DADA-301 Lessons

Now that we are all loosened up and have faced whatever our deepest fears are, we can begin exploring the world and looking at the variety of creatures that inhabit it. Where possible, we will also be looking at aspects of how Muggles view these creatures since their folklore often times coincides with our reality. To find our second creature of the year, we must travel to Japan, where the creature we know as the kappa originates.

Kappas - Description and Temperament
The name kappa can be translated from Japanese in several ways. Which one is used is dependent on a variety of factors that play into the usage of any language, including region and dialect. One of the less common translations for kappa is a direct translation of the word, which means “cucumber”. This is interesting as cucumbers play a fairly important role in kappa defense, but we will get to that in a little bit. The more complete, and more common, translation is that kappa is a combination of two separate Japanese words: the first is kawa, which means river and wappa, which is a variation of the word warabe, which means child. Looking at these two separate words, the almost literal translation of kappa is “river child”, which makes sense due to the habitat of the creature. Other names for the kappa include “kawatarō” and “kawako”.

Kappas are aquatic creatures that primarily live in lakes and rivers. They have webbed fingers and toes, which are ideal for swimming rapidly. This does not mean that they are incapable of coming onto land - in fact, Kappas will quite frequently venture onto land when they are hungry or they feel their territory is being threatened. The skin of a kappa is covered in scales that can be a variety of colors, which is entirely dependent on which part of Japan they are in. Most often, the scales are colored either green or blue, but have also been known to be yellowish. Its torso closely resembles that of a tortoise; its face is humanoid and looks like a cross between a monkey and a human, with the exception of the beak that serves as their mouth.

The most notable feature of a kappa, besides its unique hybrid body, is the bowl shaped indent on the top of its head, which in some can even be protruding from the skull, almost as if it is a separate limb. Within this bowl, you will always find water, as kappas require water to survive. Without water in its bowl for an extended period of time, the kappa will eventually die due to starvation, since it will not be able to move; the emptying of this area causes paralysis of the limbs for a kappa. Keep this in mind as it will play an important role later on when we discuss defense against a kappa.

Different stories that come out of Japan give different depictions of the kappa - some people have stated that a kappa will do no more than use their ability to blend in with the water to spy on women taking baths in a lake, while other stories tell of the kappa attacking anyone who dares venture into the body of water in which they reside. The trickster kappas, while they do exist (we cannot ever say all creatures of a race are the same), are less frequent and it is more common that you will find a malevolent kappa who wants to eat you.

Defense Against a Kappa
Now that you know a little more about what a kappa is and what their temperament is like, we must talk about how to defend yourself against them. According to the Ministry of Magic, these creatures are rated XXXX due to the way that they so commonly and remorselessly attack humans. If you recall, an XXXX rating means that it is a dangerous creature of which specialist knowledge is required to protect against. Part of the rationale for this rating is that many witches and wizards will never encounter a kappa in their lives, as they reside exclusively in Japan, so few take the time to learn how to defend against them. That said, it is important to learn now, in case you do ever find yourself traveling, because kappas are easy to defend against.

The primary form of defense against a kappa is politeness. Despite their vicious nature, kappas are obsessed with politeness and when someone is polite to them, they cannot help but be polite back. That is why, if you ever find yourself face-to-face with a kappa, you should automatically bow to it - imagine you are in a formal duel with it as if it were a human. Once you bow, the kappa will bow back, causing the water in the hollow on its head to empty out. Without water in its hollow, the kappa will become paralyzed and you will be presented with two options. The first option is to flee the scene and leave the kappa to die; this option is less favorable because it causes the unnecessary death of a living creature. The second option is to go get water, stand the kappa upright, and refill its hollow. If you refill its hollow, the kappa will recognize your act of kindness and will not attack you again - the lake or river in which it resides will always be a safe place for you to swim.

The second form of defense is prevention. You never need to defend against a kappa if you never see one. In order to prevent a kappa attack, you must carry cucumbers with you. Before you swim in a lake or pond, pull out a cucumber and inscribe your name on it with a quill; this must be done for every person who will be swimming and each person must use their own cucumber. Once the name is inscribed, throw the cucumber into the body of water you plan to swim in. Cucumbers are a kappa’s favorite meal, with people being a close second, and any kappa in that lake or river will eat the cucumber, inscribed with your name (your full, legal name. This is important), and will not attack you, since it will recognize the cucumber as a peace offering for safety.

Finally, if you live near a river or  lake, you might want to protect your house against the potential of an unexpected kappa attack. In order to do this, you ought to build an iron fence around your yard. In the spaces between each spoke in the fence, or as close to the fence as possible, you will want to have ginger and sesame planted and grown. These specific measures will keep a kappa off of your property, as these three things (iron, sesame, and ginger) are all known to repel a kappa. Note that the iron can come in any form, as long as it is pure iron. The described set up is only my recommendation. For your assignment today, you will need to be more creative.

How the Cucumber Defense Works
Now, many of you may be wondering why you have to inscribe your name on the cucumber in order to be protected; why not just throw a cucumber in. This is actually an excellent question. If you simply throw the cucumber into a lake or river, the kappa that eats it will have no sense of where the cucumber came from. They might think they got lucky and it fell from the sky. Without any way to connect the cucumber back to the person who offered it, they will not recognize it as a peace offering from an individual.

The reason the inscription of the name is so important is because names have power. While our world may not recognize the power of a name, many stories from around the world recognize that a name is much more than a name. A person’s name, their true name, holds more power over someone than most universal forces. This is because a person’s true name is a collection of everything that they are. It is a summary of their essence, their life, and everything they have done and the person they have become.

What makes the true name unique is that only you can give it to someone. When you write it down, it must be handwritten so that your own identity comes through in the way you write; if you say it, you will always say your name in a specific way that is unique to you. If someone else would ever say your true name in the exact same way that you do, they would have a certain power over you, at least in certain cultures.

This is the reason that the cucumber defense works - the kappa, once it eats the cucumber inscribed with your true name, will be able to recognize you and identify you specifically. They will know that the cucumber came from you and that you are, for the duration of a few hours, a friend and they will not attack you. Once the cucumber is no longer in the kappa’s system, you will not be safe, so you will have to reinscribe cucumbers every few hours or so to remain safe.

On the whole, though kappas are recognized as highly dangerous creatures, simple knowledge of them and their habits makes them easy to defend against. If you keep iron, sesame, and ginger around the perimeter of your property, if you know to bow to a kappa and refill its water hollow, and if you throw cucumbers inscribed with your name into the water of lakes and rivers before you swim, you should never have a problem with a kappa. Your assignments today will involve a quiz about kappas and an essay that applies what you have learned about defending against them.

Class dismissed.

Original lesson written by Professor Jericho Penrose