This morning at precisely 10:12 a.m there was a mass muggle sighting of an adult female Unicorn giving birth in front of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Apparently the Unicorn belonged to a local wizard named Paul Stoffis. When a unicorn is going into labor and about to give birth she has a sudden and uncontrollable urge to run. This particular one ran all the way to London. Mr. Stoffis admits the pen he kept her in was not sufficient to hold a fully grown pregnant Unicorn with the pre-birthing urge to get away. As most do, the mother died during birth due to her baby's sharp horn. The newborn Unicorn touches horns with it's dead mother and all the motherly love is taken care of and the calf is on it's own. Ministry officers cleared as many muggles away from the scene as possible. They also took care of the body of the mother. It has been decided that the newborn Unicorn will be given to the respected french alchemist Miss Frederice' Botouvea. She has lately been studying the mystical properties of the Unicorn and what better opportunity than to study one up close. It was an action packed, wildly catastrophic day for our dear Ministry. Hundreds of memory erasing spells were performed and all is well in London again. I will keep you posted if there are any more happenings involving the birth of a Unicorn in the middle of the streets of London.

This month I have chosen Mermaids/Mermen as the topic.

MERPEOPLE- When you think of mermaids, you probably think of a beautiful, blonde woman combing her hair on a rock somewhere in the middle of the ocean. But in actuality, this beautiful woman is only one of the many different species of Merfolk. Some include the Cornish merrymaid; the Irish merrow; the blue men of scotland; the neck, havfrue, and havmand of Scandinavia; and the meerfrau,nix,nixe, and lorelei of Germany. Mermaids enchant nearly every civilized culture around the world. Memaids can be anything humans can; fat or thin, kind or evil, gorgeous or ugly. All merfolk are different, except for the half fish, half human part.
Merpeople were first thought to be the gods of ancient civilizations. Babylonians began worshipping a sea god called Ea around 5000 b.c. He supposedly taught them arts, sciences, and civility. Eventually, a female mer-god was created. She co-ruled the sea alongside her husband Ea.
Though beautiful, a mermaid was often described as an evil enchantress who lured sailors to their deaths with her innocent beauty and songs and kept the souls of her victims imprisoned beneath the waves. Some even devoured their victims. As you can see, it wasn't considered lucky to see a mermaid. Wherever she was, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings followed. If you were to offend a mermaid she would drive you mad, drown you, and wash away your family and house.
Luckily, not all mermaids behaved this way. Some were believed to be wise, and have a vast knowledge of herbal medicine, which they used to cure the sick or crippled. Even further, mermaids were said to possess superntural powers to forsee storms, predict the future, grant wishes and locate sunken treasure. To capture a mermaid all you would have to do was to steal one of her possessions, like her comb. Once captured, she could not escape unless she reclaimed her stolen object.
Some men chased mermaids in the hopes of finding one suitable enough for a wife. When a mermaid married a human she would be able to aqquire a soul. It is not known whether or not these mixed marriages worked out or not.
In contrast, some women went in search of mermen for husbands. Mermen were said to be extremely ugly. They are also said to have an unexplained loathing for mankind, do not desire souls, and even eat their own children.

Sincerely,
Daniel Fudge
Your Magizoologist