Blast-Ended Skrewt

A Blast-Ended Skrewt is a fictional animal in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Rubeus Hagrid, in his capacity as a Care of Magical Creatures teacher during Harry's fourth year, misguidedly introduced them to classes. The Blast-Ended Skrewt is bred by crossing a manticore with a fire-crab.

They are described as, upon birth, looking like shell-less lobsters, pale and slimey on the surface. There is no visible head. Upon hatching they measure six inches and smell of rotting fish. They have a natural mechanism to emit a spark from the latter end (hence their name). The blast is typically strong enough to move them several inches. The spark occasionally causes surface burns to anything in contact with the animal. The males have stings and females have suckers (for blood) on the underside. They do not hibernate.

At two months, measuring a metre in length, Skrewts develop a thick, grey, shiny armour – described as looking like a cross between a scorpion and an elongated crab. At this stage the animals begin to display their aggressive tendencies between each other – often killing one other. Though aggressive, the male Skrewt may be controlled by fastening a rope around its sting. After another month the Skrewt measures 2 metres in length.

The animal was used as an obstacle in the maze during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. At this point, over nine months since birth, the beast is described as 3.5 metres in length – the male's sting is now extending over its back. The shell is resistive to most spells – though the fleshy under-belly is still vulnerable.