments. It may even become just another question added to the list of unsolved mysteries: along with questions such as How did we get here on Earth? and Why are we here?.