Unicorn uses

*I'm sorry Elfie I just wanted to even the odds and see the Hufflepuff somewhere besides last! LoL*

Unicorns are another example of very magical animals that are very valuable and rare. They are animals that are born pure gold, turn silver when they reach two, and turn pure silvery white with golden hooves when they reach adulthood. They are the symbol of pure, innocent, defenseless creatures. Wizards use unicorn hair and horns in potions and as wand cores. Unicorn blood is also magical. It is silver blue blood that shines under the moonlight. Their blood can make you heal and it can make you live even if you are on the verge of death about to fall over. Yet it is unheard of to kill a unicorn because then you would be living a cursed life to have killed such a pure defenseless creature just to improve your own life.

Muggles have also found out that unicorns are very valuable and lucky. However, they only use the unicorn horn rather then the hair and blood. They considered the unicorn horn, called alicom, to be magical and lucky. Since unicorn horns are so rare and expensive, only popes and royalty was able to purchase them. One of the few people to own an actual complete whole horn was Queen Elizabeth I of England. She purchases it for 10,000 pounds, which would equal 3,000 ounces of gold. Why were Unicorn horns in such demand? These horns were believed to cure sickness, prevent poison, create long and healthy lives, and bring luck to the wearer.

Many people faked horns from goats and cows and pretended it was unicorn horns to sell at an expentive price. Processes were then created to show whether or not a horn was real. One was to place a live scorpion under a dish with a unicorn horn on it. If the scorpion died then the horn is real. Or place a horn in cold water and if the water bubbles but the water is still cold then it is real. Another way was to draw a circle on the ground with the horn and if the horn is real, a spider will not be able to cross the line. Another and last was is to feed poison to a pigeon and then feed it some water with horn dust. If the pigeon lives then the horn is real.



Source- Harry Potter Lexicon and , http://www.unicorncollector.com/legends.htm