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"Despite its name, the Fire Crab greatly resembles a large tortoise with a heavily jewelled shell. In its native Fiji, a stretch of coast has been turned into a reservation for its protection, not only against Muggles, who might be tempted by its valuable shell, but also against unscrupulous wizards, who use the shells as highly prized cauldrons. The Fire Crab does, however, have its own defence mechanism: it shoots flames from its rear end when attacked. Fire Crabs are exported as pets, but a special licence is necessary."
Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them[src]

The Fire Crab was a large, tortoise-like crab magical beast native to the island of Fiji.[3]

Description[]

It had six legs and a heavily jewelled, multicoloured shell. It was able to defend itself by shooting flames from its rear end when attacked.[4] The Fire Crab was a protected species, and a reservation had been created to protect them from Muggles who would value the jewelled shell, as well as wizards who used the shells as cauldrons.[3]

Fire Crabs were sold and exported as pets in places such as the Magical Menagerie,[5] but the owners required a special licence. The Ministry of Magic stated that a competent wizard should be able to cope with this animal,[3] however they still officially advised wizards not to approach a Fire Crab from behind or to leave it unattended near flammable material.[6] Fifth-years, for their Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L., had to demonstrate how to feed and clean a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns.[7]

FireCrabPottermore

A Fire Crab's jewelled shell

Different Fire Crab variants existed which could be identified by the jewels in their shells. Noted variants included shells fitted with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.[8]

According to Liz Tuttle, Fijian wizards sometimes used Fire Crabs to power the cooking pits during their luau feasts.[9]

History[]

During the 1984–1985 school year, a Fire Crab was one of the three pets that Amos Diggory brought from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as a potential gift for Rubeus Hagrid's birthday celebration.[10]

During the 1986–1987 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, fourth-year students were educated about the handling of Fire Crabs in Care of Magical Creatures by Professor Silvanus Kettleburn. During one of these lessons, Kettleburn used a Fire Crab named Hieronymus to show his students.[9]

In the summer of 1993, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley saw a Fire Crab for sale in the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley.[5]

Rubeus Hagrid was able to get Fire Crabs and Manticores to mate before the start of the 1994–1995 school year, creating the hybrid Blast-Ended Skrewts.[2][1]

During the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations in 1996 at Hogwarts, fifth year examinees for Care of Magical Creatures class had to demonstrate how to clean and feed a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns.[7]

During the 2010–2011 school year, Professor Horace Slughorn encountered a Fire Crab being sold by a disreputable seller in Hogsmeade and purchased it to ensure it wouldn't be killed in order to turn its shell into a cauldron or to sell its valuable jewels. He had intended to transfer the creature to Rubeus Hagrid so that it could find a new home at a Fire Crab sanctuary in Fiji. However, as Hagrid was unavailable, Slughorn was forced to bring the Fire Crab back to the Potions Classroom at Hogwarts. Unable to move the Fire Crab when his class began without risking serious injury, Slughorn explained the situation to his students, with one offering to help him calm the creature down. After the Fire Crab had been calmed, Slughorn commended the student for their efforts before eventually transferring the creature to Hagrid.[11]

During the Calamity in the late 2010s and early 2020s, Rubeus Hagrid allowed Magizoologist members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force to help him handle several live Fire Crabs. However, the primary takeaway they got from this was a boost in their tolerance of pain.[12]

See also[]

Behind the scenes[]

Fire crab

A Fire Crab as depicted in PC version of the Philosopher's Stone video game

Fire-crab

A Fire Crab as seen in the PC version of the Prisoner of Azkaban video game

Appearances[]

Wiki
The Harry Potter Wiki has 39 images related to Fire Crab.

Notes and references[]

Care of Magical Creatures
Fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-pottermore
Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts
Hagrid's Hut · Forbidden Forest · Care of Magical Creatures Classroom · Magical Creatures (club) · The Paddock
Professors Silvanus Kettleburn · Rubeus Hagrid · Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank (substitute teacher)
Textbooks The Monster Book of Monsters · Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Creatures studied at Hogwarts
Blast-Ended Skrewt · Bowtruckle · Chimaera · Crup · Demiguise · Diricawl · Doxy · Dugbog · Fairy · Fire Crab · Fire Dwelling Salamander · Flobberworm · Fwooper · Glumbumble · Gnome · Golden Snidget · Griffin · Hippogriff · Imp · Jackalope · Knarl · Kneazle · Moke · Murtlap · Niffler · Occamy · Porlock · Quintaped · Streeler · Thestral · Unicorn · Yeti
Magical creatures by classification
X Flobberworm · Horklump
XX Augurey · Bowtruckle · Chizpurfle · Clabbert · Diricawl · Fairy · Ghoul · Gnome · Grindylow · Imp · Jobberknoll · Mooncalf · Porlock · Puffskein · Ramora · Winged horse
XXX Ashwinder · Billywig · Bundimun · Crup · Doxy · Dugbog · Fire crab · Fwooper · Glumbumble · Hippocampus · Hippogriff · Hodag · Jarvey · Knarl · Kneazle · Leprechaun · Lobalug · Mackled Malaclaw · Moke · Murtlap · Niffler · Nogtail · Pixie · Plimpy · Pogrebin · Red Cap · Salamander · Sea serpent · Shrake · Streeler · Winged horse
XXXX Centaur · Demiguise · Erkling · Erumpent · Golden Snidget · Graphorn · Griffin · Hidebehind · Kappa · Kelpie · Merperson · Occamy · Phoenix · Re'em · Runespoor · Snallygaster · Sphinx · Tebo · Thestral · Thunderbird · Troll · Unicorn · Winged horse · Yeti
XXXXX Acromantula · Basilisk · Chimaera · Dragon · Horned Serpent · Lethifold · Manticore · Nundu · Quintaped · Wampus cat · Werewolf
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