The Harry Potter Compendium
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"The bane of ancient mariners and students at Hogwarts - should the latter decide to go for a dip in the lake."
Collectors' card for giant squids.[src]

The Giant Squid is a huge creature that lives in the Black Lake at Hogwarts. It is semi-sentient and apparently not very dangerous, as:-

Behind the scenes[]

  • True giant squids (genus Architeuthis) are deep-sea-dwelling creatures and can not live in fresh water such as inland lochs in Scotland. It would not be able to stand the sunlight, pressure, salinity (or lack thereof) of the water, the space or the lack of food. At one point during the books it is fed bread, which it would not be able to digest. Giant squid also have very tender skin that would break if they were tickled by a stick, as the Weasley twins did. However, it is possible that, like Aragog, the Squid evolved/grew differently due to Hagrid's care and the surrounding environment. As of the many creatures living around Hogwarts in that period, it might have been a magical mutant or, in fact, a kraken.
  • Ronald Weasley once stated that dating Lavender Brown was like going out with the giant squid because the more that he hinted that he wanted to finish it, the tighter she held on.[1]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 21 - (The Unknowable Room)
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