#comc 301

I’m going to speak about Mokes today because I actually am quite familiar with them! My family is from Ireland and I from England; thus, I have experienced Mokes quite a few times in my childhood and adolescent life. Mokes are extremely interesting because of this magical power that allows them to shrink at will. Mokeskin bags are actually a popular trade in the village in which parents were born and raised, and I have a few of them in my possession now. I have a family friend that raised Mokes for her Mokeskin shop, and there were a few times as a child that we would stop by her house and I would watch the Mokes. Unfortunately, I did find myself scarred at one point by these creatures when we stopped by just after one of her Mokes had a clutch. The baby Mokes were cute, I suppose, even if a bit tiny. However, that thought was completely lost to me once I saw that one of the Mokes had its sibling's tail in his mouth! I remember being terrified and running to find my mother, but my family friend came forward instead to assure me that that happens sometimes. Then she separated the baby that was causing problems, which she said would fix things. In any case, I'm glad that that experience had only been a one-time thing and that I haven't seen anything so macabre since!

And thank Merlin I did, because I certainly did not want to be the prey of a hungry Pogrebin!

I’ll be sure to post pictures/updates once I bring Nellie home!

Pixies are small, blue creatures that like to cause mischief and be tricksters towards humans. They often play jokes on others which is why the creatures are often considered pests but, for me, I think this is one reason why they're interesting. I'm personally not a very tricky person, but I can’t help but laugh when I see someone have a joke played on them. (Does that make me a horrible person?) As someone who did not grow up in a magical household, I was not able to experience many magical creatures until I started Hogwarts. However, I did see a small pack of them once while I was walking with my friends around the castle grounds. The majority of us were able to notice the Pixies and leave before anything happened to us, but one of my friends was not so lucky! Thankfully, he was able to wriggle free from the Pixie’s grasp before too much harm came to him. (Probably because this one was small and young, and presumably didn’t have that much strengthening magic yet.)

The Ashwinder is a serpentine creature that arise from dying embers of a fire. Their births are very interesting, as is the fact that their adult lifespan is only about an hour. But in that time, they are able slither (in their normal sidewinding fashion) to lay eggs in a dark corner. Because of this short lifespan, they are not able to reproduce sexually. So, they are hermaphrodites and can produce young all by themselves. In order to see this creature, one must stand watch beside a dying flame. That is where the majority of Ashwinders are found. If the Ashwinder happens to move from the fire, it would be easy to spot where they've gone, as they leave a trail of ash wherever they go. They are antisocial though, so one should try not to make their presence known if they are in the vicinity of an Ashwinder. Because of this, if you see one Ashwinder - you'll know that is the only one, as they will not be in the same home where another Ashwinder resides.