S is for the Sphinx's Riddle

The Sphinx's Riddle was one of my favorite parts of the third task in the Triwizard Tournament. Harry describes the sphinx as an extraordinary creature that he had only seen in books, which is ironic since the sphinx is omitted from the movie version of The Goblet of Fire, making our only exposure to the beautiful creature in the book as well.

It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft.  Its head, however, was that of a woman.  She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached.  He raised his wand, hesitating.  She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. (628)

Then, the sphinx presents her riddle.  It's the third and final riddle of the Harry Potter series: the first being the potion riddle that Hermione solves at the end of The Sorcerer's Stone, and the second being the riddle of the merpeople, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The riddle is elegantly phrased and easily solvable:

"First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?" (629)



I'll give you a second to ponder the puzzle if you haven't read the books, or don't recall the answer.

I say it's easily solvable because looking at it afterwords, I assume I could've gotten as far as "spy" "d", though "er" isn't really used in the U.S. for a hard-to-find word...I think of that as more of an "uh" or "um".  Unfortunately, my first read through I was too quick to keep reading and didn't take the time to see if I could figure it out.

The answer is: A spider!

"The sphinx smiled broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass" (630).

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Join me tomorrow in my A to Z Challenge: T is for Time Turner