Magical creatures in Harry Potter

Magical creatures comprise a colourful and integral aspect of the wizarding world in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Throughout the seven books of the series, Harry and his friends encounter many of these creatures on their adventures, as well as in the Care of Magical Creatures class at Hogwarts. Rowling has also written Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a guide to the magical beasts found in the series. Many of these legendary creatures are derived from folklore, including Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, British folklore, and Scandinavian folklore.

Magizoology

Magizoology (a portmanteau of magic and zoology) is the study of magical creatures in the Harry Potter series. People who study Magizoology are known as a magizoologists. There are magizoologists who work in the Ministry of Magic, particularly in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. One notable magizoologist is Newt Scamander, who in the universe of the series is the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a textbook on magical creatures that is popular in the wizarding world (Rowling used Newt Scamander as her pseudonym for the real-life Fantastic Beasts).

Other characters who study magical creatures include Newt's grandson Rolf Scamander, as well as Luna Lovegood (who eventually marries Rolf), although these two have only been referred to by Rowling as naturalists.

Regulation and classification

See also: Being (Harry Potter) and Ghosts (Harry Potter)

The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of the Ministry of Magic is responsible for overseeing and regulating magical creatures. It is divided into three divisions: the Beast Division, the Being Division, and the Spirit Division. A "being" is generally defined, according to Fantastic Beasts, as "any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws." This includes humans and goblins; in accordance with this definition, fairies, pixies, gnomes, and most other creatures are classified as beasts. Centaurs and merpeople rejected being status in favour of beast status. Werewolves and Animagi are notable because they are typically in human form — a werewolf transforms from human state only at the full moon, and an animagus is a human who has learned to transform into an animal at will. Affairs related to ghosts come under the auspices of the Spirit Division. Dementors, terrible creatures which guard Azkaban prison, are not specifically mentioned in Fantastic Beasts.

The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures classifies magical creatures on a scale from X to XXXXX as follows (according to page xxii of Fantastic Beasts):

• X: Boring
• XX: Harmless / may be domesticated
• XXX: Competent wizards should cope
• XXXX: Dangerous / requires specialist knowledge / skilled wizard may handle
• XXXXX: Known wizard killer / impossible to train or domesticate. (Also said to be anything Hagrid likes.)

List of magical beasts

Below is the complete list of entries in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them listed under "An A – Z of Fantastic Beasts." The Ministry of Magic classification (see above) is also noted. Blood-Sucking Bugbears, boggarts and hinkypunks have been mentioned in the series but do not appear in Fantastic Beasts, and hence no Ministry of Magic classification is supplied. Nor is the Blast-Ended Skrewt mentioned in Fantastic Beasts.

Acromantula - XXXXX Albino Bloodhound - XXX Albino Peacock - XXX Armidillo - XX Ashwinder - XX Augurey - XX Aquavrious Maggot - XXX Basilisk - XXXXX Bicorn - XXXXX Billywig - XXX Blast-Ended Skrewt - XXXX Blibbering Humdigner - XXX Boggart - XXX Boomslang - XXXX Bowtruckle - XX Bugbear - XXXX Bundimun - XXX Cat - XX Chameleon Ghoul - XXX Chicken (fire-breathing)-XXX Centaur - XXXX Chimaera - XXXXX Chizpurfle - XX Clabbert - XX Cockatrice - XXXXX Crup - XXX Dementor XXXX Crumple-Horned Snorkack - XXX Dementor - XXXX Demiguise - XXXX Diricawl - XX Dog - XX Doxy - XXX Dragon - XXXXX Antipodean Opaleye Chinese Fireball Common Welsh Green Hebridean Black Hungarian Horntail Norwegian Ridgeback Peruvian Vipertooth Romanian Longhorn Swedish Short-Snout Ukrainian Ironbelly Dwarf - XXX Dugbog - XXX Erkling - XXXX Erumpent - XXXX Fairy - XX

