Skender

Skender
Biographical information
Born	Before 1927
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Magical characteristics
Wand	Unknown wood, core material and length
Affiliation
Occupation	Owner of Circus Arcanus
Loyalty	Circus Arcanus

Skender (fl. 1927) was a European wizard and the master of Burgle the house-elf. He was the cruel and exploitative owner and ringmaster of the Circus Arcanus, a travelling magical circus and freak show which toured the wizarding world with its wondrous and weird display of magical oddities and attractions.

Biography

Skender and the Circus Arcanus visited New York for two weeks in 1926, starting on 29 November and ending with a "spectacular" final show at 8:00 PM on 13 December. Two parades were held on Friday 3 December at 3:15 PM and 8:00 PM, respectively.

After the two weeks, Skender recruited Credence Barebone and let him join the circus. They packed and boarded a ship to Europe, specifically Paris.

Pillage in Paris

Skender being attacked by Nagini

In 1927, Skender and the Circus Arcanus were set up in the wizarding street of Place Cachée in Paris. After announcing the snake transformation of Nagini, the circus's Maledictus, and forcing her to perform in front of a live audience, Skender was attacked by the snake, giving Credence Barebone time to cause a distraction so he and Nagini could leave the circus and find the former's birth mother. This distraction caused the circus's Zouwu to escape while the entire circus was engulfed in fire following Credence's release of several caged Firedrakes, creating mass panic and horror in the crowd.

Skender leaving Paris by carriage with his house-elf

After Auror Tina Goldstein took care of the situation and questioned him about what had happened, Skender promptly and unhappily fled Paris with his magical circus and house-elf, Burgle, after magically packing away and shrinking his entire circus into his suitcase.

Stolen suitcase

After many of his show beasts escaped, the Circus Arcanus fell into ruin, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Two years later, in desperation, Skender ordered Burgle the house-elf to carry out a treacherous task. Burgle was commanded to steal Newton Scamander's suitcase — the very one that held a vast, enchanted interior containing hundreds of magical creatures. It was the same suitcase that housed the Zouwu which had escaped from the circus and found safety under Newt's care. Skender believed the suitcase's contents could restore his circus to glory.

Skender scared by by the Zouwu he mistreated

The theft was successful, and Skender gleefully claimed the suitcase at his newly set-up circus in Paris, eager to relaunch the show. He set the suitcase atop a box and left briefly on business. Unfortunately for him, his absence lasted just long enough for Gwenlyn Jenkins, the Squib worker employed at the circus, to stumble upon it. Curious, she opened the suitcase and discovered both the magical creatures inside and the villainy behind its theft. Gwenlyn entered the suitcase and bonded with the creatures, but, when Skender realised what had happened, he followed her in. He tried to erase her memory with a Memory Charm, but she used a cat bird toy to summon the Zouwu, who had once suffered under Skender's cruelty. The creature turned on him, causing enough chaos to distract Skender just as Newt Scamander himself tracked down his stolen suitcase.

In the end, Skender was locked inside a box within the suitcase by Gwenlyn and Newt cast a Banishing Charm on the box. What became of Skender after this, whether he was disciplined for the theft or got away, remains unknown.

Calamity

During the 2020s, Skender appeared as a Foundable during the Calamity. Volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force were able to free him, allowing Skender to return to his original time.

Physical description

Skender as a Foundable

Skender was a large, overweight man with brown or blond hair and a thick beard. Being the owner of the Circus Arcanus, he wore the traditional clothing of a showman, wearing a red velvet blazer with gold buckles, underneath a black tailcoat and trousers with a black and brown geometric diamond design pattern.

Personality and traits

As the owner of the Circus Arcanus, Skender was highly exploitative of his magical oddities and creatures and mistreated them often with cruelty, keeping many imprisoned with chains or in cages. He thought of his circus oddities as only valuable in terms of their profitability to an audience. He was very greedy and unethical in his pursuit for profit as a businessman. He had no qualms about exploiting his oddities on display, such as when he forced Nagini to transform against her will, which caused her obvious discomfort, showing he was disrespectful and callous towards the welfare of his oddities, viewing them as no more than circus freaks, simply to be observed by others.

However, following the burning down of his circus and the escape of most of his creatures, he was very disappointed at his failure and gloomily accepted he had to move on, showing he was logical and self-aware to an extent, at least regarding his business actions. He also addressed Porpentina Goldstein respectfully after she asked him about the chaos at the circus and the whereabouts of Credence, showing he was not incapable of treating others as equals. 

Magical abilities and skills

• Charms: Skender appeared to be highly proficient in charm-work, as he was able to magically shrink the entirety of the equipment used in his Circus Arcanus into a small chest.
• Transfiguration: Skender was shown to have been skilled in this notably difficult branch of magic, as he was able to transfigure his wand into a walking stick and back.
• Nonverbal magic: Skender was capable of casting nonverbal spells effortlessly, a sign of superior magical ability given the high level of difficulty required in the casting of spells non-verbally.
• Magizoology: Skender was able to procure and handle numerous magical beasts as part of his Circus Arcanus, such as Firedrakes, a Kappa, an Oni, a Zouwu, an Abarimon, and a Hippogriff, meaning he would have had reasonable knowledge and understanding of them. However, he treated many of his creatures abusively and poorly, meaning his skills in adequately caring for magical creatures were very limited indeed.

Possessions

Skender's wand

• Wand: Skender owned a wand that was of an unknown length, wand wood, and core. He was capable of transforming his wand into a walking stick and back, and was also highly talented with the casting of spells nonverbally.
• Circus Arcanus: Skender was the owner and ringmaster of the Circus Arcanus, a magical travelling circus and freak show, which boasted multiple strange and wondrous attractions and performers. 
• Burgle: Skender owned a male house-elf, Burgle, which helped him in the running of the Circus Arcanus and with the packing up of circus equipment.
• Gringotts vault: Skender also possessed a vault in Gringotts Wizarding Bank

Etymology

• The name Skender is a masculine first name commonly found in various Southeastern European countries whose historic origins are unclear, but has several theories:
  • The origin of the name Skender in the Balkan region is from the closely related Turkish name Iskender, Persian Iskandar and Arabic Al-Iskandar, which are all in turn derived from Alexander (meaning "defender of men").
  • Johann Pokorny gives two possible original meanings of the name, using the roots "skend" and "skand":
    • Pokorny lists the root "skend" as the separating of skin, scale or rind. "Sken-tr" is the act of cutting and "sken-to" is the part that has been cut off. In Old High German, one finds the expansion of this root as "scinten" (modern cognates are "schinden" in High German and "schinnen" in Low German), which comes from the same Celtic origin and means to skin one's enemy, plunder and mishandle him. Thus, Pokorny notes the word "skan-do", meaning "land laying in waste" (that is, plundered or "skinned") is the Celto-Germanic root.
    • Pokorny also notes the second root "skend-" as meaning "illuminated, glowing or bright," This root has more of a visual or "seeing" connotation.
• Skender is also found in the old German and Saxon word Skander, which means Scandinavian or Viking raider. It may be the origin of the Gaelic word Skene and Skene-to, which is the traditional knife the Scots carry in their stockings, as well as the source of the Latvian name, Skenders, which is believed to have come to that land via the Teutonic Knights who would have had this ancient German word meaning "violent or scandalous behavior".

Behind the scenes

• Skender was played by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Appearances

• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay (First appearance)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• The Archive of Magic: The Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• HarryPotter.com (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic (Place Cachée)