Horklump

Horklump
Species information
Native to	Scandinavia
Distinction	Resembles fleshy pink mushroom Covered in sparse, coarse black bristles
Ministry of Magic Classification	X
Status	Beast

The Horklump was a magical creature which resembled a fleshy pink mushroom covered in sparse black bristles.

Nature

Physiology and ecology  

Horklumps originated in Scandinavia, but eventually spread throughout northern Europe, and could be found in Scotland by 1991. They resembled fleshy pink mushrooms covered in a sparse scattering of coarse black bristles. Despite their fungi-like appearance, Horklumps were animals. Their preferred prey was the earthworm, which they hunted using the thin, muscular tentacles that they spread underground (similar to how fungi spread mycelium). Horklumps were very fast breeders and could cover an average-sized garden in only a few days.

Horklumps were the favourite food of the gnome. Streeler venom was one of the few known substances that could kill Horklumps.

Use by and interaction with humans

A bottle of Horklump juice.

Horklumps had no discernible use to wizard and witches, according to the famous magizoologist Newt Scamander, and were given the classification "X" ("boring") by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. However, their juice was used in a range of healing potions, including the Wiggenweld Potion. It was also used to make Herbicide Potion.

It is rumoured that Honoria, the aunt of Albus Dumbledore, called off her engagement to a wizard because she was shocked to catch him in the act of fondling some Horklumps (although she insisted it was because he was cold-hearted).

In his book Marauding with Monsters, Gilderoy Lockhart wrote of how he once supposedly visited some fans in rural Essex, and helped clear a path through their Horklump-infested yard. Afterward, the fans allegedly offered him some of their homemade Celery and Beetroot Wine in gratitude, which he graciously declined. However, like most of Lockhart's accounts, this story may have been greatly exaggerated or completely fabricated.

Lockhart recommended the following method for removing a Horklump in Marauding with Monsters: hitting it with a Knockback Jinx, taking a firm hold of it, and then twisting and yanking it out of the ground.

Behind the scenes

File:Horklump (PS1).JPG

A green Horklump.

• Given their ability to overrun gardens within days and attract problem species, Horklumps are likely viewed as pests by Wizardkind. If this is true then it may explain why gnomes became so common in the first place; biological control is the control of a pest population's size by introducing the appropriate predator or parasite and so gnomes may have been introduced by wizards and witches to their gardens to rid them of Horklumps in the past before the gnomes themselves turned pest (a danger of this method of pest control).
• Although Horklumps are referred to as pink in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, they have also been spotted in other media of the franchise in other colours (such as the yellow or green Horklumps of the games). These may represent mutant breeds, though it is also possible that it is one of the many mistakes made whenever Harry Potter is presented in a non-book form.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (PS1, GBC, & GBA versions)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (PC, PS2, & GBC versions)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Mentioned only)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4