Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (4 page)

This beast is believed to be wizard-bred, possibly intended to guard wizard dwellings or treasure, as is often the case with magically created monsters.
¹
Despite its near-human intelligence, the Acromantula is untrainable and highly dangerous to wizard and Muggle alike.

1
Beasts capable of human speech are rarely self-taught; an exception is the Jarvey. The Ban on Experimental Breeding did not come into
effect until this century, long after the first recorded sighting of an Acromantula in 1794.

A
SHWINDER

M.O.M. Classification: XXX

The Ashwinder is created when a magical fire
²
is allowed to burn unchecked for too long. A thin, pale-grey serpent with glowing red
eyes, it will rise from the embers of an unsupervised fire and slither away into the shadows of the dwelling in which it finds itself, leaving an ashy trail behind it.

The Ashwinder lives for only an hour and during that time seeks a dark and secluded spot in which to lay its eggs, after which it will collapse into dust. Ashwinder eggs are brilliant red and
give off intense heat. They will ignite the dwelling within minutes if not found and frozen with a suitable charm. Any wizard realising that one or more Ashwinders are loose in the house must trace
them immediately and locate the nest of eggs. Once frozen, these eggs are of great value for use in Love Potions and may be eaten whole as a cure for ague.

Ashwinders are found worldwide.

2
Any fire to which a magical substance such as Floo powder has been added.

A
UGUREY
(also known as Irish Phoenix)

M.O.M. Classification: XX

The Augurey is a native of Britain and Ireland, though sometimes found elsewhere in northern Europe. A thin and mournful-looking bird, somewhat like a small and underfed vulture
in appearance, the Augurey is greenish black. It is intensely shy, nests in bramble and thorn, eats large insects and fairies, flies only in heavy rain, and otherwise remains hidden in its
tear-shaped nest.

The Augurey has a distinctive low and throbbing cry, which was once believed to foretell death. Wizards avoided Augurey nests for fear of hearing that heart-rending sound, and more than one
wizard is believed to have suffered a heart attack on passing a thicket and hearing an unseen Augurey wail.
³
Patient research eventually revealed, however,
that the Augurey merely sings at the approach of rain.
⁴
The Augurey has since enjoyed a vogue as a home weather forecaster, though many find its almost
continual moaning during the winter months difficult to bear. Augurey feathers are useless as quills because they repel ink.

3
Uric the Oddball is known to have slept in a room containing no fewer than fifty pet Augureys. During one particularly wet winter,
Uric became convinced by the moaning of his Augureys that he had died and was now a ghost. His subsequent attempts to walk through the walls of his house resulted in what his biographer Radolphus
Pittiman describes as a “concussion of ten days’ duration.”

4
See
Why I Didn’t Die When the Augurey Cried
by Gulliver Pokeby, 1824 (Little Red Books).

B
ASILISK
(also known as the King of Serpents)

M.O.M. Classification: XXXXX

The first recorded Basilisk was bred by Herpo the Foul, a Greek Dark wizard and Parselmouth, who discovered after much experimentation that a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad
would produce a gigantic serpent possessed of extraordinarily dangerous powers.

The Basilisk is a brilliant green serpent that may reach up to fifty feet in length. The male has a scarlet plume upon its head. It has exceptionally venomous fangs but its most dangerous means
of attack is the gaze of its large yellow eyes. Anyone looking directly into these will suffer instant death.

If the food source is sufficient (the Basilisk will eat all mammals and birds and most reptiles), the serpent may attain a very great age. Herpo the Foul’s Basilisk is believed to have
lived for close on nine hundred years.

The creation of Basilisks has been illegal since medieval times, although the practice is easily concealed by simply removing the chicken egg from beneath the toad when the Department for the
Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to call. However, since Basilisks are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, they are as dangerous to most Dark wizards as to anybody else, and
there have been no recorded sightings of Basilisks in Britain for at least four hundred years.

B
ILLYWIG

M.O.M. Classification: XXX

The Billywig is an insect native to Australia. It is around half an inch long and a vivid sapphire blue, although its speed is such that it is rarely noticed by Muggles and
often not by wizards until they have been stung. The Billywig’s wings are attached to the top of its head and are rotated very fast so that it spins as it flies. At the bottom of the body is
a long thin sting. Those who have been stung by a Billywig suffer giddiness followed by levitation. Generations of young Australian witches and wizards have attempted to catch Billywigs and provoke
them into stinging in order to enjoy these side effects, though too many stings may cause the victim to hover uncontrollably for days on end, and where there is a severe allergic reaction,
permanent floating may ensue. Dried Billywig stings are used in several potions and are believed to be a component in the popular sweet Fizzing Whizbees.

B
OWTRUCKLE

M.O.M. Classification: XX

The Bowtruckle is a tree-guardian creature found mainly in the west of England, southern Germany, and certain Scandinavian forests. It is immensely difficult to spot, being
small (maximum eight inches in height) and apparently made of bark and twigs with two small brown eyes.

The Bowtruckle, which eats insects, is a peaceable and intensely shy creature but if the tree in which it lives is threatened, it has been known to leap down upon the woodcutter or tree-surgeon
attempting to harm its home and gouge at their eyes with its long, sharp fingers. An offering of woodlice will placate the Bowtruckle long enough to let a witch or wizard remove wand-wood from its
tree.

B
UNDIMUN

M.O.M. Classification: XXX

Bundimuns are found worldwide. Skilled at creeping under floorboards and behind skirting boards, they infest houses. The presence of a Bundimun is usually announced by a foul
stench of decay. The Bundimun oozes a secretion which rots away the very foundations of the dwelling in which it is found.

The Bundimun at rest resembles a patch of greenish fungus with eyes, though when alarmed it will scuttle away on its numerous spindly legs. It feeds on dirt. Scouring charms will rid a house of
an infestation of Bundimuns, though if they have been allowed to grow too large, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (Pest Sub-Division) should be contacted before
the house collapses. Diluted Bundimun secretion is used in certain magical cleaning fluids.

C
ENTAUR

M.O.M. Classification: XXXX
⁵

The centaur has a human head, torso, and arms joined to a horse’s body which may be any of several colours. Being intelligent and capable of speech, it should not strictly
speaking be termed a beast, but by its own request it has been classified as such by the Ministry of Magic (see the Introduction to this book).

The centaur is forest-dwelling. Centaurs are believed to have originated in Greece, though there are now centaur communities in many parts of Europe. Wizarding authorities in each of the
countries where centaurs are found have allocated areas where the centaurs will not be troubled by Muggles; however, centaurs stand in little need of wizard protection, having their own means of
hiding from humans.

The ways of the centaur are shrouded in mystery. They are generally speaking as mistrustful of wizards as they are of Muggles and indeed seem to make little differentiation between us. They live
in herds ranging in size from ten to fifty members. They are reputed to be well-versed in magical healing, divination, archery, and astronomy.

5
The centaur is given an XXXX classification not because it is unduly aggressive, but because it should be treated with great respect.
The same applies to merpeople and unicorns.

C
HIMAERA

M.O.M. Classification: XXXXX

The Chimaera is a rare Greek monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a dragon’s tail. Vicious and bloodthirsty, the Chimaera is extremely dangerous.
There is only one known instance of the successful slaying of a Chimaera and the unlucky wizard concerned fell to his death from his winged horse (see below) shortly afterwards, exhausted by his
efforts. Chimaera eggs are classified as Class A Non-Tradeable Goods.