Fire Crab - XXX Flesh Eating Slug - XXXX Flobberworm - X Fwooper - XXX Gernumbli Gardensi - XX Ghoul - XXX Glumbumble - XXX Giant - XXXX Giant Grub - X Gnome - XX Goblin - XXX Graphorn - XXXX Griffin - XXXX Grindylow - XX Hag - XXXXX Heliopath - XXX Hinkypunk - XXX Hippocampus - XXX Hippogriff - XXX Horklump - X Horned Slug - XX Horned Toad - XX Imp - XX Inferius - XXXX Jarvey - XXX Jobberknoll - XX Kappa - XXXX Kelpie - XXXX Knarl - XXX Kneazle - XXX Lacewig Fly - X Leech - XXX Leprechaun-XXX Lethifold - XXXXX Lobalug - XXX Mackled Malaclaw - XXX Manticore - XXXXX Merpeople - XXXX Merrow - XXXX Moke - XXX Mummy - XXXX Mooncalf - XX Murtlap - XXX Nargle - XX Newt (double ended)- XX Niffler - XXX Nogtail - XXX Nundu- XXXXX Nymph - XX

Occamy - XXXX Ogre - XXXXX Owl - XX Phoenix - XXXX Pixie - XXX Plimpy - XXX Pogrebin - XXX Porlock - XX Puffskein - XX Pygmy Puff - XX Quintaped - XXXXX Rabbit (transforming) - XX Ramora - XX Rat - XX Raven - XX Red cap - XXX Re'em - XXXX Rooster - XX Runespoor - XXXX Salamander - XXX Sea serpent - XXX Shrake - XXX Snake - XX-XXXXX Snidget - XXXX Spider - X-XXXXX Sphinx - XXXX Sprite - XXXX Streeler - XXX Squid - XXX Tebo - XXXX Thestral - XX Troll - XXXX Toad - XX Mountain Forest River Unicorn - XXXX Crumple-Horned Snorkack - XX Veela - XXX Werewolf - XXXXX Wrackspurt - XXX Winged Horse - XX–XXXX Abraxan Aethonan Granian Thestral Yeti (also known as Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman) - XXXX

Dark creatures

Dark creatures are frequently mentioned in the Harry Potter books - Remus Lupin's class dealt with them - though the term is not easily defined. The Harry Potter Lexicon speculates in its essay on the subject that dark creatures, as opposed to normal magical animals, are those that use dark powers for more than mere survival.[1] Many magical creatures, such as manticores and erklings, are very dangerous, but, nonetheless, are not "dark creatures," since they are natural predators utilising their power in their quest for food, reproduction, and survival; having no consciences or malicious purposes, they may not necessarily be considered "evil." A dark creature, on the other hand, seeks to harm for the sake of harm, not its own survival. Many such creatures are defined in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them It is possible (though this is not clear) that demon is an appropriate term for any Dark creature, since some such creatures, such as Red Caps and grindylows, are known to be both.

Dark creatures do not necessarily reproduce and may simply result from spontaneously generating in places of strong ambient Dark Magic or where a strongly emotive or suggestive act has been committed. Red caps, for instance, appear on battlefields or other locations where human blood has been spilled in large amounts. Dementors "grow like fungi," according to JK Rowling, in the foulest, darkest places. (Dementors are described as "breeding" in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, though this may simply mean that more are generating, rather than implying normal reproduction.) Most dark creatures are not, by human standards, intelligent; vampires and werewolves, examples of those who are intelligent, are part-human.

Dark creatures are also those magical creatures produced artificially through the use of Dark Magic. One notable example of such creation is the basilisk.

Some magical creatures, especially those considered "beings" by the Ministry of Magic (and thus theoretically equal to humans), are themselves capable of learning and using the Dark Arts.

Known Dark Creatures

• Banshees
• Basilisks
• Boggarts
• Dementors
• Grindylows
• Hags^†
• Hinkypunks
• Kappas
• Redcaps
• Vampires^†
• Werewolves^†

^† = part human

Animals with magical powers

Many pets in the series are ordinary animals with magical properties. Owls, for example, deliver mail. Only creatures that exist exclusively in the magical world are listed below.

