Flobberworm

Flobberworm
Species information
Skin colour	Brown
Length of average adult	Ten inches
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Herbivorous Mouths on both sides Toothless Produces mucus
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast X
Status	Extant

"What d'you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'? What's this rubbish about him getting a bad bite off a Flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"

— Harry Potter to Draco Malfoy about Rita Skeeter's exaggerated claims in the Daily Prophet

The Flobberworm was a herbivorous, ten-inch, toothless brown magical worm which ate mainly lettuce and cabbage. It was not considered a particularly interesting creature, with a Ministry of Magic Classification of X, or "boring", which was the lowest possible rank.

Description

Each end was identical to the other, from which they chewed vegetation and exuded mucus, which was sometimes used to thicken potions. It moved very little and preferred to live in damp ditches. Contrary to the claims of Draco Malfoy and his gang, which were designed to attack Hagrid and his qualities as a professor, Flobberworms did not possess teeth and thus did not bite.

An uninteresting Flobberworm

Flobberworms were apparently edible and Flobberworm fritters were sometimes served for lunch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, much to the dismay of the student body. Flobberworms could also be transfigured into fritters with a spell. The Flobberworm was also notable for being one of the few living creatures capable of being summoned with the Summoning Charm, although it was generally not considered worth summoning.

A bottle of Flobberworm Mucus

"The mucus from the Flobberworm is sometimes used to thicken potions."

— Description

Flobberworm Mucus was a green and slimy substance commonly used as a thickener in many potions. A popular and useful ingredient, it was used in potions such as the Wiggenweld Potion, Herbicide Potion, and the Sleeping Draught.

History

"Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after Flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence. 'Why would anyone bother looking after them?' said Ron, after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the Flobberworms' throats."

— Ron gripes about looking after the Flobberworms

During the 1986 summer holidays, Rubeus Hagrid bred an excess amount of Flobberworms in his hut, but he was unsure what to do with them.

When he taught Care of Magical Creatures, Silvanus Kettleburn normally covered them in third-year classes. However, in the 1986–1987 school year, Severus Snape needed them for Potions, so students who started learning the subject in 1986 did not cover them in the class until their fifth year.

After losing his nerve during the Hippogriff debacle in his first Care of Magical Creatures lesson during the 1993–1994 school year, Rubeus Hagrid had his third-year students raise Flobberworms for a term. The exercise was completely pointless, as they preferred to be left alone. They didn't require much care, but they would die if overfed. Later on in the school year, the Flobberworms died from overeating lettuce. During the third year exam in Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid provided a fresh tub of Flobberworms for the class and had the students keep them alive for one hour to pass the exam.

In the 1996–1997 school year, Snape's first detention of the year for Harry Potter involved sorting out rotten Flobberworms from fresh ones to be used in Potions (despite Snape no longer teaching the subject), saying that Harry need not bring protective gloves.

During the 2010–2011 school year, Daniel Page, who needed some Flobberworm Mucus to use to brew a Sleeping Draught, went with a Muggle-born student to ask Rubeus Hagrid for some mucus from his Flobberworms. After Daniel and his friend helped Hagrid collect Dittany to brew Essence of Dittany to help heal the Hippogriff Teartalon and fought off the forest troll that initially attacked her, Hagrid gave them the mucus they needed. In the same school year, Kevin Farrell wanted to learn how to care for a Flobberworm. He was planning to adopt one as a pet. He told the student that they were great pets if the owner doesn't mind their indifference or slime.

During the Calamity in the 2010s, several Foundable Flobberworms could be found trapped in large magical green bubble Confoundables. Volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force had to release these Flobberworms from containment using the Severing Charm to return the Flobberworm Foundables to their original place.

Etymology

To flobber means "to sag and wobble".

Behind the scenes

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Peter Pettigrew offered to have himself turned into a Flobberworm while begging Sirius and Remus not to hand him over to the Dementors (which is ironic as his nickname is Wormtail).
• In several of the video games, Flobberworm mucus is used as an ingredient to the Wiggenweld Potion, which will give stamina to the player in both the console games and the PC games:
  • In both the PC versions of the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry is allowed at a point in the game to collect the mucus for the potion. Meanwhile, the GBA version of the former actually has Harry do so in Hagrid's garden, but with a flute as a lure.
  • Flobberworm Mucus could be used in potions on Pottermore.
    • Showing remarkable continuity, the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has Harry actually create the potion itself in the Potions Club, using exactly the same ingredients that Snape listed in the first video game.
• Despite not being mammals, Flobberworms are apparently capable of perspiring.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Mentioned in a newspaper)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Pottermore
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (NDS version only) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter for Kinect (Mentioned only)
• Wonderbook: Book of Potions
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned only)
• Hogwarts Legacy (Mentioned only)
• The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac