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This Giant Squid was a magical beast that lived in the Great Lake, on the grounds of Hogwarts Castle. Despite the generalised fear of it and a Chocolate Frog Card describing it as "the bane" of Hogwarts students, the Giant Squid was actually semi-domesticated.[2]

Biography[]

Slytherin Squid

The Squid passes by the Slytherin Common Room

It was very docile and helpful to the students of Hogwarts, such as when Dennis Creevey fell into the Lake, and he was immediately pushed safely back into the boat.[3] The squid was also known to have played with students, such as when Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Lee Jordan tickled its tentacles as it was lying part way out of the lake,[4] and to have accepted food from students, such as when it received toast from Harry Potter.[5]

Early on in his time at Hogwarts, Ronald Weasley thought Tom Riddle may have received his Special Award for Services to the School for saving a teacher from the squid,[6] and in his fourth year, half-jokingly expressed his hope that there was some chance the squid would harm Viktor Krum, who was bathing in the lake.[7] Needless to say, Riddle's award had nothing to do with Hogwarts' Giant Squid,[6] and Viktor was unharmed,[7] as the squid was demonstrably not a threat to anyone.

During the Calamity in the late 2010s and early 2020s, a Calamity Investigator working for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force discovered an artefact that allowed the user to communicate with marine life and successfully attempted to use it to communicate with the squid. However, the conversation didn't provide much useful information, as the squid was "obsessed with shrimp" and failed to talk about anything else.[8]

Physical appearance[]

The squid had been seen as being either red[9] or purple in colour.[10] However since squid in the wild can change their colour using cells called chromatophores that lay just below the surface of the skin, it is entirely possible the Giant Squid was also able to change colours and even patterns at will.

Behind the scenes[]

LEGO Giant Squid

The Giant Squid in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Giant squid

The Giant Squid's Chocolate Frog Card

  • J. K. Rowling once joked that the Squid is Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. This would make it the world's largest Animagus. On the eleventh hour of every evening, the Squid would rise from the lake and transform into Gryffindor, who would wander the school grounds before returning at sunrise. She was unexpectedly taken seriously by many fans, before she was forced to clarify this was actually a joke.
  • After the release of the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, fans speculated the Giant Squid may be the "dangerous creature" Newt Scamender released before being thrown out of Hogwarts. However, promotional material clarified that the creature in question was a Jarvey, shooting down the theory.
  • The Giant Squid has not appeared in any of the Harry Potter films. However, it was originally set to make a brief appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban during the scene where Harry rides Buckbeak over Black Lake, as evidenced by an early script.[11]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. It appeared in Hogwarts Legacy (Flying Class), which is set in the 1890–1891 school year, while the player flies around the school grounds.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Writing by J. K. Rowling: "The Great Lake" at Wizarding World
  3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12 (The Triwizard Tournament)
  4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 16 (Through the Trapdoor)
  5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 18 (The Weighing of the Wands)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 13 (The Very Secret Diary)
  7. 7.0 7.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 24 (Rita Skeeter's Scoop)
  8. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
  9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
  10. Troll and Toad: Giant Squid card, Harry Potter Trading Card Game - 040 - uncommon. The squid, on the card, is purple.
  11. Prisoner of Azkaban script at the Internet Movie Script Database (archived here via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
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