Care of Magical Creatures

• Type: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry elective subject
• Owners: Professor Silvanus Kettleburn (formerly), Rubeus Hagrid, Professor Grubbly-Plank (substitute)
• Maker: Established as part of the Hogwarts curriculum

Care of Magical Creatures is an elective course at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry available to students from their third year onward. The class provides a practical, hands-on education in the proper handling, feeding, breeding, and general welfare of the various creatures that inhabit the wizarding world. Lessons are almost exclusively held outdoors on the Hogwarts grounds, often near Rubeus Hagrid's hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The subject's nature varies significantly depending on the presiding professor. Under Hagrid, the class is characterized by a focus on large, dangerous, and often misunderstood creatures, reflecting his personal passions. This approach, while exciting, has led to several dangerous incidents. In contrast, lessons taught by the substitute teacher, Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, are more conventional, safer, and focus on creatures more aligned with the standard Ministry of Magic curriculum. For the 1993-1994 school year, the required textbook was The Monster Book of Monsters, an aggressive tome that had to be stroked along its spine before it would open peacefully.

The curriculum of Care of Magical Creatures is focused on Magizoology. It requires students to learn and demonstrate a wide range of skills, from identifying creature tracks and dietary needs to safely approaching and handling potentially lethal beasts. The specific creatures studied by Harry Potter's cohort include:

• Third Year: Students were introduced to Hippogriffs, majestic and proud creatures requiring a specific etiquette of respect to approach. The class also covered the less-exciting Flobberworms.
• Fourth Year: The curriculum was dominated by Hagrid's home-bred Blast-Ended Skrewts, a highly dangerous and illegal cross-breed of Fire Crabs and Manticores. When Professor Grubbly-Plank took over temporarily, the class studied Unicorns and had a lesson on Nifflers, using them to search for leprechaun gold.
• Fifth Year: This year was pivotal, as the class studied Thestrals, skeletal winged horses visible only to those who have witnessed death. Students also learned about Bowtruckles, small twig-like creatures that guard wand-wood trees. The Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) exam for the subject included a practical component requiring students to identify a Knarl from among Porlocks, handle a Bowtruckle, and correctly feed and clean a Flobberworm.
• Sixth Year: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger did not continue the subject to N.E.W.T. level. The few students who did continue the class studied Crups, wizard-bred dogs with forked tails.

The subject has been taught at Hogwarts for many years. For sixty-two years prior to 1993, the post was held by Professor Silvanus Kettleburn. His tenure was noted for his recklessness, which resulted in him being placed on probation numerous times and losing all but one of his limbs. Upon his retirement, Albus Dumbledore appointed Rubeus Hagrid as his replacement. Hagrid's professorship began in 1993 and was immediately eventful, following an incident where Draco Malfoy was injured by the Hippogriff Buckbeak after insulting the creature. Despite his passion and deep knowledge, Hagrid's love for dangerous creatures and his unconventional lesson plans often put his job at risk. Professor Grubbly-Plank served as a competent and reliable substitute on several occasions: when Hagrid was distressed by a slanderous article by Rita Skeeter, when he was away on a mission to the giants for the Order of the Phoenix, and briefly at the start of the 1996-1997 school year.

The Care of Magical Creatures class is a significant setting and plot driver throughout the series. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the entire subplot involving Buckbeak's attack on Malfoy, his trial, and his eventual escape with Sirius Black originates from a lesson. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Blast-Ended Skrewts serve as a source of comic relief, recurring trouble, and a challenge for Hagrid. Most critically, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the class introduces Harry to Thestrals. His ability to see them, shared by Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom, provides not only a deep moment of character bonding over shared trauma but also the very means of transport for the students to fly from Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic to save Sirius Black. The trio's continued enrollment in the class, despite its dangers and the ridicule they sometimes face for it, is a constant affirmation of their loyalty and affection for Hagrid.

• Professor Kettleburn, a Hufflepuff, retired to Hogsmeade to enjoy his remaining limbs (Pottermore).
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Monster Book of Monsters is shown to be far more feral and mobile, chasing Harry around his room at the Leaky Cauldron.
• The entire subplot involving the Blast-Ended Skrewts was cut from the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
• Thestrals were designed for the films with input from J.K. Rowling, who described them as having a “reptilian, dragonish look” (film).