COMC-301 Lessons

The Amazing Hissing Guard Creatures

Welcome, everyone! Today we will be covering two creatures that closely resemble Muggle creatures: Jarveys and Kneazles. Jarveys resemble Muggle ferrets, and Kneazles resemble Muggle cats. As we see both of these magical and mundane creatures fairly often in our world, there will be comparisons of the magical creature to the mundane creature throughout the lesson. This is to help you understand the difference between the magical and mundane counterparts.

Do remember, today is your midterm. It will be a test, instead of an essay. However, be prepared to answer questions on everything covered up to this point. There will be a mixture of true or false, multiple choice, and short answer questions. I have tried to keep my lesson shorter than usual, so you can have ample time to prepare. You will also have to turn in your journals this week, so be aware of that, and make sure to have a new entry on Nifflers, Jarveys, or Kneazles.

Jarveys: The Talking Ferrets

Now, onto the lesson! Let’s start with Jarveys. Jarveys closely resemble overgrown ferrets. They can be brown, black, or white in color and are found throughout North America, Britain, and Ireland. They are classified as a beast, not a being, even though they are capable of human speech.

Jarveys live in burrows underground with special rooms for special feeding, mating, bathroom, and sleeping. Their burrows are about an eighth of a mile deep and long. Jarveys will live as a family, but multiple families will have different burrows. It is common for baby Jarveys to leave their current family to start their own family. However, many elect to stay with their parents.

Jarveys are carnivores. They feed on rats, moles, voles, and gnomes. Jarveys are excellent gnome hunters and are a commonly-used method to de-gnome gardens. You can rent them from various creature shops. They are, however, more brutal in killing the gnomes, and after they have de-gnomed the garden, a large clean-up effort is needed to remove all the carnage.

Jarveys have an average lifespan of seven to nine years. They will start breeding at around two years of age. Jarvey gestation averages between 41-43 days. Jarveys will have between five to twelve babies every time they are pregnant. These babies are called kits. Because Jarveys will have anywhere from five to ten nipples; extra kits or runts will have to be bottle-fed. If you have to bottle feed an extra or runty kit, you can buy milk replacer from creature shops. Using Muggle milk replacer will not work because of the different nutrient needs.

If you are keeping a Jarvey as a pet, you can keep it in a tank inside your home, rather than outside like you must do with Nifflers. The tank should be at least six feet deep, so the Jarvey can make some sort of room or tunnel to be in to sleep, or if it does not want to be on the surface.

Jarveys, however, are more known for their ability to talk and replicate human speech. You cannot hold conversations with a Jarvey though, because they speak in very short, rude phrases. These phrases will come in a constant stream if you try to communicate with them. It is believed this developed from a spell gone wrong, and their vocal cords have been permanently affected. The question we are trying to establish an answer to is why Jarveys insist on only communicating with rude phrases. It is thought that there is a direct correlation between ferret rudeness and Jarvey rudeness. Ferrets are known to be rude creatures, commonly biting owners. When this magical counterpart emerged, it is thought that the Jarvey channeled the rudeness into speech, instead of biting.

While Jarveys are commonly sold for degnoming purposes, they can also be kept as pets. While they will not be as affectionate as other pets, you can silence them, so you won’t have to listen to their nonsense. Monthly Silencing Charms, like those kept on Fwoopers, have proved effective in keeping their rude conversations at bay.

Kneazles: The Suspicious Kitties

Onto Kneazles! Kneazles are magical feline creatures, closely related to mundane cats. They come in a variety of colors, from solid-colored fur to spotted and striped fur. The difference in appearance from mundane house cats is their very large ears, and their plumed tail, similar to that of a lion.  There are different breeds of Kneazle; however, I will cover that in a few minutes.

Kneazles are kept as pets; however, they will only be great pets if they like their owner. Kneazles can be very mean and nasty to witches and wizards they don’t like, so be careful when selecting a Kneazle, or showing your Kneazle to other people. It is because of this aggression that Kneazles are classified as XXX by the Ministry of Magic, but only purebred Kneazles have this classification. The Ministry of Magic has not given a classification to the popular cat-Kneazle hybrid creatures sold in shops today.

Kneazles are extremely intelligent, though are still classified as a beast, because they do not have the means to participate in our form of government. They can easily detect suspicious or untrustworthy people. It is for this reason, along with their aggression, that the can be used to guard homes. Though they grow no larger than the mundane housecat, their aggression allows them to scare intruders away. You may own a purebred Kneazle, but the Ministry of Magic requires all purebred Kneazle owners to obtain and keep a license.

Kneazles, like cats, are carnivorous in nature. They prefer to eat rats and moles, rather than vegetable-based food. While Kneazle Kibble is sold in shops in Diagon Alley, made of rat and chicken proteins, most Kneazle owners opt to feed their pet fresh meat.

Kneazles are often kept to breed, whether they be bred as hybrids with house cats or purebred Kneazles. Kneazles share the gestation period of a cat, averaging between 63-69 days. Kneazles, whether they be hybrids or pure, have no more than eight kittens, or babies, in every litter. They have two to three litters a year. Kittens should be weaned, or removed from the mother so they don’t drink milk, at four weeks of age, same as the housecat. It takes anywhere from 12-18 months for a Kneazle to be ready to breed, whereas in house cats it can take anywhere from 18-24 months. For Kneazle-cat hybrids, it is exactly 20 months. Male Kneazles and cats alike begin producing sperm at nine months of age, however, they will not start breeding until the 12-24 month mark.

Now, let’s discuss the different breeds of Kneazles, in comparison with the different breeds of cats. Kneazles commonly look like the Persian cat, so the Persian is seen as the most common breed of Kneazle. Persian Kneazles come in various colors, such as orange, black, and white. Kneazles also have the Bengal breed, like house cats. This is a brown and black spotted pattern, with no difference in the pattern between house cats and Kneazles. We also see the Somali Kneazle, like the mundane cat. While the Somali cat is usually just a mixture of brown and burnt orange, the Somali Kneazle can have spots and stripes of orange against a brown base color. These are the only breeds of Kneazles, though cats have tens of hundreds of breeds.

Bengal Kneazle

Somali Kneazle

Kneazles are a great breeding operation for witches and wizards. We see many Squibs involved in this, breeding both pure and hybrids. One well-known breeder is Arabella Figg, a friend of Harry Potter and resident of Privet Drive. She is a Squib, and is known in her neighborhood for having tons of cats. However, she does have some Kneazles, and sells hybrids to different creature shops and witches and wizards.

Closing

Now, I hope you can all tell the difference between your magical and mundane creatures now. I’m sure if you look at the ears of your cats, you will see that slight point, as most of your cats are probably hybrids. Make sure to review Lessons One through Four for your midterm, and be prepared to answer questions on anything in the lessons. Make sure to write your journal!

Lesson content written by Professor Elizabeth Anne

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