Horned Serpent

Horned Serpent
Species information
Eye colour	Blue Turquoise Yellow
Skin colour	Black Turquoise Purple Brown
Related to	Snake
Native to	North America Far East Western Europe (formerly)
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Fierce, but intelligent eyes Emit a low musical note to sound danger Jewelled forehead Inhabits bodies of water
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXXXX
Status	Extant

"A large, horned snake with numerous magical properties."

— Description of a Horned Serpent

The Horned Serpent was a magical snake found in several regions of the world, but was most common in North America. Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry founder Isolt Sayre befriended one of these serpents and named one of the four school houses after it.

Description

There were several different species of Horned Serpents found world-wide; large specimens were found in the Far East, and the most diverse group still in existence was native to North America. Horned Serpents inhabited bodies of water as their natural habitat, tending to prefer living in warmer waters. Horned Serpents were migratory creatures, travelling across treacherous waterways that served as ancient migration paths. Female Horned Serpents would also occasionally migrate from their home waters to find a mate.

The egg of the Horned Serpent

These serpents emitted a low, musical note to signify danger, as well as a similar note that served as a call for help. Horned Serpents were also capable of sensing underwater vibrations, helping them to detect dangers.

They were also regarded as intelligent, with fierce eyes. They could understand mirroring of their movements and behavior, through which a human could communicate their intentions to them. However, they could also perceive such mirroring as a threat, particularly if the person mirroring them lacked sufficient confidence. They were also notably emotional creatures, with Rubeus Hagrid suggesting that a mated Horned Serpent pair would become devastated if anything happened to their egg.

Horned Serpents had a horned head, which was where they got their name. Shavings from its horn could be used as wand cores. Certain American species also sported a jewel in the forehead.

Its jewel was said to grant powers of invisibility and flight, thus making it the most sought after element of the species. Ancient bestiaries suggested Horned Serpents were once native to Western Europe, but were hunted to extinction by wizards in search of potion ingredients.

Horned Serpent mating was known to be an incredibly rare occurrence. Once a pair had mated, they constructed an underwater nest in which the female laid a single egg. Due to the temperamental nature of Horned serpent eggs, they received extensive care and protection from both parents, with one or both of them coiling around their egg to guard it. When their egg hatched, both parents would care for the hatchling, with one potentially migrating with it to warmer waters so it could grow up more safely. However, Horned Serpents would always eventually return to their birthplace once the waters in that region had warmed sufficiently.

History

A Horned Serpent statue at Durmstrang Castle

There were statues of Horned Serpents at Durmstrang Castle, carved out of stone, along with motifs of double-headed serpents.

Around 1620, the Irish-born witch Isolt Sayre befriended a Horned Serpent near Mount Greylock in present-day Massachusetts. She was able to understand the serpent, and when founding Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry she chose the Horned Serpent as the symbol of one of the school's four houses. Later, a long shard of horn from the same serpent was used by Isolt and her husband James Steward to craft the first American-made wands, for their adopted sons Chadwick and Webster Boot.

Known Horned Serpents

Isolt Sayre befriended a Horned Serpent when she went to a creek by Mount Greylock in the 17th century. Isolt and the Horned Serpent could understand each other, which scared Isolt's companion, William the Pukwudgie. The serpent kept telling her the same thing - "Until I am part of your family, your family is doomed." The cryptic message concerned Isolt because she had no family at the moment and she began to think she was imagining hearing the serpent say things.

Ilvermorny's Horned Serpent crest

However, Isolt still visited the serpent over the years because of their strange, shared kinship, and when she and her eventual family were thinking of names for houses for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry she named her house "Horned Serpent" in honour of it.

Shortly after, Isolt received a dream the evening before Chadwick Boot's eleventh birthday. She had promised him a wand but she did not know what to use as a core. She went to the creek in the dream where the Horned Serpent rose up out the water and let her take a shard of its horn. When she woke and went to the creek, she received a horn the same way as she had in her dream. She then made a wand with the horn as a core set in prickly ash wood, subsequently repeating the process with Chadwick's brother Webster's wand core. This would prove the fulfilment of the serpent's prophecy, as these wands later warned Chadwick and Webster of the approach of Gormlaith Gaunt.

Behind the scenes

• The Horned Serpent is a concept found in many Native American mythologies. Horned Serpents also being found in East Asia may be in reference to Chinese dragons which are depicted differently than the European dragons that form the basis of the dragons of Harry Potter.
• The Sioux Tribal Nation refer to the Horned Serpent as Unktehi. This creature was seen as the mortal enemy of the Wakinyan, the Sioux name for the Thunderbird, another house of Ilvermorny.

Appearances

• Pottermore (First appearance)
• HarryPotter.com
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2017 edition)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions (Appears as statue)

See also

• Horned Serpent House at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Basilisk
• Sea serpent
• Snake