The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter Read online

  Boomslang

  A boomslang (prounounced boo-um-slung in Africa; boom-slang everywhere else) is a large, fast-moving, highly poisonous African snake that’s also called the tree snake. Boomslang is a relatively unknown snake that came to prominence in Agatha Christie’s Death in the Clouds (1935), in which a passenger is killed on a plane trip with a dart poisoned with boomslang venom. The shredded skin is an ingredient in Polyjuice Potion (see Chapter 11).

  Cat

  Cats and magic have been linked for hundreds of years, in a variety of ways:• Cats and witches were nearly constant companions; cats were the pet of choice for single women (and, often, still are today), but a cat living with a single, older woman often led to a suspicion of witchcraft.

  • Cats were believed to have nine lives, allowing them to repeatedly escape death.

  • Cats were believed to be shapeshifters that attacked children in the night.

  • Cats were believed to be able to store disease; thus, a witch could transfer disease from a person to a cat, and vice-versa.

  • Cats were believed to have an effect on crops, either assuring a bounty or causing ruin.

  • Black cats were (and still are by some) believed to be bad luck, or even a representation of the Devil.

  In the wizarding world, cats are not exceedingly dangerous or even interesting. They are simply common pets. Two pet cats, however, are worth noting in the wizarding world:• Mrs. Norris, the cat that belongs to the Hogwarts caretaker, was named for a character in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, a character who was a snob of the highest order.

  • Crookshanks (shanks meaning “legs;” therefore, “crooked legs”) is the pet of Hermione Granger. Bow-legged, highly intelligent, and a beautiful gingery-orange color, Crookshanks is part cat, part Kneazle, thereby accounting for its intelligence and discernment.

  Note that, although dogs and wizards are hardly ever mentioned together, dogs do exist in the wizarding world. From a slobbering pet boarhound to a three-headed dog to the Grim (a black dog that predicts death), dogs have their place in the wizarding world.

  Dragon

  In both Western and Eastern tradition, the dragon is a gigantic, winged, fire-breathing, sharp-eyed, reptilian creature whose love of shiny objects leads it to plunder treasure, especially brilliant jewels and gold.

  In German mythology, the dragon is known as the “firedrake,” and in classic dragon form, it breathes fire, hordes treasure, and kidnaps fair maidens.

  In Ancient China, in particular, but also to some extent in other cultures, the dragon is revered, not feared. In Asian traditions, however, dragons generally do not fly, and they also have the power to change size, even becoming so small as to disappear altogether.

  In the Bible, dragons—often interchangeable with snakes—are linked to the Devil, an enemy of God (as noted in Psalms, Job, Isaiah, and Revelations), and this belief prevailed throughout the Middle East. Perhaps the most well-known dragon is in Chapter 14 of Daniel (a chapter that doesn’t exist in many Bibles; when it does, it’s often subtitled “Bel and the Dragon”), which tells the story of a dragon who is worshipped as a God. Daniel kills this dragon and feeds it to lions.

  The wizarding world abounds with dragons, which are key to the banking industry, as they are particularly useful in protecting valuables. Dragons cannot be Stunned by a single wizard, so they are difficult to get past. Dragon blood is also full of magical qualities, as are other parts of dragons, which are used in potions. Dragon eggs are sometimes sold (illegally; the practice was outlawed in 1709) to wizards who want to try to raise dragons; the fire-breathing baby dragons are soon, however, too much to manage.

  Several dragon species have been identified throughout the wizarding world, including the following:• Chinese Fireball: Also called Liondragon, this red dragon originated in the East and does (as its name suggests) produce a ball of fire from its snout.

  • Common Welsh Green: This native of the British Isles blends with the lush, green countryside and is happy living on sheep, not humans.

  • Hebridean Black: Another British dragon, the Hebridean Black is more dangerous than the Common Welsh Green.

  • Hungarian Horntail: This exceedingly dangerous dragon can breathe fire up to 50 feet in distance.

  • Norwegian Ridgeback: Like the Hebridean Black, the Norwegian Ridgeback has a line of sharp ridges down its spine.

  • Swedish Short-Snout: This blue-gray dragon, less aggressive than most, is the source of most dragon-related equipment (gloves, especially) that are needed to protect wizards from intense heat. Dragon skin (used in boots, gloves, and coats) is also just cool.

  Four others—Antipodean Opaleye (with opal-like eyes), Peruvian Vipertooth (with exceedingly poisonous teeth), Romanian Longhorn (with, as you might expect, long horns), and Ukrainian Ironbelly (the largest and heaviest dragon in the world)—are known to exist in the wizarding world, but are not integral to any storylines.

  Ghoul

  Ghouls originate in Arabic folklore (called ghuls), where they are demonic shapeshifters who can always be identified by their cloven hooves. Ghouls even have cannibalistic tendencies. In more recent folktales, ghouls have retained both their abilities to change forms and their taste for humans as they change themselves into dogs or other animals, rob graves, and feast on dead bodies.

  In the wizarding world, ghouls may live in wizard attics, but they’re not cannibals—they eat spiders and moths and tend to be thought of as family pets. Otherwise, we know little about them and how they may differ from the ghouls of lore.

