Bat

"A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet."

—Description of the Hallowe'en feast in 1991^[src]

The bat is a flying mammal native to many parts of the world.

Description

They are nocturnal and/or crepuscular and feed on a range of food from insects to fruits. Bats are be particularly vulnerable to the Knockback Jinx, if a need to dispatch an aggressive one arises.

It is also a possible corporeal form of the Patronus Charm^[1]

History

The Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley sells bats; there was one on display near the front door on 1 August, 1991. Bat spleens are used as a Potion ingredient. Vampire bats are covered on the Ministry-approved fifth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In 1991 at the Hallowe'en feast, the Great Hall was decorated with over a thousand live bats. Live bats were again part of the Hallowe'en feast festivities in 1993.^[2] Later that school year, in June of 1994, bats fluttered through the windows of Hagrid's Hut.^[3] A swarm of bats flew through the Forbidden Forest later that night, and Buckbeak the Hippogriff caught one, crunching noisily on it.^[3]

During the summer holidays in 1994, Harry Potter had the Dursleys convinced that Sirius Black would show up and turn them into bats if they mistreated him too badly.^[4] The Quidditch team the Ballycastle Bats's team mascot is Barny the Fruitbat.

Types of Bat

Mortis Bat
Spectre Bat
Vampire bat
Fruit bat
Flying Fox (also the world's largest chiropteran)

Behind the scenes

In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, there is a minigame where the player must catch twenty bats while riding Buckbeak before a timer runs out.
In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Avifors is used to transfigure creatures such as Dugbogs into a flock of bats.
A semi-frequent joke within the series is Severus Snape's resemblance to a bat. One such example is in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ron wonders if Snape could have beat Harry and Dumbledore to the Forbidden Forest and Harry comments "Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something." Ron replies "Wouldn't put it past him." In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, during a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, it was stated that he looked "just as much like an overgrown bat as ever."
Dobby's ears were described as being "bat-like."^[5]
In insulting Mundungus Fletcher, Arabella Figg calls him a "worthless pile of bat droppings."^[6]

Appearances

Notes and references

↑ (see this image)
↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8 (Flight of the Fat Lady)
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 2 (The Scar)
↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 2 (Dobby's Warning)
↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 1 (Dudley Demented)

[0] (see this image)

[PA8-1] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8 (Flight of the Fat Lady)

[PAF-2] 3.0 ^3.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)

[GF2-3] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 2 (The Scar)

[CS2-4] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 2 (Dobby's Warning)

[OP1-5] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 1 (Dudley Demented)

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