The Quintaped, also known as the Hairy MacBoon, is a dangerous magical beast that is only found of the Isle of Drear, which has been made Unplottable because of the danger. It has five legs, each ending in a clubfoot, and is covered with thick, red-brown hair. It is carnivorous, with a particular taste for humans.
According to legend, Isle of Drear was populated by two wizard families, the MacBoon clan and the McClivert clan, who were apparently rivals. The family heads, Dugald McClivert and Quintius MacBoon, got drunk and engaged in a wizard's duel, which resulted in Dugald's death. In retaliation, the McCliverts attacked the MacBoons, turning them all into monstrous five-legged beasts. However, the MacBoons were infamously inept wizards, and the McCliverts realised too late that they had made the MacBoons infinitely more deadly. Resisting desperate McClivert attempts to untransfigure them, the MacBoons killed all the resident McCliverts.
Whether the legend is true or not is unclear. There are no surviving McCliverts or MacBoons today that can relay the fate of their ancestors. For their part, the Quintapeds have resisted all attempts by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to Untransfigure them, and they are unable to communicate with the Quintaped. It can only be assumed that, if they are indeed Transfigured MacBoons, then they are happy to live the rest of the lives as Quintapeds. [1]
When Harry Potter opened a cabinet in the Room of Requirement to hide a copy of Advanced Potion-Making from Severus Snape, it contained a caged skeleton with five legs. However, it is not specifically identified to be a quintaped.
The number five, in runic.
The five club footed legs of the Quintaped are used to represent the number five, in the runic alphabet. [2]
Appearances
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Unconfirmed)
- J. K. Rowling's Official Site