Grindylow

"A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers."

- Description

A Grindylow is a small, horned, pale-green water demon and a Dark creature.

History
Newton Scamander had several Grindylows in his suitcase during his travels to New York in 1926.

Professor Remus Lupin ordered a Grindylow in 1993 for his third year class to study for Defence Against the Dark Arts. After his resignation, he left behind the tank in which the Grindylow was kept.



One year later, the Grindylows of the Black Lake at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry attacked the students competing in the 1994-1995 Triwizard Tournament. They caused the early retirement from the task of Fleur Delacour, and harassed Harry Potter.

Behaviour
Aggressive towards witches, wizards and muggles alike, the Grindylow has only ever been tamed by merpeople; the half-fish water dwellers who sometimes keep them as pets.

Diet
Grindylows survive, for the most part, on fish, algae, and small sea creatures; however, occasionally they will eat humans (it is for this reason that they are classified as dark creatures).

Habitat
These creatures are found in the weed beds at the bottom of lakes in Great Britain and Ireland.

The Grindylow is particularly prevalent in Yorkshire, where it displays a large amount of physical variation. It is generally found in still or stagnant water. In more recent years, Grindylows have taken to urban environments such as Porter Beach in the heart of Sheffield, where they shelter in submerged shopping trolleys and traffic cones.

Physical appearance
The Grindylow is a sickly green colour, with green teeth and small pointy horns on its head. It has long, strong (albeit brittle) fingers which it uses to strangle its prey, and is a rather good swimmer.

Defence
The Grindylow has long, brittle fingers which despite their fragility are rather strong. The trick to escaping a Grindylow is to break their grip on a person; it can also be noted that the Revulsion Jinx may help with this task, as underwater it shoots jets of boiling hot water.

Behind the scenes

 * The is a name for a type of water demon said to grab little children from the edge of a body of water and drown them. The term is used in the folktales of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
 * In, the grindylow is a small creature with tentacles and two dangling tentacles on its head. In the book, there is no such description. The books also describe Grindylows as sickly green in colour; the movies depict them as beige.
 * Originally, the grindylow were meant to be more like Angler Fish according to The Creature Vault.Grindylow FB.jpg
 * Although Grindylows are aggressive and were covered in Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, they are classsified as XX by the Ministry. The reason why is most likely that they can be tamed by Merpeople.

Notes and references
Strangulot Гриндилоу Druzgotek 格林迪洛