Erkling

Erkling
Species information
Eye colour	Yellow
Skin colour	Brown
Related to	House-elves (possibly)
Native to	Black Forest and Bavaria, Germany
Height of average adult	3 feet
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Feed upon human children Shoot darts High pitch cackles to lure children
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXXX
Status	Extant, but heavily controlled

"Into darkness taking flight, whispers on the wings of night,
follow us, our lovely tune, as above the smiling moon,
Diddle-dee-dee, diddle-dee-doe, not far now, not far to go,
Into twilight, into gloom, sing the sound of dawdling doom,
follow us, our lovely song, know that we can do no wrong,
Diddle-dee-dee, diddle-dee-doe..."

— An Erkling's song

Erklings were elfish magical beasts, three feet tall on average (making them larger than gnomes) with pointed faces, which had a particular affinity for the taste of children.

Description

An Erkling perched in woodland trees

Their high pitch cackles were particularly entrancing to children, and they used this to lure them away from their guardians to eat them. These creatures also enjoyed shooting darts at unsuspecting victims. Originating from the Black Forest in Germany, the difference between this creature and many others was that they can speak human language.

Strict control by the German Ministry of Magic, beginning in the centuries preceding 1991, had greatly reduced the number of Erkling attacks.

Known attacks

"Do those things ever stop being creepy?"

— Ron Weasley's discomfort at Bavarian Erklings

Bruno Schmidt killing an Erkling with a Collapsible Cauldron

According to Newt Scamander, the last known Erkling attack was on a six-year-old called Bruno Schmidt. The Erkling in question was killed when Schmidt hit it very hard over the head with his father's Collapsible Cauldron.

A Bavarian Erkling

A much worse kind called the Bavarian Erkling existed. Harry, Ron and Hermione came across these at several locations across the outskirts of Hogwarts in the 1994–1995 school year as part of Bartemius Crouch Jnr's (disguised as Alastor Moody) Defence Against the Dark Arts special lessons. The bodies of Bavarian Erklings seemed to be composed of wood, leaves, and thorns. They had sinister faces with big yellow eyes, sharp teeth and long, pointy noses, and sang in human language while attacking. The seize and pull charm was effective against them, while jinxes such as Orbis, the Melofors Jinx and Pullus were too.

During the Calamity which occurred in the 2010s, volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force could fight against Erklings in Fortresses throughout the wizarding world, with the activation of certain Runestones within these buildings.

Etymology

The name Erkling may have been influenced by the English word "irk", meaning to annoy, and "erlkings", elfish creatures in German mythology which have a fatal influence on children. Erlking is a translation of the German erlkönig which literally means "alder king", and may in turn be an 18th-century mistranslation of the original Danish word elverkonge, literally "elf king". Erlkönig, a famous German poem by Goethe based on an earlier Scandinavian poem, tells of an erlking at night luring a child to his death from the safety of his galloping father arms; the erkling's characteristic of eating children may have been inspired by this tale.

Behind the scenes

• Erklings share some resemblances to Nari, a type of evil fairy from Eastern European legends. Both Erkling and Nari use their high-pitched cackles to lure their prey into false sense of security, and then feed on them.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First appearance)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite