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When answering this, I ran across this tidbit, which was quite interesting but, sadly, un-cited:

The Blast-Ended Skrewt is a hybrid creature bred by Rubeus Hagrid in the autumn of 1994, by crossing Manticores and Fire crabs (src: HP Wikia).
[citation needed] (src: DVK)

Was this actully sourced from canon or made up by wikia writer? If so, which level? (HP book? FB book? JKR? movie? game?)

I don't recall Hagrid ever mentioning how he ontained the skrewts; Fire Crab wikia article didn't mention Skrewts at all; and Manticore Wikia contained the same - and equally uncited - tidbit:

Rubeus Hagrid somehow managed to acquire Manticores, and got them to breed with fire crabs, creating the hybrid Blast-Ended Skrewts.

This is especially strange since Manticores are supposedly sentient.

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DVK-on-Ahch-To
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4 Answers4

33

Found it!

The good news is that the information is actually reliable, out of universe, and comes from HP book and therefore is canon:

Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manti-cores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions. (Goblet of Fire, Chapter 24 - RITA SKEETER'S SCOOP)

The bad news is that, given the source (Rita Skeeter), in-universe I would fully regard the information as unreliable and not cited!

DVK-on-Ahch-To
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  • Well done on finding it! You beat my answer by mere seconds, but you have your answer in any case. Don't recall manticores being sentient though -- I remember one was tried like Buckbeak and everyone was too scared to go near it though. – Mac Cooper Sep 11 '13 at 19:40
  • In Fantastic Beasts there is a section "Controls on Selling and Breeding" which talks about how "the 1965 Ban on Experimental Breeding has made the creation of new species illegal", but then there's a scribble (Harry or Ron's) saying "but no one's told Hagrid". I'm assuming they are implying Hagrid did breed experimental creatures (Blast-Ended Skrewts maybe?). – Möoz May 20 '14 at 04:59
  • Rita Skeeter saying something isn't proof either in or out of universe. It does come from one of the books, but Rita Skeeter is canonically a liar who makes up what people say. That doesn't mean Hagrid didn't breed the Blast-Ended Skrewts himself, but her statement isn't particularly good proof. She also said Harry had a tattoo, which was later conclusively disproved when Ron commented on the lack of one when the Order used Polyjuice to turn into him. Harry writing on the section of "Fantastic Beasts" about it being illegal is better proof, since he likes Hagrid and has no reason to lie. – Obsidia Apr 20 '17 at 19:03
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To add to DVK and Mac Cooper's answers:

In Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them; there is a section regarding Controls on Selling and Breeding which states:

The 1965 Ban on Experimental Breeding has made the creation of new species illegal.

-Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, Page xix.

However, there is a scribble (Harry or Ron's) saying "but no one's told Hagrid". I'm assuming they are implying Hagrid did breed experimental creatures; which perhaps could have been the Blast-Ended Skrewts.

I have attached a scan of the page as well (hope this is ok)Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them.

Another part of this theory is that the Blast-Ended Skrewts don't appear in Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, but rather seem to be an amalgamation of a Fire Crab (Shoots fire from its read end when attacked) and a Manticore (Has a scorpions tail and repels most charms) and maybe some other creature(s?), perhaps a Flobberworm.

All throughout Goblet of Fire Hagrid seems to be learning just as much as the students do about these creatures to the point where he doesn't even know what they eat, which you would think that the Care of Magical Creatures teacher would at least know that before bringing them to class:

Yer jus’ feedin’ ’em today. Now, yeh’ll wan’ ter try ’em on a few diff ’rent things — I’ve never had ’em before, not sure what they’ll go fer — I got ant eggs an’ frog livers an’ a bit o’ grass snake — just try ’em out with a bit of each.”

-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter Thirteen (Mad-Eye Moody).

Möoz
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  • The hand written comments in Fantastic Beast was Dumbldore's comments. Harmonie did a summoning charm after Dumbledores' death and before setting off to find the horcruxs. –  Dec 21 '15 at 19:30
  • Sorry for smaller bounty - SE only lets you increase the bounty on same question if it's posted twice. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Jul 05 '16 at 15:08
  • @DVK That's plenty for me, thank you :) – Möoz Jul 05 '16 at 20:49
  • From that quote, it sounds almost like you can create new species as long as you don't try to sell them. Which might explain how Hagrid got around the law. – DaaaahWhoosh Mar 27 '17 at 20:11
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I can't find anything solid online, but I remember in the books it was suggested that they're crossbread -- in fact, Hagrid tells Skeeter in his interview, or, I should point out, so she says. There was certainly mention of the ban on experimental breeding between those two beings. However, the problem is, not the reliability of the wikia in this case, but of Rita Skeeter herself

Mac Cooper
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Yes, he did create them. See the transcript of a 2007-12 podcast interview with J. K. Rowling (emphasis mine).

MA: Can we talk about wandlore a little bit?

JKR: Oh, absolutely. Oh, thestrals– I noticed there was immediate angst about the fact that there was a thestral hair in the middle of the Elder Wand. People were saying, "but Hagrid bred thestrals," but no, he didn't. He just bred the Hogwarts thestrals. Just to make that clear.

JN: Come on, people, there's a bigger world out there than Hagrid's backyard.

JKR: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. The only thing that Hagrid has ever created are Blast-Ended Skrewts, and I think we should all agree that he should never attempt to create a species again. So he didn't create dragons or thestrals. But he may have bred particular species-- members of the species.

b_jonas
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