When I was little my mother bought for me two lore books for the Harry Potter universe
One was Quidditch Through The Ages
The other which I ironically forgotten the name of (ironic because I enjoyed it so much more) was a bestiary that talked about the creatures of the universe. Many that weren't seen in the books.
I remember there was this one creature said to be a wizard family transformed into spider like maneaters by a rival wizard family. Who ate the rivals as payback but realized there was no one left to hold a wand to change them back.
I have fond memories of these books and want to know if anyone here knows what I'm talking about and if they had copies.
Strangely I've never heard anyone speak of these lore guides.
3 Comments
theTarrasque@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 11d
Fantastic beasts and where to find them?
HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 11d
Pretty sure I had the Quidditch one.. was it a thin, green book with a Snitch on the front?
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 11d
Yep, that's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Those are Quintapeds, a.k.a. Hairy MacBoons:
::: spoiler Book excerpt (click to expand) QUINTAPED
(also known as Hairy MacBoon)
M.O.M. Classification: XXXXX
The Quintaped is a highly dangerous carnivorous beast with a particular taste for humans. Its low-slung body is covered with thick reddish-brown hair, as are its five legs, each of which ends in a clubfoot. The Quintaped is found only upon the Isle of Drear off the northernmost tip of Scotland. Drear has been made unplottable for this reason.
Legend has it that the Isle of Drear was once populated by two wizarding families, the McCliverts and the MacBoons. A drunken wizarding duel between Dugald, chief of the clan McClivert, and Quintius, head of the clan MacBoon, is supposed to have led to the death of Dugald. In retaliation, so the story has it, a gang of McCliverts surrounded the MacBoon dwellings one night and Transfigured each and every MacBoon into a monstrous five-legged creature. The McCliverts realised too late that the Transfigured MacBoons were infinitely more dangerous in this state (the MacBoons had the reputation for great ineptitude at magic). Moreover, the MacBoons resisted every attempt to turn them back into human form. The monsters killed every last one of the McCliverts until no human remained on the island. It was only then that the MacBoon monsters realised that in the absence of anyone to wield a wand, they would be forced to remain as they were for evermore.
Whether this tale is true or not will never be known. Certainly there are no surviving McCliverts or MacBoons to tell us what happened to their ancestors. The Quintapeds cannot talk and have strenuously resisted every attempt by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to capture a specimen and try to Untransfigure it, so we must assume that if they are indeed, as their nickname suggests, Hairy MacBoons, they are quite happy to live out their days as beasts.
Yes, I have my physical copies of Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them from years ago, along with a third book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
I was able to find digital copies of all three within minutes by searching for "Hogwarts Library" on libgen :)
I also recall coming across these creatures in a canon-compliant fanfic where Hermione is briefly stranded on the island. If I can find it again, I'll post a link.