[HPforGrownups] Re: Unicorn horns

[Iggy McSnurd]

No: HPFGUIDX 90611

> Sylvia:
> > >But I'm still puzzled as to how they obtain the unicorn's horn
> > >without harming the animal.  Do unicorns shed their horns? Or are
the
> > >horns removed after the creature has died naturally?  I imagine
> > >unicorns must be pretty rare, even in the WW so how do they obtain
> > >sufficient horns for school-children to use in potion making?
> 
> 
> Nice question... Antlers are shed (James Potter's if a garden variety
> stag, and not an animagus or Patronus, would shed his antlers once a
> year).
> 
> Horn is NOT shed, and Unicorns have Horns. As I recall, horns can
continue
> growing and if worn out, they will continue adding materials from the
base
> of the horn. So.... anyhoo, perhaps if a unicorn's horn is cut off, it
can
> regrow a new one.
> 
> Now of course being magical, perhaps Unicorns do break the rules and
shed
> their horns although perhaps they do so when they fell like doing so.
> Otherwise what is the point of being magical?
> 
> Alice

Iggy here:

Also, nobody said that they use the entire horn.  Looking through the
Forbidden Forest, you might find splinters of horn that have come off
when they were sharpening their horns or in fights, or even larger
chunks broken off in fights, challenges for dominance of the herd,
etc... You probably just have to know where to look.

Some people, like Hagrid, may even be able to get the unicorn to let
them "harvest" some of their horn material.  (Shaving a little off the
sides and end will allow the horn to retain its defensive and magical
abilities, and will also help keep the horn from getting so large as to
be troublesome... like a stag who's antlers have grown too large to
allow it to easily make it through thick foliage.)

Just my two centaur's worth.

Iggy McSnurd