Finally, after days with nothing new to report, we’ve been given a new six-paragraph article by J.K. Rowling about the zombie-like creatures that attack Dumbledore and Harry Potter in the cave at the end of Half-Blood Prince called Inferi, which is also the answer to today’s riddle (from the Pottermore Insider) below:

Today’s moment is almost too creepy to look at for very long, let alone post about, but here goes.

The most obvious sign that one is facing an Inferius rather than a living human are the white and cloudy eyes.

So, how do you explain Viktor Krum in the Goblet of Fire movie? (This is one of many qualms I have with that film.)

Preserved indefinitely by Dark Magic, an Inferius can only be destroyed by fire, for no spell has been found to render dead flesh impervious to burning. Inferi are therefore enchanted to avoid flames by their master.

I don’t know about you, but that “no spell has been found” excuse seems like a convenient limitation. Hmm.

Rowling goes on to explain why she chose to invent Inferi rather than simply calling them “zombies”. One reason was that zombies do not come from British mythology; another was that zombies are fairly common in contemporary books and films. So she decided to leave them alone, for essentially the same reason she decided to leave vampires alone.

The name Inferius was a play in “Inferus”, which is Latin for “below”, with an obvious connotation of being “lesser” than a human. “Inferi” means the underworld.

I love love love it when J.K. Rowling does research into Latin words and British mythologies to make her world seem so much more real for us. Jo is a genius. (The Pottermore Index has been updated with links to her new content.)

What did you think about today’s new moment? Fascinating or too creepy to handle? Share below!