Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

by Newt Scamander

Older British readers will remember the Ilfracombe Incident of 1932, when a rogue Welsh Green dragon swooped down upon a crowded beach full of sunbathing Muggles. Fatalities were mercifully prevented by the brave actions of a holidaying wizarding family (subsequently awarded Orders of Merlin, First Class), when they immediately performed the largest batch of Memory Charms this century on the inhabitants of Ilfracombe, thus narrowly averting catastrophe.7

Erumpent numbers are not great, as males frequently explode each other during the mating season.

It has a quarrelsome nature but, being excessively vain, it will become docile on any occasion when it is called to act as an ornament.

Despite its name, the Fire Crab greatly resembles a large tortoise

in wizarding families the ghoul often becomes a talking point

Though griffins are fierce, a handful of skilled wizards have been known to befriend one.

It makes no sound until the moment of its death, at which point it lets out a long scream made up of every sound it has ever heard, regurgitated backwards.

In confrontation, a wizard should trick the Kappa into bowing – if it does so, the water in the hollow of its head will run out, depriving it of all its strength.

summoning the memory of the day I had been voted President of the local Gobstones Club, I performed the Patronus Charm.

if chased beyond the boundaries of a farm by a pure white dog, it will never return.

Phoenix song is magical: it is reputed to increase the courage of the pure of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure. Phoenix tears have powerful healing properties.

It is considered a pest by merpeople, who deal with it by tying its rubbery legs in a knot; the Plimpy then drifts away, unable to steer, and cannot return until it has untied itself, which may take hours.

The Pogrebin is a Russian demon, barely a foot tall, with a hairy body but a smooth, oversized grey head. When crouching, the Pogrebin resembles a shiny, round rock. Pogrebins are attracted to humans and enjoy tailing them, staying in their shadow and crouching quickly should the shadow’s owner turn around. If a Pogrebin is allowed to tail a human for many hours, a sense of great futility will overcome its prey, who will eventually fall into a state of lethargy and despair. When the victim stops walking and sinks to their knees to weep at the pointlessness of it all, the Pogrebin will leap upon them and attempt to devour them. However, it is easy to repulse the Pogrebin with simple hexes or Stupefying Charms. Kicking has also been found effective.

From time to time a very long, thin, pink tongue will emerge from the depths of the Puffskein and snake through the house searching for food. The Puffskein is a scavenger that will eat anything from leftovers to spiders, but it has a particular preference for sticking its tongue up the

nose of sleeping wizards and eating their bogies.

The left head (as seen by the wizard facing the Runespoor) is the planner. It decides where the Runespoor is to go and what it is to do next. The middle head is the dreamer (Runespoors may remain stationary for days at a time, lost in glorious visions and imaginings). The right head is the critic and will evaluate the efforts of the left and middle heads with a continual irritable hissing. The right head’s fangs are extremely venomous. The Runespoor rarely reaches a great age, as the heads tend to attack each other. It is common to see a Runespoor with the right head missing, the other two heads having banded together to bite it off.

This classification refers, of course, to the werewolf in its transformed state. When there is no full moon, the werewolf is as harmless as any other human. For a heartrending account of one wizard’s battle with lycanthropy, see the classic Hairy Snout, Human Heart by an anonymous author (Whizz Hard Books, 1975).