  Gnome

  In folkloric tradition, gnomes are old, often bearded creatures about the size of children but never youthful in their appearance. They are much like dwarves, and dwarves are, perhaps, the only mythical or folkloric creature not to have a place in the wizarding world—no dwarves are ever mentioned in Rowling’s novels. (Dwarves, of course, have a rich literary status, from Snow White’s seven dwarves to Tolkien’s band of 12 dwarf travelers in The Hobbit and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings.)

  Instead, the wizarding world is plagued by a common household pest known as the garden gnome. Not to be confused with the ceramic lawn gnomes that were popular in the 1970s in North America, garden gnomes dig around in gardens, wreaking havoc, and must be plucked out by a wizard, swung around until dizzy, and then heaved into a neighbor’s yard. Garden gnomes, like house elves, score high on the list of Rowling’s most unique and original interpretations of mythological, folkloric, and literary traditions.

  Kappa

  A Kappa is a water sprite from Japanese mythology, and like most sprites, it is a mischievous—even murderous—creature. Japanese Kappas in legends (and in some supposed “sightings”) are thought to look like monkeys, but with scales and webbed hands and feet that allow them to inhabit small bodies of water. Kappas also are thought to have a depression atop their heads, which fills with water. However, if the water spills, the Kappa loses its strength, thus Japanese children were told to always bow to everyone they met, in case they met a Kappa, who would return the gesture and spill the water from its head. Oh, the stories we tell to get children to behave!

  Fittingly, wizard Kappas are scaly, web-appendaged, monkeylike creatures who strangle anyone going into their body of water. As in Japanese culture, bowing to a Kappa tricks it into draining its strength.

  Rat

  Rats are the gerbils and hamsters of the wizarding world: rodents that are kept as pets. The fact that cats are also a common wizard pet does make for some awkward moments; a rat owner and a cat owner would probably not, for example, start dating. Rat pieces also sometimes make their way into potions (see Chapter 11).

  Other wizard pets are what you might expect: rabbits; toads; snails; ravens; and owls. All have long associations with magic, witches, or wizards!

  Re’em

  Wizard Re’em are huge, golden oxen whose blood—like that of the unicorn—gives the drinker great strength. However, unlike unicorn blood,
Re’em blood will not curse one who drinks it.

  The Old Testament refers to the Hebrew re’em, which translates to “wild ox,” although it has also been translated as “unicorn” and “rhinoceros.” Either way, this is an animal with a large horn in the center of its forehead.

  Troll

  Sometimes synonymous with “giant,” the troll originated in Scandinavian folklore as a creature who lives in a castle and terrorizes people. In later versions, trolls hang out in (or under) mountains and kidnap young maidens. Later, they camp out under bridges.

  In the wizarding world, trolls are reported to live near Poland, and they are somewhat different from giants—shorter, for one, at just twelve feet high—although they do look rather similar. With exceedingly long arms that drag on the floor, wizarding trolls carry clubs that they swing around viciously.

  Trolls—especially those that live under bridges—have been lurking in literature for ages. And take a close look at the trolls in both the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie. Same troll? Brothers? Cousins? It’s eerie.

  Vampire

  A vampire, or revenant, is a legendary shapeshifter (usually taking the form of a bat) that lives off the blood of humans and, after biting, turns them into vampires as well. According to legend, a vampire can be killed only when a wooden stake is driven into its heart. Long given attention in Gothic tales, the most famous vampire is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was turned into a movie in 1931. Anne Rice’s more recent novels, along with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and TV series, have kept both the legend of and interest in vampires alive.

  Although not often mentioned in the wizarding world, vampires do hang out in pubs and associate freely with the wizarding community. They’re not well liked, but they’re not attacked with Holy Water, crosses, and stakes, either.

  Veela

  Wila (also spelled Wili, Willi, and Vila, but always pronounced VEEL-uh) are Slavic and Polish mythological nymphs or water fairies who are stunningly beautiful, with entrancing voices. Their greatest danger is that they seduce men with their beauty, such that men forget to eat, drink, and sleep. Although they appear human, they are not, and they can turn vicious in a moment.

  Beautiful women who cause men to forget themselves, and then turn vicious. Hmmm. These tales smack of sour grapes on the part of men who have loved beautiful women and been rebuffed, but the presence of these fairies persists in legend and folklore.

  Wizarding veelas are strikingly similar; they dance and sing as a means of entrancing men, but can turn hideous when provoked.

  Yeti

  The yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman, is a twentieth-century legend of a Tibetan creature that appears to be part man, part beast and leaves large footprints in the snow. Yeti sightings were common in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. The creature is described as being covered with white hair and standing twice as tall as most humans. Pictures of this creature nearly always show him running, and such pictures have graced many a tabloid cover.

  Wizards believe that the yeti is actually a troll, or at least is a close relative to the common troll.

  Wizard-Only Creatures

  The creatures in this section spring from the creative genius of J.K. Rowling. Although similar creatures may exist in literature, these creatures do not exist in this form and with these names in any other writings or traditions. Where appropriate, however, the possible origins of the names are discussed.

