This book will teach you how to protect yourself, and charms, curses(use only in emergency), helpful potions, healing spells(to heal yourself or support others) and transfiguration(to hide things).

Intro:

Beasts and Their Classifications

As you will see through this book, magical creatures have native origins all over the world. Some are isolated to specific locations while others have migrated and adapted to new environments. In the same way that humans do, creatures look for new environments that allow them to expand and thrive, which is why we see these migrations happen.

The Ministry of Magic regulates and controls the location of all magical creatures, making note of where they are located and keeping detailed records. They also have set the definitions of what a Beast is. At its base, a Beast is one of the three categories of life forms as recognized by the Ministry of Magic. The three defined categories are:

Beast
Being
Spirit
For the purpose of this book, we will not delve into too much detail about Beings and Spirits. For now, simply be aware that the Ministry defines a Being as “any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws” and a Spirit is a special classification that was created for ghosts when they felt it was an insult to classify them as Beings.

We then turn our attention to Beasts. According to the Ministry of Magic, a Beast is simply the opposite of a Being - the magical creatures of our world that do not have sufficient intelligence to understand nor assist in shaping the laws of the magical community. However, there are certain exceptions to these categories. Merpeople and Centaurs are sentient creatures that have demonstrated intelligence that could be extremely beneficial to the development of the laws of the magical community; however, they are classified as Beasts by personal choice. Both races claimed it would be an offense to be categorized as a Being alongside certain other creatures, such as hags and vampires. There are also creatures, such as the Sphinx and the Acromantula, that could qualify as Beings, but due to their bloodthirsty nature, are considered to be too violent to be categorized as Beings and therefore are seen as Beasts. Some people have attempted to take it a step further and categorize Muggles as Beasts. This has never been entertained by the Ministry and nor will it be entertained in this classroom.

The current definition of a Beast was developed in 1811 by the Minister of Magic at the time, Grogan Stump. Once the definition was established, the Beast division was formed within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

Each creature that is categorized as a Beast is also given a classification. There are five levels of classification that range from “Boring” to “Known Wizard Killer.” As the classification increases, so to does the level of difficulty in handling the creature. The classifications are as follows:

X: Boring
XX: Harmless
XXX: Competent Wizards Should Cope
XXXX: Dangerous/Specialist Training Required
XXXXX: Known Wizard Killer
As First Year students in this first Defense Against the Dark Arts course, we will mostly be studying creatures that are classified as XX and XXX. These creatures are fairly easy to deal with and, with the proper training that I will provide, you should have no problems handling them.


Imps

Imps are Beasts classified as XX by the Ministry of Magic. Their location of origin is in Britain and Ireland, though they have spread around the globe. They stand at about six to eight inches tall and are often compared to pixies, though the only biological similarity is their height. An imp has no wings and is far less threatening than the pixie.


Imps are known tricksters. They tend to stick to marshy areas, where it is easy to lure a target astray. In most cases, the imp will only do minimal harm to a person: tripping them, dropping branches on them, etc. However, there have been several instances where a prank an imp has pulled has gone dramatically wrong and the victim ended up dead. These pranks are seen primarily as an offensive tactic.
Imps also have minor magical abilities. Though it is clear that they do not have the capability of casting many, if any, spells, there are recorded instances where imps have been observed apparating (a form of travel where a witch, wizard, or creature disappears from one spot and appears in a different location). This would require, at minimum, a small amount of magical ability.

Assuming you can recognize and discover the location of the imp you are battling, they are relatively easy to handle. All someone has to do is cast the Knockback Jinx (a spell I will soon teach you) on them and the force of being pushed backwards will momentarily stun the imp. While the imp is stunned, you have the opportunity to escape. You can also use the Verdimillious Charm, since the sparks will startle the imp and distract it long enough for you to escape.

One final note about imps. There have been a few instances where imps have allowed a witch or wizard to keep them as a pet. However, an imp will only stay with a witch or wizard whom they believe to be a true prankster at heart. For example, I believe that, prior to the Battle of Hogwarts, George Weasley would have had no difficulty attaining an imp as a pet. He may still even be capable of it, though he may not find it as easy as he once did.

I hope after you read this book you will find it helpful, and use the spells wisely.
Keep Reading!!!