Fire-breathing chicken

Fire-breathing chicken
Species information
Feather colour	Red, white and gold
Related to	Chicken
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Breathed fire Wizard-bred
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast (most likely)
Status	Extant

Arthur: "What've you got there, Bob?"

Bob: "We're not sure. We thought it was a bog-standard chicken until it started breathing fire. Looks like a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding to me."

— Arthur Weasley and Bob discussing the enchanted chicken

A fire-breathing chicken was a magical breed of chicken that possessed the ability to breathe fire, very similar to the dragon.

History

During the 1890s, a hybrid between a chicken and a Common Welsh Green called a Dricken was rumoured to exist, and prompted the British Ministry of Magic to launch an investigation into experimental breeding.

Bob holding one of these creatures in a cardboard box

One of these creatures was confiscated by Ministry employee Bob in 1995, as the creature was considered a major violation of the Ban on Experimental Breeding. The chicken was put inside a large cardboard box, whose air holes would frequently light up due to the bird's fiery exhalations. The box was most likely enchanted to prevent it from catching fire. The box and the chicken were taken by Bob to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

Several fire-breathing chickens appeared throughout the Wizarding world during the Calamity in the 2010s, in which they acted as Confoundable guards to certain Foundables, such as Kneazles. Volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force had to cast the Ebublio Jinx to trap these chickens in large bubbles, allowing the Foundables to return to their rightful places.

In the 2010s, Rubeus Hagrid, after undergoing hours of positive reinforcement through the use of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, was able to train fire-breathing chickens to hold their fire at a consistent temperature and to change the flames' temperature on command, enabling them to heat up cauldrons much quicker, with only the occasional burn risk. This technique helped enable members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force to increase the duration of the Baruffio's Brain Elixir brewed within these cauldrons.

A Calamity Investigator working for the task force later found a large number of fire-breathing chickens underneath an inn in Brondby, Denmark. As the creatures had become a delicacy after being revealed to actually exist to wizardkind at large, the Calamity Investigator brought the chickens back to the British Ministry of Magic. As a reward for their efforts, Minister for Magic Hermione Granger secured higher-energy meals at wizarding bed and breakfast inns for the Calamity Investigator.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (First identified as Fire-breathing chicken)
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned only)
• Hogwarts Legacy (Indirectly mentioned only)