The argument that Harold Jenkins and Dean Myers heard wasn't necessarily hostile, but there points of it that were fairly loud as the sound drifted up to the floor that they were on. There were also points where there were at least points of suspicion in what drifted up the stairway, bouncing off the stone walls of the stairways. Harold couldn't quite recognize the voice, but some of the suspicious tone to it reminded him of his own insecurities over things like the Mandatory Were Law when he and Melissa had first moved to Moon Lake. Dean Myers also noted the suspicion and responded more out of trying to protect his staff and this brought both of them coming down the stairs where they found the lone man essentially debating a secretary at the admissions desk.
It was as he came down to see the man, this was when Harold began to get some idea as to who the man was. He'd never actually Richard Van Direstag face to face, but he knew that Richard's daughter Rachel was friends with Melissa and that they would hang out at times. There were times where Harold could remember seeing Richard Van Direstag from a distance when he picked Melissa up from time to time. In this by standing close by and hearing Richard Van Direstag essentially challenge the secretary, he was able to put together a voice with the face and figured that this was Rachel Van Direstag's father. With that Harold looked to Dean Myers and waived the dean back with one hand. As Richard finished one line, Harold finally interjected himself into the discussion.
"It's been my experience, Mr. Van Direstag, that people will not always respond well to things they don't know at first and will want some assurances that the first response won't be to out Moon Lake or its people," the reply came, "I know that because that's partially how I reacted to Moon Lake's Mandatory Were Law... but with time and learning... it can grow on you."
Harold watched as Richard turned to see that his arguing had attracted more people to the argument. The eyes on the man bulged a bit with some surprise at being called by name. Harold watched as Richard relaxed a bit as he looked to Harold. It wasn't perfect as Richard's eyebrows were still raised, likely an indication that Richard Van Direstag was trying to recall where he'd seen Harold before. Which would at least mean that Richard had some recognition at Harold but couldn't fully put it together. With that, Harold decided to introduce himself.
"Harold Jenkins... I believe our daughters were friends back in Ann Arbor," Harold offered his hand, "I know we've never really met... but maybe I could help... and give the staff hear some time to recover from the shouting."
"Harold..." Richard Van Direstag said slowly.
"Yes... my daughter, Melissa, is friends with your daughter, Rachel," Harold answered, "and I can help you understand some of the things you're frustrated with."
"You can get it so that this Mandatory Were Law is declared null and void for my family?" Richard asked
"No... he can't," the secretary spoke from her spot at the desk.
"But I can relay to you on how I dealt with it," Harold picked up before Richard could respond, "adapted to it... and in a way, accepted it."
Richard was silent for a moment while Harold looked back to the dean.
"You sure..." Dean Myers whispered to him.
"Our daughters are friends," Harold whispered back, "he might be rather resistant to strangers talking on this... but he at least knows of me. That might count for more."
While Harold and the dean talked, Richard looked between the two men the secretary who sat calmly behind her desk. On certain levels he was completely frustrated by the fact that the college didn't seem to have anything that would allow him to protect his family from things, this Mandatory Were Law being one of them, but at the same time, he did remember some of Rachel's updates that the Jenkins had recently moved to Moon Lake and become weres. Now, he didn't know Harold Jenkins personally, and at best might have only seen him on occasion when he came to pick up his daughter, but it was more of a personal contact than the secretary. In this, there was some measure of trustworthiness, as while he'd never met Harold Jenkins personally, what he did know of the professor was enough to tell that he hadn't been as athletically built as he was now.
"Okay... we can talk," Richard spoke slowly, "but just us."
Harold nodded and then motioned to the doors out, "why don't we go outside... walk around the campus. That way we're not in the way of the staff's work here."
Richard sighed as Harold motioned to the doors again and then followed. Harold slowly followed as the pair walked out and came down the stairs. The air was a bit cooler than it'd been before Halloween to Harold, but so far the temperatures weren't too bad and as they reached the main sidewalk, the pair turned to walk more southerly and away from the parking lot to the administration building. It presented some things that both Harold and Richard had gotten tours on before.
"So.. personally... what do you think about this Mandatory Were Law... that one person has to give up their humanity... who they are just to live here?" Richard asked as they got started.
"Personally... I'd agree that the nature of the law is quite dated and a case could be made that it might even be unnecessary today," Harold answered, "but at the same time, some of the reasoning behind it is quite sound. That weres have feared being hunted and took steps to make sure that they wouldn't be hunted again. And the isolation that Moon Lake has had has contributed to the perpetuation of that law."
"But then why keep it?" Richard asked, "I mean sure the mountains seem to interfere with some cell phone signals... but they do have the internet here, they even advertise that they aren't too far away from Seattle. So it's not like Moon Lake is just sitting in a vacuum where the rest of the world has no effect on it."
"They have that today... but with some of the records and journals that the college has in its achieves that go back to its first settlers, they didn't have that," Harold answered, "technically the region was still part of Britain's claim to the "Oregon Territory" and was otherwise remote enough that most people in Moon Lake wouldn't have much contact with anyone outside of Moon Lake. It would only get into the first half of the twentieth century that Moon Lake began to integrate more with the rest of the country as the infrastructure changes began to connect more parts of the country, which in turn brought about more traffic and more people to Moon Lake. Which in turn meant some changes."
"That's not in their guidebook," Richard said slowly.
"Their guidebook is more an introduction to Moon Lake's weres and thus helping Moon Lake new residents adjust to who their neighbors are and might be and thus come to a decision on which were group to join," Harold pointed out, "it doesn't discuss Moon Lake's history in the slightest. And it's the history that might be more helpful as to why the town keeps such an archaic law on the books."
"But then still... why keep the law, especially if they still have all that stuff now?" Richard asked.
"Fear," Harold said slowly, "Imagine you were a young were in the late 1700s... living America. All of your elders, perhaps of your parents generation... which given that weres could live as long as 400 years before old age kills them could make determining generations for weres tough to map in comparison to normal humans. But still, all of your elders, perhaps your parents either remember being hunted for being weres or had stories of humans hunting weres for being weres and killing them. It's something where being a were would be seen as a crime to people... You'd naturally fear being hunted and your secret of being a were being exposed, because normal humans in their fears of things different from them and their greater numbers might well hunt you down and kill you, your family, and any friends that defend you..."
There was a slight pause as they turned along the sidewalk as it moved through a small copse of trees and then turned head inward away from the sidewalk and would move to the west of the next main building. This the college library, which had a bit more of an updated side to it, but some of that might be more to a more modern addition to it, which included more glass panels that made Richard try to shield his eyes from the glare as they walked by it.
"Thus in the years after the Lewis and Clark expedition when Moon Lake was founded... you'd take those memories and put into place something that you'd feel would prevent your children from having to live with that fear," Harold continued, "for if people like you and me move here... by joining in the secret... we'd then need to protect that secret so long as it is a secret for fear of those hunters returning."
"It's still dumb," Richard said bluntly, "or ark-like as you said."
"Archaic," Harold corrected, "and I don't necessarily disagree with you on that. But to many weres, particularly those that are older...and they've seen behaviors that haven't openly trusted or tolerated differences, and that has likely contributed to the continuation of upholding an archaic law, which will probably remain in place so long as the fear being hunted remains. Not unless something drastically changes the nature of Moon Lake's internal politics or the nature of the were secret. And starting arguments with the admissions staff isn't going to do that. In fact that might just give the city government to take firmer actions in enforcing those laws when it will come to you and your family. In this, if you're wanting to change things, you may have to work within the system, which will take time and might well require accepting becoming a were or that one member of your family might want to..."
Richard cringed at that as they walked along and dodged students as they made their way along. Richard was somewhat surprised when there was a couple that moved in front of them. The female had to be a were, given certain measurements that she couldn't hide, but the male student she was with had to be a normal human, given that he wasn't that muscular and was actually about the same height as the woman he was with. They walked along casually and even discussing about some things that had gone on over the weekend. He thought he heard something about a ruckus at a church some "lunatic" going to Moon Lake's hospital with a heart attack. It was a scene that sort of betrayed that normal humans and weres could get along, which only reinforced his personal point that these things were unnecessary if they could all get along.
"But why agree to follow a law and give up everything that makes you you?" Richard asked suspiciously, "I mean... if you agree with me that the law is bad... why?"
"There are a few things there..." Harold sighed, "One is that initially... I'd very much been of the opinion to look for away out... and I'd even considered packing everything up and leaving with Melissa as quick as I could."
"But then... why did you stay?" Richard pressed.
"To a certain extent... it was in learning more about the town and its people," Harold answered, "and the weres that live here. That for one thing they aren't the monsters from folklore, which is probably the thing most weres today would fear. That normal humans outside of Moon Lake would see weres as the mindless murder machines from movies and then try to hunt them down... And at the same time, those that become weres really don't lose who they are. There may be some changes, but nothing that changes a person at their core. And after I became a weretiger... I could tell that with personal experience. I still love history and can be rather bookish and detailed when it comes to my focus. And I will always care for Melissa. In this... I really didn't lose any of my past. The biggest changes for me have been more with the ability to become an anthropomorphic tiger at will... and actually regaining some of the happiness that had been in my life before... before my wife died."
"And that's why you choose to become a were?" Richard asked.
"Actually... my becoming a were was something of an accident," Harold admitted while scratching the back of his head as they came out onto an open area on the campus that presented a large open green. The grass looked a rather dull green to brown as it went into its winter hibernation, but it was still a large open space toward the center of the campus. "When Melissa and I moved in, our new neighbors took a bit of an interest in me... One was a wereraccoon with some kind of problem who wanted me to get her pregnant and then milk me for child support."
Richard cringed at that.
"The other was a weretigress named Virginia," Harold continued, "like me she likes history... and teaches it at the High School here. And she came with polite understanding with regard to things that relate to Melissa's mother, Eliza, and things that would relate to things I'm interested in... like history. In fact it was something that I think I began falling for Virginia before anything happened... then she came to ask me on my thoughts on some books that she'd dropped off as to what the High School should use for its textbooks next year... but the wereraccoon was also there and started a fight with Virginia over some "claim" to me. I tried to stop the fight and got clawed by accident, thankfully by Virginia and not the wereraccoon."
"And you didn't lose who you are... or were?" Richard asked with some skepticism in his tone of voice, but at a bit of a softer tone than before. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Probably not... " Harold sighed, "as I don't think we've ever formally met. It's mostly the fact that we might know of each other because our daughters are friends. For as a college professor, I wouldn't have taught any of your children in Michigan... and since I've never been that big into sports, visiting your sports store wasn't something that was big on my agenda either. Thus... all you have to go on with how who I am hasn't changed is limited to my word."
Richard wanted to give a triumphant smirk at that.
"But still... regardless of the law and whether or not it's right or wrong," Harold continued, "saying that the law makes people give up who they are isn't going to help, as it will put a series of assumptions on weres that ignores who they are and likely in Moon Lake's eyes will give them reason to assume that some additional force should be taken... reinforcing the sentiments behind the Mandatory Were Law, regardless of whether its assumptions are still factually correct in today's world. Don't jump to conclusions and time the time to learn about Moon Lake's were's an open mind."
"Won't change on what I feel about the law," Richard grumbled.
"Perhaps not..." Harold admitted, "but at least you'd have more factual knowledge on things and not running around half cocked as it were."