Monsters of the Modern World: Washer Boggart

One of the most malevolent creatures a household can get is the Washer Boggart. It inhabits washing machines, and usually goes unnoticed until it strikes. This nasty creature kills numerous cats or even puppies, whose owners think they sneaked in the machine before it’s set into motion. It is also known to have murdered babies, and get the parents blamed to have let them enter the washing machine without supervision. But adult’s aren’t safe. Washer Boggarts usually wait until a human is alone and reasonably close to the machine’s opening before attacking them. The creature grabs them, and tries to pull them into the washing machine, where they will pierce their eyes and ears with very thin needles, causing wounds not detectable during a postmortem. Often, the official cause of death is labeled “natural”, but the victim dies in pain and terror.

It’s difficult to know when a Washer Boggart is in your house. The only symptoms would be the disappearance of socks, the Washer Boggart’s favorite food, but this isn’t specific to them: the most harmless House Brownie tends to steal socks too, as part of his usual tricks if he’s not fed with milk and cookies on a regular basis. Putting some of these two ingredients in a laundry room for a week is a good detection method: if the socks keep disappearing, you might have a Washer Boggart, and must call an experienced wizard.