Mooncalf

Mooncalf
Species information
Eye colour	Blue-green
Skin colour	Pink
Hair colour	Pale grey
Native to	Existing worldwide
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Comes out only during full moon Creates crop circles with mating dance
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XX
Status	Extant

"I've seen Mooncalves dance only once. It was a sight to behold!"

— Professor Kettleburn on the dance of Mooncalves

The Mooncalf was a shy magical beast that only came out of its burrow during a full moon.

Description

Mooncalves being fed by a witch or wizard

The Mooncalf had smooth, pale grey skin, and four spindly legs that ended in large flat webbed feet. The Mooncalf also had a very long neck and bulging blue eyes that sat on the top of its head.

Once the Mooncalf was in the moonlight, it performed complicated dance moves while standing on its hind legs. It was believed that this is part of the Mooncalf mating ritual, but also had the side effect of creating geometric patterns in wheat fields that confused Muggles.

Mooncalf dung, if harvested before the sun rose, would make magical plants grow fast and strong.

Hodags fed largely on Mooncalves.

History

1890s

During the 1890–1891 school year, the new fifth-year Hogwarts student rescued a Mooncalf using a nab-sack and stored it in the vivarium. The same school year, Garnuff, a goblin who lived in Hogsmeade, owned a Mooncalf named Biscuit, whom he asked the same student to rescue.

1920s

Jacob Kowalski feeding Newt Scamander's Mooncalves

Newt Scamander had a herd of Mooncalves in his suitcase during his visit to New York in 1926. He also kept another small group in the basement of his apartment. However, it is possible that these were part of the same herd.

1980s

A Mooncalf lived in the Magical Creatures Reserve during the 1980s. Rubeus Hagrid brought it there after discovering it in a Muggle farmer's field. During the 1987–1988 school year, Jacob's sibling helped take care of it and discovered that it danced in a square pattern, different from most of its species, who danced with circular formations. The student theorised that it may have been ostracised from its original herd due to this unusual behaviour.

With help from Professor McGonagall and Barnaby Lee, the student taught it to dance in circles, allowing it to be accepted into a Mooncalf herd that lived in the Forbidden Forest.

Etymology

In modern terminology, a "mooncalf" is a foolish person. The term originally meant a deformed calf born under the malign influence of the full moon. In the 17th century, it came to mean a deformed baby, and later, a hideously deformed individual; as in Shakespeare's Tempest, when Stephano calls Caliban a "mooncalf".

Appearances

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First appearance)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2017 edition)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Wonderbook: Book of Potions (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy
• The Art and Making of Hogwarts Legacy
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic (Place Cachée)