Lethifolds and Voldemort

[Tom Wall]

No: HPFGUIDX 60154

Brittney wrote:
This may seem totally off the wall and, unfortunately I do not have 
my copy of SS to check the description, but after reading Fantastic 
Beasts and Where to Find Them it struck me that the description of 
the lethifold in the book reminded me of what I always envisioned 
looked like when he was found drinking the unicorn's blood in the 
Dark Forrest. 

I, Tom, respond:
Well, I'd never heard of a lethifold until you just mentioned it. So, 
I went on over to the HP Lexicon (at URL http://www.hp-lexicon.org) 
and looked it up. 

The Lexicon's entry reads:
"This dangerous beast resembles a half-inch thick black cloak which 
moves along the ground at night, hunting its prey. It attacks 
sleeping humans, smothers them, and then digests them, all in their 
bed, leaving no trace at all. The only defense against a Lethifold is 
a Patronus Charm. Thankfully, this frightening creature is rare, only 
found in the tropics. (FB)"

So, I agree with your assessment that the black cloak in the forest 
resembles the description of the lethifold as far as appearance. 

But, I'm not sure that it's possible for the black cloak to actually 
*be* a lethifold, for two reasons:

First, apparently they attack sleeping humans and leave no trace, 
which is contrary to the situation we have in the forest, where the 
black-cloaked figure is drinking unicorns' blood and leaving the 
bodies there. 

Second, we have the assertion that lethifolds are *only* found in the 
tropics, and Scotland would seem to be too far removed from the 
tropics for this to be the case.

-Tom, who is intrigued by the possibility of a lethifold in canon, 
and what it might do in a storyline.