Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’re going to be discussing, you guessed it, MONSTERS.
Now, in the past I’ve made several videos discussing various magical creatures- and
I almost always refer to these ‘creatures’ as well, creatures or beasts.
But today, we’re going to be discussing a very different type of ‘beast’- we’re
going to be discussing the MONSTERS of the wizarding world- that is, beasts so horrifying
that they warrant their own terminology.
But, we’re not just going to be discussing any old monsters, we’re going to be tackling
and listing off all of the known monsters found within the MONSTER BOOK of Monsters.
If you aren’t familiar with the Monster Book of Monsters, well, allow me to jog your
memory.
The book properly comes to our attention quite early on in the story, when Hagrid supplies
Harry with the book for his 13th birthday.
He gives Harry the book because it’s a requirement for his third year at Hogwarts.
More specifically- it’s a required textbook for the Care of Magical Creatures class.
The book was written by a wizard named Edwardus Lima sometime before 1932, and serves as a
tome for magizoologists (however few there may be).
Known for it’s..volatile nature, the book is exceedingly difficult to open, primarily
due to the fact that it’ll try to bite the readers fingers off.
"How do we open our books?"
Malfoy repeated.
He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length
of rope.
Other people took theirs out too; some, like Harry, had belted their books shut; others
had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.
"Hasn'--hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen.
The class all shook their heads.
"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing
in the world.
"Look--"
So, provided that the book itself is a kind of monster, I can’t help but wonder what
lies within.
Are these monsters as bad the book would suggest?
Let’s dive in to it.
Alizor of Westacottus
Alizor of Westacottus was a magical creature with a round torso, long, spindly limbs, large
feet, large, round ears and a long, pointed nose.
In my opinion, Alizor almost looks like a mix between a goblin from Harry Potter and
Gollum from Lord of the Rings.
In the Monster Book of Monsters Alizor of Westacottus is depicted with a snarl, wearing
a pointed helmet.
Coco Rumsey Catcher
The Coco Rumsey Catcher is a small humanoid magical creature that resembles a cornish
pixie in appearance.
It’s likely that they come from the same family of creatures.
Not much can be said of the Coco Rumsey Catcher, other than that they appear to enjoy picking
flowers.
Daraliznof Freaazer
The Daraliznof Freaazer was a humanoid magical creature with large, bulging eyes and pointed
ears.
I can only assume, based on the appearance of the Daraliznof Freaazer, that they are
somehow related to house-elves and goblins.
Manticore
The manticore notably originates from Persian mythology, and was later adopted by the Greeks
and medieval Europeans.
The Manticore can best be described by Magizoologist Newt Scamander.
"The Manticore is a highly dangerous Greek beast with the head of a man, the body of
a lion and the tail of a scorpion.
As dangerous as the Chimaera, and as rare, the Manticore is reputed to croon softly as
it devours its prey.
Manticore skin repels almost all known charms and the sting causes instant death."
The Manticore is also referenced by Hermione Granger in the Prisoner of Azkaban, speaking
to its savagery.
"— a manticore savaged someone in 1296, and they let the manticore off — oh — no,
that was only because everyone was too scared to go near it."
I think that the Manticore is truly befitting of the title of Monster.
Gringwart Goff
The Gringwart Goff is, in my opinion, the scariest looking creature from this list.
In appearance, the Gringwart Goff resembles a sort of devilish looking troll.
It sports long horns on its head, small, bat-like wings on its back, and two-fingered claw-like
hands.
Hippogriff
Hippogriff’s are likely one of the only monsters you’ve actually heard of on this
list, magical beasts that have the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle and the torso,
hind legs and tail of a horse.
They come in all sorts of colours including stormy grey, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming
chestnut, and inky black.
Hippogriff’s were dangerous carnivorous creatures, BUT could be trained by the right
witch or wizard.
Hagrid discusses the Hippogriff in great detail during one of his lessons:
"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud.
Easily offended, hippogriffs are.
Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do.
Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move.
It's polite, see?
Yeh walk towards him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait.
If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him.
If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."
At one stage in the Harry Potter books and films we’re introduced to Buckbeak- a hippogriff
that Hagrid introduces to students in his Care for Magical Creatures class.
However- Buckbeak didn’t exactly have the same relationship with all of the students.
Harry- for example, was able to ride Buckbeak- but Draco didn’t have the same experience.
Draco ends up taunting buckbeak,to which he receives an injury.
Completely furious- Draco ends up trying to get Buckbeak killed- with the hippogriff eventually
being sentenced to death by the Ministry of Magic.
FORTUNATELY, Buckbeak is eventually saved by Harry, Hermione, and the Time-Turner.
Limax
The Limax was a magical creature with a snake-like lower body, frog-like head, and four arms.
They are known for being able to wield a variety of weapons at once.
It’s likely that the Limax’s name is inspired by a genus of air-breathing land slugs that
share the same name.
Miraf Leldendi
Miraf Leldendi was a magical creature resembling a humanoid-like plant with roots.
Due to its similarities in appearance to a Mandrake, another magical sentient plant resembling
humans, it’s likely that they’re from the same family.
Nazzle Mumphs
Nazzle Mumphs are magical creatures which resemble both Cornish Pixies and the Coco
Rumsey Catcher.
The most obvious differences are a lack of wings and a much rounder belly.
They also look even MORE menacing, if that’s possible.
Shelliferous Drogodflikerous
I know I said earlier that the Alizor of Westacottus resembles Golum from Lord of the Rings, but
I think that the Shelliferous Drogodflikerous resembles him even more, despite the wings.
However, there is one massive distinction here: The Shelliferous Drogodflikerous is
only the size of a quill!
This humanoid creature had round, deep-set eyes, a round belly, and large flat feet.
Sphinx
You guys MUST know this one already, that is, as long as you’ve read the books.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, published by Newt Scamander, describes the Sphinx as
follows:
"The Egyptian sphinx has a human head on a lion’s body.
For over a thousand years it has been used by witches and wizards to guard valuables
and secret hideaways.
Highly intelligent, the sphinx delights in puzzles and riddles.
It is usually dangerous only when what it is guarding is threatened."
Troll of Nadroj The Troll of Nadroj was a breed of troll,
sharing the ‘troll’ name along with River Trolls, Mountain Trolls and Forest Trolls.
The Troll of Nadroj is very similar in appearance to a mountain troll, but differes in that
they possess huge hands with clawed, disproportionately long fingers.
Valcore Valcores were humanoid-like creatures of IMMENSE
size that were able to rip entire trees out of the ground with ease.
Apparently a standard valcore is approximately 8x the size of a normal adult human, which
is scary if we consider the fact that they are extremely HOSTILE towards humans.
Valcores have large heads covered in blunt thorns, thin arms and thick legs.
And that’s it for this video!
Had you heard of all of these creatures?
Which ones were NEW to you?
Leave a comment down below and as always, if you enjoyed the content, please consider
liking the video and subscribing to the channel.
Until next time
Remember
If you listen carefully enough, the past whispers to you.