Characters

Below is a list of magical beasts who come into contact with Harry or have some significant role in the series. The beast's name (if applicable), type, home or owner, and the relevant book(s) are noted. (Books in which the character appears only briefly are italicised.) Some of these beasts are also listed as pets.

Named

• Aragog
  • Species: Acromantula
  • Location: Forbidden Forest
  • Books appeared in: Book 2, Book 6, Book 7

• Buckbeak as Witherwings
  • Species: Hippogriff
  • Owner: Rubeus Hagrid, then Sirius Black, then Harry Potter, then back to Rubeus Hagrid
  • Books appeared in: Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6, Book 7

• Bane
  • Species: Centaur
  • Location: Forbidden Forest
  • Books appeared in: Book 1, Book 5, Book 7

• Crookshanks
  • Species: Part Cat, part Kneazle
  • Owner: Hermione
  • Book appeared in: Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6

• Fawkes
  • Species: Phoenix
  • Owner: Albus Dumbledore
  • Books appeared in: Book 2, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6

• Firenze
  • Species: Centaur
  • Location: Forbidden Forest, then Hogwarts
  • Books appeared in: Book 1, Book 5, Book 6, Book 7

• Fluffy
  • Species: Three-Headed Hellhound
  • Location: Hogwarts, then released to Forbidden Forest
  • Books appeared in: Book 1

• Tenebrus
  • Species: Thestral
  • Owner: Rubeus Hagrid
  • Books appeared in: Book 5

• Norbert aka Norberta
  • Species: Dragon (Norwegian Ridgeback)
  • Owner: Rubeus Hagrid (as a baby), later Charlie Weasley
  • Books appeared in: Book 1
  • Mentioned in: Book 7

• Ronan
  • Species: Centaur
  • Location: Forbidden Forest
  • Books appeared in: Book 1, Book 5

• Sanguini
  • Species: Vampire
  • Location: Slughorns expanded office, in his christmas party
  • Books appeared in: Book 6,

Basilisks

File:TomRiddle'sBasilisk.jpg

The basilisk in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, a basilisk is a monstrous serpentine creature. Much larger than its mythical counterpart, the basilisk of the Harry Potter universe is capable of reaching lengths of up to fifty feet and living for hundreds of years. However, like the basilisks of Greek myth, they are magically bred by setting a toad onto the egg of a chicken. Basilisks are completely uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, and the first basilisk is believed to have been created by a Parselmouth and Dark wizard named Herpo the Foul.Template:HPF A basilisk kills both with its powerful venom and with its stare, which is immediately lethal to anyone who gazes at it directly.Template:HPF To anyone who gazes at it indirectly, such as through a camera or in a reflection, it induces a profound state of petrification, which only a stew of mature mandrakes can reverse. Ghosts who look at it directly will become petrified, as they cannot die again.Template:HP2 It seems that glasses do not work as protection from a basilisk's eyes as Myrtle was described as wearing spectacles and yet still died.

In the second volume of the series, a basilisk was the monster that inhabited the Chamber of Secrets. When Tom Marvolo Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets the Basilisk killed a girl named Myrtle in 1943, then hibernated for 50 years. In 1992, it was set loose again by a Horcrux of Voldemort, and attempted to kill several Muggle-borns, but due to sheer luck all its victims were merely petrified. Spiders always flee from the Basilisk, as they are mortal enemies. Throughout the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, spiders appear all moving in the same direction. The only thing the Basilisk seems to fear is the rooster, as the crying of the rooster is fatal to a Basilisk. Tom Riddle's Horcrux commanded Ginny Weasley to kill all the school roosters, remarked upon by Rubeus Hagrid.

