The Quintaped is a highly dangerous, carnivorous wizard-killer that should be avoided at all costs. (image from harrypotter.wikia.com)

In Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Newt Scamander describes the “quintaped” as a  “highly dangerous carnivorous beast with a particular taste for humans” (pg. 67).

The Quintaped is commonly found in northern Scotland, on the Isle of Drear. According to legend, there were two wizarding families that lived on the Isle of Drear, the McCliverts and the MacBoons. The leaders of each of these clans faced off in a duel, which ultimately led to the death of the McClivert chief. To avenge their leader’s death, the McCliverts transfigured every single MacBoon into a horrible five-legged beast.

Unfortunately for the McCliverts, the transfigured MacBoons were even more dangerous in their new form. The MacBoons ended up killing all of the McCliverts. The MacBoons remained in this monstrous state for there were no remaining wizards left to change them back into their former selves.

The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures has attempted to capture and un-transfigure a Quintaped to no avail. The Ministry of Magic has classified Quintapeds as XXXXX, meaning that they are “known wizard killers” and are “impossible to domesticate or train” (pg. xxxv).

Quintapeds are aptly named, the Latin root quint- means five while –ped means foot. Interestingly enough, the leader of clan MacBoon was named “Quintius,” which might explain why they were transfigured into five-legged creatures.