Demiguise

Demiguise
Species information
Eye colour	Black Blue when predicting future
Skin colour	Beige
Hair colour	Silver
Related to	Hidebehind
Native to	Far East
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Could become invisible Precognitive sight Peaceful temperament Herbivorous
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXXX
Status	Extant

"Peaceful, ape-like herbivores with the ability to turn invisible when threatened."

— Description

The Demiguise was a peaceful, herbivorous magical beast that could make itself invisible and tell the future, both abilities which made it very sought-after. However, it was hard to catch.

Description

Demiguise precognition

It could be found in the Far East, but only wizards and witches trained in their capture could even see them. It resembled a cross between a sloth and an ape with large, black eyes and long, silky hair.

Demiguise pelts were highly sought after as the hair can be woven into Invisibility Cloaks. Cloaks made from their hair eventually turned opaque, losing their invisibility effects as time passed.

Demiguises had precognitive sight, so that the only way to catch them was to do something completely unpredictable. The Demiguise's ability to make itself invisible was used to symbolise the number zero, in the runic alphabet. Tincture of Demiguise could be extracted from Demiguises and used as a potion ingredient.

History

17th century

At some point before late-1620, Phineas Fletcher smuggled a Demiguise to North America which escaped and bred with a ghoul; their offspring were Hidebehinds, likely the first Hidebehinds ever, as it is unknown whether a union between a Demiguise and a ghoul would happen naturally.

19th century

At some point during the 19th century, a Muggle was lost in the Scottish Highlands tracking a Demiguise. They were using binoculars to track the Demiguise and were confused as to how they could disappear so quickly. Eventually, they ended up losing their binoculars as well. It is not known what happened to the Muggle, but they were likely very confused by the Demiguise.

1920s

Dougal the Demiguise

Magizoologist Newton Scamander owned a Demiguise called Dougal, who escaped from his suitcase during his visit to New York in 1926 and caused a disturbance in the Ginzberg Delaunay department store while caring for an Occamy that had also escaped. He later found them both with a help of Queenie and Porpentina Goldstein, as well as No-Maj Jacob Kowalski.

1980s

As a child, Jules Egwu considered the Demiguise her favourite creature, as she was then very shy and envied its ability to make itself invisible.

During the 1986–1987 school year, a Demiguise stole sweets from the area around Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. It was later captured by Jacob's sibling, Penny Haywood, Andre and Jules Egwu. Jules later returned with it to Japan, where she was living at the time, as it was part of the creature's natural habitat range. Her parents were Magizoologists and she planned to ask them to find an appropriate place to release it.

1990s

During the 1990–1991 school year, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn taught his seventh-year students in Care of Magical Creatures how to properly handle and care for the Demiguise.

21st century

In the 2010s, Demiguises were among the various magical creatures that were caught up in the Calamity as foundables. A Magizoologist member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force also accompanied a team on an expedition to China to safely see and then capture a Demiguise.

The celebrity Magizoologist Naasz owned a Demiguise that became lost during the Calamity, with Naasz offering a large reward for its return. A Calamity Investigator serving as part of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force managed to overcome the Demiguise's precognition and captured it before returning it back to Naasz, who only offered her own autograph in repayment. However, the Calamity Investigator did gain inspiration for catching opponents off guard in combat from their experience with the Demiguise.

Behind the scenes

A Demiguise as a POP! Vinyl

• A Demiguise appears in the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, played by Edd Osmond.
• Given the Demiguise was described as peaceful, it is most likely that they were classified as XXXX because of the fact that special knowledge is required to catch them, not because of any particular danger. However, Newt Scamander said that they do bite if provoked.
• While shifting between visible and invisible, the Demiguise at some points appears translucent, as if blending in with the colours of its surrounding, in a similar manner to the effects of the Disillusionment Charm.
• The Demiguise behind the Hogsmeade thefts only stole sweet things, indicating that it had a taste for sugar. It's unclear if this was unique to this individual or a common trait of the species. However, Dougal stole a lollipop straight out of a child's hand and immediately devoured it before fleeing as he ventured across New York, indicating that he had a sweet tooth as well.
• The Demiguise was the penultimate boss in a special Forbidden Forest adventure in the Spring Festival update of 2022 in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. Before the Demiguise could be fully defeated, its owner would emerge and summon Wizard's Chess pieces, the final bosses.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First appearance)
• J. K. Rowling's official site
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• LEGO Dimensions
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy (Appears as a Boggart form) (Appears as statue)
• The Art and Making of Hogwarts Legacy
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic (Place Cachée)