When Harry discovers the existence of the chamber and of its location, Riddle reveals his true identity and sets the basilisk loose upon Harry while Ginny Weasley's life force ebbed away. Fawkes appeared to assist Harry, carrying the Sorting Hat; Harry pulls the sword of Godric Gryffindor from that hat, and uses it to impale the basilisk's head, killing it. Because the sword is the product of goblin craft, it has the ability to "absorb that which strengthens it", and therefore becomes impregnated with the basilisk's venom. Dumbledore uses this knowledge to destroy the ring horcrux in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Though Harry was mortally poisoned by a stray basilisk fang, Fawkes' tears purified Harry's blood of the venom and the fang was used to destroy Tom Riddle's diary, eliminating Voldemort's Horcrux (though this fact was not known at the time) and restoring Ginny Weasley's health. In the seventh book, it was revealed that Harry was a seventh Horcrux that Voldemort unintentionally made, it is unknown whether the venom of the Basilisk could have killed Harry or the piece of Voldemort's soul that was within him.

As of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the basilisk's carcass remained in the Chamber, and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger took some of the basilisk's fangs, with the intent to use the powerful and destructive venom contained within to destroy the last of the Horcruxes. Supposedly Ron opened the chamber simply by mimicking the garbled snake noises he had heard Harry speak earlier that year. Hermione then used one of the fangs to destroy Helga Hufflepuff's cup.

It is said that the tear of a phoenix is the only cure for the devastating effect of the basilisk's venom.

Boggarts

A Boggart is a shape-shifter that takes on the form of its intended victim's worst fear. It generally likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, such as in cupboards, under beds, or in hollow trees. The term is derived from the boggart of British folklore; these creatures are annoying household spirits, but do not traditionally have shapeshifting abilities. Since a boggart changes shape upon sight, few know what one actually looks like in unaltered form.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Professor Lupin teaches his students in Defence Against the Dark Arts to approach a boggart in groups of two or more, so that the boggart will have difficulty in choosing which one to frighten and also so that if one target is frightened, the others will be less so since they will likely have different fears; the boggart may even attempt to scare all parties at once, resulting in a strange hybrid that most would not find particularly frightening. A common wizards' defence against a boggart is to use a spell to make it appear amusing, since boggarts are weakened by laughter. This is achieved by pointing a wand at the boggart and saying "Riddikulus"; this charm can apparently also be used to destroy an already weakened boggart. Lupin later uses a boggart to teach Harry to fight Dementors, as they are Harry's greatest fear, but would be less dangerous, as Lupin would be able to defeat a boggart much more quickly than he would a real dementor.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a boggart is hidden in a drawer in Number 12 Grimmauld Place. When Mrs Weasley tries to get rid of the boggart, Harry sees the boggart imitating the dead bodies of the Weasley family and Harry himself. Mrs Weasley, who dreads that her family will be killed, breaks down in grief upon seeing this, and is unable to dispatch the boggart, which is killed by Professor Lupin. Alastor Moody observed the boggart with his magical eye whilst it was still in hiding; he confirmed that it was a boggart, but did not comment on whether he saw his worst fear or the true form of the boggart (as Moody saw the boggart with his magical eye, while it was still in darkness, it is to be believed that he saw the boggart in its original form).

Characters and their Boggarts:

• Harry Potter - (Prisoner of Azkaban) A Dementor, which Remus Lupin suggests indicates that the thing he fears the most is fear itself.
• Ron Weasley - An Acromantula.
• Hermione Granger - Professor McGonagall telling her she had "failed everything" (fear of failing in general).
• Neville Longbottom - Professor Snape.
• Remus Lupin - The full moon. He fears turning into a werewolf.
• Molly Weasley - Those whom she cares about most dead (Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Percy Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter) This may also foreshadow Fred's death in the last book. Arthur was also originally planned to die later in "Order of the Phoenix", when this scene appears.
• Parvati Patil - A mummy, or a giant cobra in the film.
• Seamus Finnigan - A banshee.
• Dean Thomas - A severed hand walking on its own.
• Lord Voldemort - His own corpse (according to an interview with J. K. Rowling), suggesting that Voldemort fears death and darkness, as Rowling implies in Half-Blood Prince.
• Albus Dumbledore - The corpse of his dead sister (as stated in a recent web-chat).
• The author J.K. Rowling has stated that her boggart would be either a coffin closing around her (fear of being buried alive) or seeing those whom she loves dead.

