Ashwinder at the Magical Creatures Reserve

Ashwinder at the Magical Creatures Reserve
Physical information
Species	Ashwinder
Eye colour	Red
Skin colour	Blue-grey
Affiliation
Loyalty	Magical Creatures Reserve

This Ashwinder lived in the Magical Creatures Reserve in the 1980s.

Biography

In the 1980s, Jacob's sibling would often bond with and feed this Ashwinder.

On a cold night during the 1989–1990 school year, Rubeus Hagrid conjured a small fire in his hut in order to keep both him and Fang warm. However, he fell asleep soon afterwards, forgetting to put the fire out. Upon waking up, Hagrid realised that the magical fire had been burning for long enough to produce an Ashwinder, which escaped before Hagrid could capture it and bring it to the Magical Creatures Reserve, startling Fang in the process. Fearing that the Ashwinder might have slithered into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and laid eggs within the castle, which could lead to a severe fire in the school, Hagrid called Jacob's sibling to his hut and informed them of the situation. Knowing that Jacob's sibling had befriended this Ashwinder, Hagrid asked them to help him find the newly-birthed Ashwinder before it could lay its eggs, to which Jacob's sibling agreed. Jacob's sibling travelled to the Magical Creatures Reserve and collected this Ashwinder before heading back to Hogwarts to meet up with Hagrid, who had followed the newly-birthed Ashwinder's ash trail and alerted them to a supposed sighting of it in the Hogwarts kitchens.

Upon arriving at the kitchens and learning of the situation, this Ashwinder sensed movement in a nearby cauldron in the kitchen's fire and slithered towards it, catching the attention of Jacob's sibling and Hagrid. At this, the newly-birthed Ashwinder emerged from the cauldron and slithered out of it. However, before Hagrid and Jacob's sibling could capture the Ashwinder and bring it to the Magical Creatures Reserve, the Ashwinder immediately collapsed into ash, which Hagrid realised meant that it had already laid its eggs somewhere in the castle. Fearing that the heat of the eggs could cause a severe fire within the castle, Jacob's sibling and Hagrid immediately decided to start searching for where they might be hidden. As they had found the Ashwinder in the kitchens, Jacob's sibling suggested that they start their search for the eggs there. However, even after extensive searching of the kitchens, the eggs were nowhere to be found. Jacob's sibling noticed an ash trail entering the kitchens, suggesting that the Ashwinder must have laid its eggs somewhere else before entering the kitchens and and that following it could lead to their location. However, before they could follow the ash trail, it was swept away by Pitts and destroyed, meaning that Jacob's sibling and Hagrid's one lead to the eggs' location was lost. In order to try to find the eggs quickly, Hagrid suggested that he and Jacob's sibling should split up to cover more ground, to which Jacob's sibling agreed. Hagrid planned to continue searching the rooms around the kitchens, suggesting that Jacob's sibling should find and talk to Professor Silvanus Kettleburn for help, although he stated that, despite his love of magical creatures, Kettleburn had an uncomfortable history with Ashwinders, to Jacob's sibling's surprise.

Upon encountering Kettleburn in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, the professor noticed this Ashwinder with Jacob's sibling and immediately grew uncomfortable. Kettleburn initially tried to rebuff Jacob's sibling, unwilling to tell them about what had happened with Ashwinders in his past and believing himself unable to help them because of it, but Jacob's sibling eventually managed to convince him to explain what had happened. Kettleburn explained how, during Armando Dippet's term as Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was assisting with a Christmas pantomime of The Fountain of Fair Fortune when he accidentally provided an Ashwinder enlarged with the Engorgement Charm instead of a worm to play the gigantic white worm in the story. By the time the mistake was realised, the Ashwinder had already laid its eggs, which nearly burned down all of Hogwarts. Fearful of history repeating itself, Kettleburn was still unwilling to help Jacob's sibling with their Ashwinder problem, but Jacob's sibling was successfully able to convince him to move past his fears in order to assist with the emergency situation. Kettleburn suggested that the Ashwinder might have laid its eggs in a cold, dark, and isolated place. Upon hearing Kettleburn off-handedly comment that these descriptions exactly fit the places where Professor Severus Snape would go to mope, Jacob's sibling suggested that the eggs might have been laid in the cold and dark Slytherin common room and decided to rush over there in order to see if the eggs were still there.

Upon arriving at the Slytherin Common Room, Jacob's sibling and this Ashwinder met up with Barnaby Lee, who was initially nervous of the Ashwinder's presence before having the situation explained to him. Having done research on Ashwinders himself, Barnaby offered to help Jacob's sibling look for the Ashwinder's eggs. Upon suggesting that the eggs might be located behind a bookshelf in the common room, Jacob's sibling and Barnaby approached it, with Barnaby noticing that the area around the bookshelf was much warmer than it had been previously. This Ashwinder immediately started getting nervous and slithered behind the bookshelf, emerging moments later with the eggs from the other Ashwinder. Jacob's sibling and Barnaby planned out how they were going to move the extremely hot eggs out of the Slytherin Common Room, eventually deciding to freeze the eggs with the Freezing Spell in order to safely carry them. The two students hurried to the Charms Classroom to speak with Professor Filius Flitwick in order to brush up on the casting of the Freezing Spell.

Upon arriving at the Charms Classroom, Jacob's sibling found that Barnaby had explained the urgency of the situation to Flitwick and further explained that they needed to use the Freezing Spell in order to freeze eggs. Realising that the only eggs that would need freezing were Ashwinder eggs, Flitwick immediately recalled the danger that Ashwinder eggs in Hogwarts had previously caused, blaming himself for the accident by asserting that he had brought bad luck to Hogwarts by putting on the first play since Headmaster Dippett had banned them following the ill-fated Christmas pantomime. However, Jacob's sibling and Barnaby were able to assuage Flitwick's fears by reminding him that the incident was an accident and letting him know that Professor Kettleburn had agreed to help them, surprising Flitwick. Upon being reassured by the two students that their plan would work, Flitwick helped them review the casting of the Freezing Spell. After testing Jacob's sibling's casting of the spell by having them use it on Barnaby at Barnaby's request, Flitwick told Jacob's sibling to hurry and freeze the Ashwinder eggs while he thawed out Barnaby.

Jacob's sibling sent an owl to Professor Kettleburn telling him to meet with them in the Slytherin Common Room to help remove the eggs. Upon meeting up with Kettleburn, Jacob's sibling informed him of their plan to use the Freezing Spell to freeze the eggs before they could start a fire until they could find a use for them. Although Kettleburn was still unsure of the plan, Barnaby, who had arrived back at the common room after being thawed out by Flitwick, and Jacob's sibling reassured Kettleburn that they could cast the Freezing Spell successfully, assuaging Kettleburn's fears. Jacob's sibling cast the Freezing Spell on the eggs, successfully being able to freeze them before they could start a fire. However, when Kettleburn approached the eggs to move them out of the common room, this Ashwinder slithered around them protectively, refusing to let him take the eggs. Kettleburn suggested that Jacob's sibling should take the eggs from this Ashwinder instead, claiming that his bond with the creature was not as strong as Jacob's sibling's was. However, Jacob's sibling suggested that this situation could enable Kettleburn to finally face his fears regarding Ashwinders, to which Kettleburn agreed. Jacob's sibling was able to successfully help Kettleburn start to bond with this Ashwinder, with Kettleburn admitting that his fear had been misplaced, as it wasn't the creature's fault that he had made a mistake during the Christmas pantomime.

Having finally developed a connection between Kettleburn and this Ashwinder, Jacob's sibling reminded him that they still needed to decide what to do with the now frozen eggs. Kettleburn suggested that he and Jacob's sibling should take the eggs to the Care of Magical Creatures classroom for safe-keeping while they decided, to which Jacob's sibling agreed. The two met Hagrid at the classroom, with Kettleburn explaining what had happened regarding the eggs. Hagrid was proud of Jacob's sibling's efforts, but remarked that they still needed to decide what to do with the eggs. Kettleburn stated that Albus Dumbledore would likely refuse to allow the eggs to remain on the Hogwarts grounds. Moreover, Jacob's sibling asserted that, in order to convince this Ashwinder to let them move the eggs, they had promised it that they would find a noble use for the eggs. After discussing the uses of Ashwinder eggs and finding out their uses in love potions and Felix Felicis and as a cure for ague, Jacob's sibling decided to donate the eggs to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to use as a cure for ague, as healing the sick was more noble than creating luck or love. Hagrid, Kettleburn, and this Ashwinder gave their consent to this idea, with Kettleburn asserting that the eggs would now heal rather than harm.

Hagrid expressed surprise that Kettleburn had managed to bond with this Ashwinder, with Kettleburn thanking Jacob's sibling for convincing him to give Ashwinders a second chance. Hagrid also thanked Jacob's sibling for their help, asserting that they had formed an unbreakable bond with this Ashwinder. At this moment, this Ashwinder quickly crawled up Jacob's sibling's body and wrapped itself around them, showcasing its strong trust and bond with Jacob's sibling.

Behind the scenes

• The Ashwinder's name, just like all creatures in the Magical Creatures Reserve, can be customised by the player. The dialogue of the quest will subsequently change according to the name determined by the player.
• Despite previous canon materials, including the "Cold as Ice" side-quest that introduces this Ashwinder, stating that Ashwinders only have a lifespan of around an hour, this Ashwinder appears to have survived for much longer. However, this is likely simply due to game mechanics.

Appearances

• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (First appearance)

Notes and references

	Magical Creatures Reserve