Nogtail

Nogtail
Species information
Eye colour	Black
Skin colour	Brown
Native to	Europe Russia North America South America
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Long legs Thick stubby tail Suckled pigs Exceptionally fast and hard to catch
Affiliation	Dark Arts
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXX
Status	Extant

"Nogtails are demons found in rural areas right across Europe, Russia, and America. They resemble stunted piglets with long legs, thick, stubby tails, and narrow black eyes. The Nogtail will creep into a sty and suckle an ordinary sow alongside her own young. The longer the Nogtail is left undetected and the bigger it grows, the longer the blight on the farm into which it has entered."

— Newton Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Nogtail was a demon resembling a stunted piglet, but with narrow black eyes, a thick stubby tail, and long legs.

Description

It was mainly found across rural areas in Europe, the Americas, and Russia. Nogtails sneaked into pigsties and suckle on an ordinary sow, alongside her own young. The longer the Nogtail went undetected, the longer the blight it brought would stay on the farm.

Exceptionally fast and hard to catch, the only way to make sure the Nogtail would not come back was to chase it away with a pure white dog. The Pest Sub-Division of the British Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures maintained a pack of a dozen albino bloodhounds specifically for this purpose.

Some wizards also hunted Nogtails for recreation. For example, Tiberius took his nephew Cormac McLaggen and colleagues Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour hunting for Nogtails in Norfolk. Horace Slughorn owned a book on this subject, which he offered to loan to McLaggen at the start of the 1996–1997 school year. Qui LeBlanc also witnessed poachers setting traps for Nogtails in Brazil.

History

"Hello, class! Today we'll be learning about one of nature's creepiest dark creatures. Nogtails! Scourge of farms, and also my dreams sometimes..."

— Olivia Green to her students

A Nogtail being confronted by a transfigured albino bloodhound in Classroom 3C

Jacob's sibling researched Nogtails for Professor Olivia Green during the 1990–1991 school year at Hogwarts, their seventh year. She intended to teach her seventh-years about them in one of her Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. She taught her students about Nogtails in a later lesson, bringing in a live Nogtail to her classroom and having Jacob's sibling defend themselves against it by transforming a small object into an albino bloodhound.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First appearance)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (Mentioned on a poster)
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned only)