Blast-Ended Skrewt

Blast-Ended Skrewt
Species information
Eye colour	None
Skin colour	Pale
Related to	Fire Crab Manticore
Native to	Hogwarts Castle
Alternative names	Bang-Ended Scoots (by Rita Skeeter)
Length of average adult	10 ft
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Resemble pale, slimy, deformed shell-less lobsters or scorpions Covered in grey, shiny armour Males have stingers, females have suckers to suck blood Aggressive temperament and repulsive appearance Shoot fire from their rear end
Affiliation	Rubeus Hagrid
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast
Status	Unknown, possibly extinct

"I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive. Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

— Draco Malfoy's sarcastic comment on the creatures

The Blast-Ended Skrewt was a magical hybrid beast bred by Rubeus Hagrid in the autumn of 1994, by cross-breeding Manticores and Fire Crabs. Whether Hagrid used magic or somehow got the two different species to mate remains unknown.

Description

"They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small phut, it would be propelled forward several inches."

— Harry Potter's perception of Blast-Ended Skrewts

A young Blast-Ended Skrewt on a leash

Newly hatched Skrewts looked like pale, slimy deformed shell-less lobsters or scorpions. They had legs sticking out at odd angles. They were about six inches long and smelled strongly of rotten fish. Sparks flew out of their rear ends every so often, which propelled them forward a few inches. The males had stingers and the females had suckers on their body to suck blood. The skrewts did not hibernate during winter.

After about two months, Skrewts grew to about three feet long and became extremely ill tempered, making it hard to get close to one. They grew grey, shiny armour over their pale bodies and began to resemble a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs. The males held their stingers over their backs, and were highly dangerous and repulsive.

After several months, Skrewts grew to about ten feet long, and were incredibly dangerous (and probably quite lethal). They resembled giant scorpions with stingers curled over their backs. Their shiny armour deflected most spells, and they used their blasts to propel themselves at a foe. Its single undefended spot was its armour-less underside.

History

Draco Malfoy: "And why would we want to raise them? I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?"

Rubeus Hagrid: "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things — I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer — I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake — just try 'em out with a bit of each."

— Hagrid having fourth-year students feed his Blast-Ended Skrewts in class

Hagrid began breeding the Skrewts at the beginning of September, and had several hundred. At some point, they became too numerous, so Hagrid relocated them to a makeshift nursery in the Forbidden Forest ruins. By the following June, he only had a few left, some of which was later placed in the Triwizard Maze. Hagrid never discovered what they ate, although he did mention that he managed to get them to eat ant eggs, Grass Snake and frog livers to start with, and had his fourth-year Care of Magical Creatures feed the Skrewts frog livers at the start of the 1994–1995 school year. They often killed each other off, so it is not surprising they died so quickly. It is unknown what became of the last Skrewt.

Rita Skeeter claimed that the Daily Prophet had a zoological column every Wednesday and said that the Bang-Ended Scoots could be the event that day if Hagrid gave an interview. However, the Skrewts never did feature in the Daily Prophet's zoological column. Several of these Skrewts were placed inside the Triwizard Tournament maze, and Harry defeated one of them by using the Impediment Jinx on its underside.

In June 1996, following the attack of Stunning Spells on Minerva McGonagall by Dolores Umbridge and other corrupt British Ministry of Magic officials, Ronald Weasley suggested feeding Umbridge to a box of starving Blast-Ended Skrewts as an appropriate punishment. Harry Potter thought the idea "had its merits". In 1997, Harry Potter felt that the idea of a teenage Albus Dumbledore "was simply odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt".

Behind the scenes

A Blast-Ended Skrewt as seen at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• The Skrewts appeared to be massive violations of the Ban on Experimental Breeding, but Hagrid was never charged for it. This may be because Hagrid eventually had some placed in the Triwizard Tournament, possibly indicating his intent to breed them for that purpose.
• In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Skrewts are encountered as enemies in several locations, rather than just being found in the maze during the Third Task. The Skrewts have sexual dimorphism: males and females are red- and orange-tinged, respectively. Also, they bear little resemblance to their description in the book, being of a more spherical shape and much larger.
• In the DS version of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, there are some Skrewts trying to kill Buckbeak, so the player has to cast spells on them to make them go away.
• A Blast-Ended Skrewt appears in Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, promoted as a creature not seen in any of the films.
• Blast-Ended Skrewts appear in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, which takes place in 2008. It is unknown if Hagrid had bred more of them by then, or if they were included only for gameplay purposes, as players can fight them in the game.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Disc 2)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (DS version)
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened