Lesson Seven

By UdonCrew on DeviantArt

The creature I will be journaling about today is the Redcap. Redcaps are between three and four feet in height and have grey skin with a greenish tinge and red eyes. They live anywhere that blood has been shed. Battle fields, places of tragedies, dungeons, anywhere blood has touched the Earth. The Forest of Dean and the Forbidden Forest here at Hogwarts both have Redcaps. Redcaps attack and feed on humans, using clubs or bones from their past victims to kill them. A darker red hat on a Redcap means they have made more kills. This is because Redcaps put a little blood from each victim on their hat. Mating occurs in March with birthing in August. Attraction is done by males showing females how dark their caps are and the number of bones they have from victims. Babies are called sma demonor, meaning Little Demon in Swedish. Redcaps travel in groups so offspring stay with the parents. Redcaps are very dangerous to Muggles. Wizards and witches can use the Knockback Jinx, Stunning Charm, Full Body Bind, or Immobilizing Charm to protect themselves and get away. A Beautification Potion can also be thrown on the Redcap which will distract them and give you time to escape.

The first time I encountered a Redcap was during a tour of Normandy Beach and Pointe du Hoc in France. I was wandering away from the group to look at one of the buildings farther away from the main tourist area. As I was walking through the long grass around the structure, I heard rustling in the tall grass. Turning, I ducked just in time to avoid being hit in the head by a Redcap with a bone in its hands. Startled, I stumbled backward and felt my back hit the structure behind me. Scrambling for my wand, I ran through the spells I could do to save myself. Luckily it was just one Redcap and not a whole group of them. Noting the relatively light red of this Redcaps cap, I knew I would not need a severe spell. Pulling the Stunning Charm from my box of tricks, I cast it on the Redcap as he ran at me with the bone in the air. With a small 'Eep!' of surprise, the Redcap fell over backwards and I scampered back to the main group.

All images found from Google Images and are property of their respective artists.

Lesson Five

The creature I will be journaling about is the Kneazle. Kneazle's closely resemble Muggle house cats with the exception of their large ears and tufted, lion-like tails. Kneazles can be kept as pets, but only when they like their owner. Otherwise they can be aggressive. This aggression earned them a XXX rating by the Ministry, so care should be taken when introducing a Kneazle to strangers. Kneazles are known for their intelligence and their ability to discern suspicious and untrustworthy people from those that are trustworthy. For this reason, Kneazles make good guardians of homes. Purebred Kneazle owners must have a license. Kneazles prefer to eat meat, likes rats and moles, but will eat Kneazle Kibble when provided. Kneazles are most often kept for purebred or hybrid breeding. They can be bred at 12-18 months with a gestation of 63-69 days. 

There are three breeds of Kneazle. These three breeds are the Persian, Bengal, and Somali. The Persian comes in many colors from orange to black to white and are the most common. Bengals are brown and black spotted just like Bengal house cats. Simalis are brown and burnt orange with spots and stripes. 

Kneazles are interesting because they so closely resemble house cats, but are so much more intelligent. Additionally, their ability to protect a home is indispensable if you live out where you may not be able to summon help. I live out in the country and help is not always readily available if I need it. To have a Kneazle would be great as they could warn me if someone was nearby that shouldn't be, and would be able to help keep me safe from them. Their ability to breed with cats to create hybrids is also interesting, as many species cannot easily do this.

I have had one experience with a Kneazle and it wasn't the best experience I have ever had. I was the stranger in this scenario and the Kneazle knew it. I was at my friend's place prepping her house for a surprise party, when I entered her room to find her Somali Kneazle Renner lounging on her bed. Suddenly, he leapt from the bed hissing and spitting at me. I quickly slammed the door and heard him yowling from the other side. Renner clearly did not like that I was snooping in his master's room. I decided to leave things alone until my friend arrived, not wanting to be attacked by a vicious Kneazle.

By Visk on DeviantArt

Crookshanks, Hermione Granger's famous half-Kneazle

Images are property of their creators and were found using a Google Image search.

Lesson Two

In this week's lesson we learned about Hippocampi. These creatures are very common in the mythology of many different cultures from Greek to Etruscan lore. Their name is derived from the words hippos, meaning horse, and kampos, meaning sea monster. This is appropriate, as Hippocampi are literally horse sea monsters, with the upper torso of a horse and the lower body of a fish. They are known to live approximately 45 years, but some have been observed as living up to 83 years. Males are called Stalfish while females are called Marfish, derived from the names for land horse males and females, stallion and mare respectively. Size ranges from four to six feet with the diet consisting of plants, specifically sea ferns and seaweed. They will eat coral when they must, but prefer not to. The first Hippocampus was found in the Mediterranean, but they are now found around the world. This chart from class is the best summary of where to find the different types of Hippocampus along with a physical description.

