Care of Magical Creatures is an elective at Hogwarts, available to upper classmen. Throughout the course, students learn about a wide range of magical creatures and are taught about the care and husbandry.
Similar to herbology, the further into a student’s education the more difficult and dangerous the creatures become. The witches and wizards who succeed in the subject later become Magizoologists, like Newt Scamander.
For this class students are required to become familiar with the many magical creatures you may encounter both at Hogwarts and in the outside world. Students should begin with the following:
- Owl
- Hippogriff
- Phoenix
- Unicorn
- Werewolf
- Centaur
- Basilisk
- Elf
“C’mon, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comon’ up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!” ~ Rubeus Hagrid at his first Care of Magical Creatures lesson
Students are required to keep a field notebook in which a two-page spread is created for each magical creature studied. For each magical creature you study:
- Make a sketch of the creature, labeling important features
- List any historical or literary references to the creature
- Describe its natural habitat
- Discuss its habits, temperament, and relationship to humans
- List its magical properties
- Explain the care and feeding of the creature
Advanced students may choose additional magical creatures to study. Take care to choose wisely, as your knowledge of magical creatures could one day prevent a terrible injury or death.
Magical Properties of Dragons
You’ve likely already discovered the magical property of dragon scales while researching and preparing your field notes above. Now you will learn about the properties of dragon skin and dragon down (the fluffy feathers from underneath the wing).
Young wizards and witches should have adult supervision as all parts of a dragon are highly flammable. A fire-proof cauldron is advised.
Dragon Skin: take thin slices of dragon skin and hold them next to an open flame. Bend the skin, squeezing until it bursts. You should see tiny sparks fly as the fire-breathing properties are released. This should be done very close to the flame.
Dragon Down: Put a small quantity of dragon down into a cauldron. Touch the end of a 9 volt battery lightly to the down to release the fire-breathing properties.
(Note to professors: muggles will know these items as orange peel and steel wool.)
Genetics
Students watch a video clip from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to learn about genetic traits. Specifically, they realize that the ability to speak parseltongue (being able to speak to snakes) is a genetic trait possessed by some characters and their parents. Students explore the use of Punnett squares to predict trait inheritance, learning about genotypes and phenotypes.
This post is part of a five-day hopscotch. Join me each day this week as we dive into each course.
Care of Magical Creatures (Zoology) – this post