This many legged creature is a dangerous predator. A sub-breed of flightless dragon with some sphinx ancestry, it traps its victims in an hypnotic gaze and drains their life force. It recites an alphabet over and over again, missing out one letter each time. The only way to escape is to work out what phrase the Alphagon is spelling out! Of course there is no guarentee it will use your alphabet...
Commonly found near bookshops, libraries and institutes of higher education (one is rumoured to live in the Oxford Gladstone Link). However if in need of a quick snack it will also lurk outside nightclubs and bars.
Rating: XXXXX
Hagrid ses' " Should prob'ly avoid unless you really like your letters."
As we all know, Hagrid is a fan of both the most fearsome of montrosities, and of more humble hobbies like say knitting, or baking rock cakes. (whether Hagrid's rock cakes count as monstrosities in and of themselves is a different question...).
So it was that one fateful Hogwarts evening Hagrid decided to share his hobbies, and promote friendly student cooperation, buy inviting a bunch of students to come to his hut to do some arts and crafts. Harry did some fingerpainting, Hermione made some origami dragons, and Ron made a surprisingly lifelike model of Dolores Umbridge from a potato. Even Draco Malfoy joined in, twisting some pipecleaners together.
At last was time to tidy up. Overcome by the success of the evening Hagrid declared "I'll do it!" and waved his pink umbrella - but alas, the broken wand backfired, and in a more furry version of Frankenstein brought Draco's pipecleaner creation to life. Unnamed Pipecleaner guy was born!
He is mostly harmless, spends his time rolling around Hagrid's cabin, and eats rock cakes. Magical properties unknown.
Rating: X
Hagrid ses' " A cute little critter! Could do with more fangs tho."
Steve is a mighty denizen of the sea. He takes the form of a giant blue three eyed squid, with big pink butterfly wings, for flying.
He has an uncertain number of tentacles at the back, and spews fire from the front.
Eats Oxford students who get a third. These students are gradually reprosessed and extreted as (slightly soggy) Nobel Prize winners, though obviously it takes manny students to make one prize winner.
Said to be attracted by the sound of champagne corks.
Rating: XXXX
Hagrid ses': "I told yers all you need to study for them exams. Nothing more embarassing than telling yeh families you've been eaten by a Steve".
The Tasmanian Anomalous Guppy is a small orange fish found in the waters of Australasia. Its chief interesting property is that it can divide into duplicates and recombine at will.
As a result, a single fish confronted by a shark can quickly become a whole shoal, while a shoal caught in a net can recombine back down to one, leading to some very dissapointed fishermen. This unusual ability was the topic of an acedemic monograph by Prof. Marchbanks of St CuB's college along with Newt Scamander (see Quibblers passim). The worldwide population could be anywhere from several billion to a single fish.
It eats plankton, crisps, jellyfish, and especially likes cheese (a popular technique of Australian Guppy fishermen is to chuck a pound of ripe Stinking Bishop into the ocean).
It is eaten by a wide variety of animals, including Haemerrhoid sharks, small Australian dragons and Hungy Wizards.
Its magical uses include multiplying potions, Oddam's stablising solution and Endless Fish and Chips^TM, a popular Wizarding snack product in the antipodes.
Rating: X
Hagrid ses': "Makes a great fry up but a bugger to catch".
The Flungular is a master of disguise. Its true form is roughly four foot high, with an irregular shaped soft yellow shell, a number of pink tentacles / feet underneath, two large eyes on prehensile stalks and a retractable mouth with many small sharp teeth. It can however camoflage itself as any number of everyday items, including wheely bins, small trees, chairs, parking meters, kebab vans and that post office box you swore wasn't there yesterday.
It's prey includes socks (always unpaired), garden gnomes, keys, stray fingers and small children
It has few natural predators with the exception of French Wizards, who consider "L'escargot des dieux" to be a national delicacy. As a result Flunguli are locally extinct in France.
Used for polyjuice potion, squelching solution, and is a rumoured ingregient in WWW puking pastels.
Rating: XXX
Hagrid ses': "Watch out for the ninth arm, and keep ahold of yeh socks".
This large dragon - the world's second largest species after the Ukranian Ironbelly - is found in the polar regions of the world, particularly Antartica and Outer Siberia. Its scales are white, to blend in with its snowy surroundings.
It has long sabertooth teeth, horns and a small plume of bushy golden feathers on its tail. However its most famous feature its its loud plaintive mating call, which can be heard for many miles around, and from which its gets its name.
Males and females use the call to find each other in the wilderness, whereupon they engage in an elaborate and rarely observed mating dance, resembling a cross between the tango and a drunk game of twister.
They eat mamoths, yaks, bears, polar explorers, overly curious naturalists and chips.
They have no natural predators.
Siberian dragon dung is said to provide a useful sort of heat in cold climates and polar bear repellent. Its blood is said to provide magical antifreeze, and its musk (from a gland under the tail) is a powerful aphrodisiac, used in the more crude forms of love potions.
Rating: XXXX
Hagrid ses': "They are just such gentle and friendly creatures. They dont always try to eat you.".