Horklump

Horklump

Species information

Native range

Scandinavia

Distinction

• Resembles fleshy pink mushroom
• Covered in sparse, coarse black bristles

Ministry of Magic Classification

Beast
X

The Horklump was a magical creature which resembled a fleshy pink mushroom covered in sparse black bristles.

Nature

Physiology and ecology  

Horklumps originated in Scandinavia, but eventually spread throughout northern Europe, and could be found in Scotland by 1991. They resembled fleshy pink mushrooms covered in a sparse scattering of coarse black bristles.^[1] Despite their fungi-like appearance, Horklumps were animals.^[1][3] Their preferred prey was the earthworm, which they hunted using the thin, muscular tentacles that they spread underground (similar to how fungi spread mycelia). Horklumps were very fast breeders and could cover an average-sized garden in only a few days.

Horklumps were the favourite food of the gnome. Streeler venom was one of the few known substances that could kill Horklumps.

Use by and interaction with humans

A bottle of Horklump juice

Horklumps had no discernible use to wizards and witches, according to the famous magizoologist Newt Scamander, and were given the classification "XX" ("harmless / may be domesticated") by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. However, their juice was used in a range of healing potions, including the Wiggenweld Potion. It was also used to make Herbicide Potion.

In his book Marauding with Monsters, Gilderoy Lockhart wrote of how he once supposedly visited somefans in rural Essex, and helped clear a path through their Horklump-infested yard. Afterward, the fans allegedly offered him some of their homemade Celery and Beetroot Wine in gratitude, which he graciously declined. However, like most of Lockhart's accounts, this story may have been greatly exaggerated or completely fabricated.

Lockhart recommended the following method for removing a Horklump in Marauding with Monsters: hitting it with a Knockback Jinx, taking a firm hold of it, and then twisting and yanking it out of the ground.