  Acromantula

  Acromantulas are enormous spiders, nearly identical in description to Tolkien’s Shelob the Great (in The Two Towers), a giant spider who drinks the blood of men and other creatures to keep her huge body fed. In the wizarding world, not just one but an entire population of such spiders exists in colonies, including in the Forbidden Forest. Their venom is valuable, but Acromantulas are difficult to kill and usually eat their dead, so the venom is nearly impossible to procure.

  The origins of this word are debatable. The prefix acro (from the Greek akros, meaning point or top) means highest, thus alluding to the size of these spiders. Mantula, however, is not a known word, although many have postulated that it is derived from tarantula. However, just as likely, the name originated with a British sports car company, Marcos, which made, among other models, both the Mantula and the Spider. Both models were popular about the time Rowling was coming of age in Great Britain.

  Bowtruckle

  Bowtruckles are creatures who live in wizard wand-trees (see Chapter 3) and guard them fiercely, poking out the eyes of anyone who tries to take the wood from their trees without permission. They, therefore, protect the trees, a role of historical importance in Celtic mythology, when trees were considered sacred. Bowtruckles are the environmental activists of the wizarding world, the equivalent of someone building and living in a tree house for a few years to keep a development company from bulldozing a wooded or forested area.

  Bow likely comes from the Old English bur, meaning dwelling place and from which the word bough is derived. (A bower is an enclosure made of boughs or vines.) Truckle is from the Middle English trocle, which has come to have a meaning of servility or submission. Hence, “servant of the boughs.”

  Dementor

  Dementors are unique to the wizarding world: they are the prison guards at Azkaban who quite literally suck the happiness right out of people just by their mere presence. And their Kiss is even worse: most people, devoid of hope and peace, die soon after such a Kiss. See Chapter 15 for more on dementors and Azkaban prison.

  Dementors are described very much like the Grim Reaper: a cloaked and hooded skeletal figure that seems to almost glide along. With such a description, they also call to mind Tolkien’s ringwraiths, who are skeletal ghosts of men, too tormented to die, but still able to kill others and hunt down the One Ring that holds their power. The roles of the ringwraiths and dementors are quite different, however, as the ringwraiths live with the hope of returning to glory via the recapture of the Ring; dementors have no such goal and guard Azkaban because it gives them fresh resources (happiness, hope, and peace) to suck out and live on.

  Diricawl

  The Diricawl, although a minor wizarding creature, bears mention in this chapter because of its unique explanation of what Muggles call “extinction.” The Diricawl is, in fact, the same creature as the dodo bird, which Muggles believe no longer exists, hunted as it was in its prime. What Muggles fail to realize is that the dodo/Diricawl is actually a magical bird that can disappear at will. It isn’t extinct, but rather, hiding undercover for a while.

  Doxy

  Doxies (also called Biting Fairies) have fairylike little bodies and wings, with an extra pair of arms, but there’s nothing cute about them: they’re fuzzy, with thick, dark hair and they lash out with poisonous bites. They hide out in curtains and must be disposed of with Doxycide (see Chapter 11).

  Inferius

  From the Latin inferi, meaning “the dead,” Inferi (the plural of Inferius) are corpses that Dark Wizards have placed under a spell and used as part of an army. These are not creatures who have been brought back to life or given the ability to think or choose, but instead are used as a shield and a means of frightening the bejesus out of wizards. Inferi are somewhat similar to the bodies in the Dead Marshes in Tolkien’s The Two Towers, who look to be dead people with their eyes open, but humans who are alive are strangely drawn to them and can join them, if they’re not careful.

  Inferi is, along with Hades, the name given to the underworld in Roman mythology. The gods of the underworld were known as Inferi Dii.

  Jobberknoll

  The Jobberknoll is a small, unusual bird that is barely noticed throughout its life but, upon its death, regurgitates, in backward order, every sound it has ever heard, in a high-pitched scream. The name may be literal, in that a “jobber” is a middle man, and, in a sense, this bird acts as a middleman for all that it hears in its life, taking in all the sounds and letting them all ou
t again later. (A “knoll” is a small hill.) On the other hand, the name may simply be a tribute to Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwock, the monster of his poem “Jabberwocky.”

  Kneazle

  The Kneazle is a magical creature much like a cat, but with the tail of a lion. Kneazles are fiercely independent and intelligent, with the bonus of having a natural radar for devious behavior in wizards. Because they can be dangerous, wizard owners must be licensed to own a Kneazle.

  Lethifold

  The Lethifold (or Living Shroud) is a deadly magical creature resembling a black cloak that floats along the ground. No, really—it’s one of the scariest things ever invented! As if a wizard, vampire, or other such creature wearing a black cloak wouldn’t be scary enough, a Lethifold is just the cloak, but it’s deadly. It surrounds you, suffocates you, and then feasts on you. It’s repelled by a Patronus Charm, but you have to be alert enough to use it before you’re suffocated. Thankfully, this creature is rumored to exist only near the Equator.

  The word Lethifold likely derives from lethal (meaning deadly) and fold (that thing you do when you put your clothes in a drawer). Lethe is also the river of forgetfulness that flowed through Hades—if you drink this water, you lose your memory.