Lethifolds

• Ministry of Magic Classification: XXXXX (Known Wizard-killer / impossible to train or domesticate) (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
• Native To: Tropical climates (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
• Also Known As: The Living Shroud (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

A Lethifold is an extremely dangerous and rare magical beast. It appears as a flowing black cloak, roughly half an inch thick, which glides along the ground. Its thickness increases if it has recently killed and digested a victim. The Lethifold is a carnivorous predator that hunts exclusively at night, preying on sleeping humans and wizards alike (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). The creature's method of attack is to silently creep up on its sleeping victim and smother them. After suffocating its prey, it digests the body whole, right there in the victim's bed. The Lethifold then departs the scene, leaving absolutely no trace of itself or the person it has consumed, making its victims appear to have simply vanished (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

The only known defence against a Lethifold is the Patronus Charm. When a powerful Patronus is cast, it will repel the creature. Simpler Jinxes, Curses, or physical attacks have no effect on it. As the Lethifold attacks its victims while they are asleep, they have very little chance of waking up to defend themselves (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). The successful use of the Patronus Charm against a Lethifold was first documented by the Wizard Flavius Belby in 1782 (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

The existence of the Lethifold remained largely a matter of fearful rumour until the late 18th century, as it typically left no survivors to describe it. The first and only known survivor of a Lethifold attack was a Wizard named Flavius Belby. In 1782, while on holiday in Papua New Guinea, Belby was attacked in his sleep (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). Fortunately, Belby was a proficient Wizard and was roused from sleep just as the Lethifold began to suffocate him. Remembering a similar account he had dismissed as a tall tale, he managed to produce a Patronus Charm, which successfully drove the creature away. Belby's formal testimony to the Ministry of Magic provided the wizarding world with its only confirmed knowledge of the Lethifold's existence and its sole vulnerability (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

The name Lethifold likely derives from two parts. The first, “Lethi-“, is possibly from the Latin word letum, meaning “death” or “destruction,” or the Greek mythological river Lethe, associated with oblivion and forgetfulness, reflecting how its victims vanish without a trace. The second part, ”-fold”, directly refers to its appearance as a piece of folded or flowing cloth, like a cloak.

• Lethifolds are not mentioned in the seven original *Harry Potter* novels. All canonical information about them comes from the supplementary textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
• Lethifolds appear as enemies in the video game Hogwarts Legacy (video game).