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What is this creature on the back of Harry Potter 2 Illustrated Edition?


I was just looking at this dust cover of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated Edition) and noticed this creature. My first guess as to what it was was a Bowtruckle but Bowtruckles aren't that big.



Maximum of eight inches in height, made of bark and twigs with two small


Bowtruckles-Pottermore



So if anyone could help me out that would be great!


Image of the dust cover showing the creature circled



Answer





In short it is a Green Man which was a reference to Jim Kay's work on A Monster Calls. See the bottom half of my answer for an email I received from him that this is the case.


The creature on the front cover of A Monster Calls does also look a lot similar to the one on the dust cover.


A Monster Calls front cover


I haven’t actually read or seen this either but Jim Kay also worked on the film and again the creature in the film is very similar.


A Monster Calls film still showing a similar creature



I emailed Jim Kay from his contact form on Creepy Scrawlers Ltd and this is the response I got.



Hello,



I've just noticed this creature on the Dust Cover of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated Edition).


https://i.stack.imgur.com/44eE6.jpg


I've also seen that apparently it was revealed at some point what it was (potentially in The Prisoner of Azkaban illustrated edition but I can't see if it is).


Have you revealed what it is and if so what is it?




It's a sort of Green Man, I illustrated A Monster Calls, which kind of changed my life really. Wouldn't be illustrating today if it wasn't for that book by Patrick Ness. I worked on the film too. It was just a little nod to that really.


There are other things people haven't noticed yet. On the Chocolate bar wrapper in the chapter opener inside Prisoner of Azkaban, there is a black dog hidden among the hares. Best Wishes


J




Screenshot of the quoted email above


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