Year/Era	Location	Species Color Horse Part/Fish Part	Average Size
Greek Empire	Greece and surrounding isles	Black/Green	6 feet
1492	Spain	Palomino/Orange	5.5 feet
1949	Scotland	Blue Roan/Blue	4 feet
1955	Florida, United States	Black/Black	5 feet
1961	California, United States	Gray/Silver	5 feet
1972	Japan	White/Silver	5.5 feet

Hippocampus lay 5-10 semi-transparent eggs, usually in March with breeding in May. These eggs hatch into Tadfoal which mature between July and September, evidenced by growing to half the size of a mature Hippocampus. At this time, the Hippocampus leaves to find a mate even if mating will not occur until they are a year old. Mating pairs will make nests that are unique to that pair only. Females take care of the eggs, never sitting on them but only hovering around them and watching over them. Hippocampi live in schools of usually around 30 pairs, but sometimes more, with the leader being called the Archon. Hippocampus do not do well in captivity because they need so much space to roam. It can be done, but is not done very often. They are tolerant of wizards studying them and will alert observers if they no longer want to be observed with a shake of the head or hooves. The Archon is the one who communicates with observers. Hippocampus have many unacknowledged relatives that the Greeks do recognize, including Capricorns, Leokampus, and Taurokampos. A recognized cousin of the Hippocampus is the Kelpie.

I find Hippocampi interesting because I have an affinity to horses on land. One of my degrees is in Equine Science and I have a horse. The Hippocampus is an interesting form of a horse that makes me like the water a little more than I did before. They are also interesting because of the many artistic representations there are of them, as evidenced below. I remember the first time I saw a Hippocampus in the wild. We were vacationing in California on the coast. I have always loved the ocean and loved snorkeling and swimming, even in the chilly waters of California. I was swimming about when I got caught by a tide. Knowing the proper protocol, I tried to swim parallel to the shore to break free so I could get to safety. Unfortunately, the tide had other ideas. It took me farther out to sea. Hoping that I could escape the current by swimming under it, I tried to do so. And almost ran smack into a curious young Hippocampus! The creature was sleek, with a dappled grey coat and long silver fish tail. My fascination was overcome by distress when I realized I was being swept farther out to sea. The Hippocampus seemed to sense my alarm and starting looking at me with worried eyes. He swam close to me and waved his mane. Taking my cue, I grabbed hold. The Hippocampus swam with powerful strokes until I was free of the current and close enough to swim to shore. I thanked him with a rub on the neck and a treat of some seaweed that was tangled around my leg.

That was the coolest experience I had ever had in the ocean.

All images used in these journals were not drawn by me but was found using a Muggle search engine and selected for their appropriateness with the entries.

Lesson One

Today I will be journaling about a creature that we learned about in class - the Ashwinder. Ashwinders are thin grey snakes with glowing red eyes. They are born from the flames of an unchecked magical fire. This term is used loosely as Ashwinders are not really born from the fire, they just come from it to lay their eggs. At this time they are deemed adults. These creatures only live for an hour during which time they lay their eggs, then disappear into dust. They lay between 10 and 20 glowing red eggs at a time that give off intense heat, enough to burn a house down, meaning they should be dealt with promptly. Ashwinders leave a trail of ash behind them so they are easy to track.Only one Ashwinder can live in a house at a time, with the first one hatched living in that house with others moving out. Hatchlings will live in the fire, then leave in a month to lay eggs at which time they are an adult. Ashwinders are hermaphroditic and can self fertilize. Ashwinders move in a sideways motion.

Ashwinders are interesting because of their short lifespan. Their sole purpose in life is to reproduce. Once that is done, they die. This is very interesting because if a creatures sole purpose is to make babies, then what is it truly for? It is also interesting that the eggs can be in Love Potions, keeping in mind an Ashwinders sole purpose is to make babies. I first stumbled upon an Ashwinder in my aunt's home. She was making soup, and rather than using a mundane fire she decided to use a magical one. Unfortunately, my aunt is a bit of a scatter brain. Therefore, she left her magical fire unattended. I am assuming the Ashwinder was born when my back was turned because the next thing I really remember was a quiet sizzling sound. I looked around and saw a glowing pile of something coming from the corner. I went to investigate and saw a little grey snake. Suddenly, it disappeared in a poof! All that was left was a glowing clutch of what I later knew were eggs! I called my aunt who promptly extinguished her fire and Summoned a pot to put the eggs in. She was remarkably excited, likely due to how much she was able to sell the eggs for at the Apothecary.

Images courtesy of Google Search and have not been made by me. All credit goes to their resspective artists.