Dementors

The Dementors are soulless creatures that are considered to be among the foulest beasts on Earth. They are soul-sucking fiends who guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. In the books, Dementors appear to have a generally human shape, approximately ten feet (3,05 meters) in height, but covered in dark, hooded cloaks which reveal only grey, decayed hands. The wraith-like creatures have no eyes, and there is a large hole where the mouth should be, which is used for sucking the soul out of the victim in a process called the "Dementor's Kiss". According to the author, J.K. Rowling, they grow like fungi in the darkest, dankest places, creating a dense, chilly fog. Dementors can levitate freely and can travel to nearly any altitude to capture their prey.

Dementors are invisible to Muggles, but affect them in the same way. While at least one Squib in the series has claimed to see a Dementor, J. K. Rowling has stated that this was a lie and she noticed it because of the effect it has on her. Rowling has likened the effect of a Dementor to the human ailment known as depression, which the author has herself experienced. She describes it as "that absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling, which is so very different from feeling sad."

Being blind, Dementors sense and feed on the positive emotions, happiness and good memories of human beings to move around, forcing them to relive their worst memories. The very presence of a Dementor makes the surrounding atmosphere grow cold and dark, and the effects are cumulative with the number of Dementors present. Despite their attachment to human emotion, Dementors seem to have difficulty distinguishing one human from another, as demonstrated by Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape from Azkaban, wherein they could detect no emotional/mental difference between the younger Crouch and his mother.

In addition to feeding on positive emotions, Dementors can perform the Dementor's Kiss, where the Dementor latches its mouth onto a victim's and sucks out the person's soul. The victim is left as an empty shell, incapable of thought and with no possibility of recovery. It is believed that existing after a Dementor's Kiss is worse than death. The Ministry of Magic occasionally uses this as a punishment, such as on Barty Crouch Jr.

One way to shield oneself from Dementors is to use the Patronus Charm to drive them away. Chocolate is an effective first aid to mild cases of contact, presumably due to chocolate's serotonin-dopamine boosting effects.

Harry Potter first encountered Dementors during his third year of school, when they were sent to guard Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry against Sirius Black, who had recently escaped Azkaban Prison. Harry, whenever he got near one, was forced to relive his worst memory: hearing the last moments of his parents' lives before they were murdered by Lord Voldemort, which begins with Harry hearing his mother screaming. His first encounter with a Dementor was on the Hogwarts Express, during which he was protected by his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Remus Lupin. To overcome the Dementors, Harry asked Lupin for assistance. Lupin taught Harry the Patronus Charm. When Harry finally mastered the Patronus Charm, his patronus took the form of a silver-looking stag.

Harry's encounter with Dementors in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was in an alley near his home on Privet Drive, when he and his cousin Dudley Dursley were ambushed by two Dementors sent secretly and illegally by Dolores Umbridge. At the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Dementors of Azkaban stage a mass revolt against their employers to join Lord Voldemort, as he can provide them with more humans to feast upon.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the Ministry, under the control of Voldemort, used Dementors to punish those who were Muggle born for no other reason than because Voldemort hated Muggles and Muggle borns. The Dementors also took part on Voldemort's side during the Battle of Hogwarts. After the appointment of Kingsley Shacklebolt to the position of Minister, Dementors are removed from Azkaban. Rowling said that after Voldemort's demise, Dementors will never be used by the Ministry of Magic again and the Ministry will contain them by limiting their numbers.

Goblins

File:Gringotts goblin.jpg

Verne Troyer plays a Gringotts goblin in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Goblins are magical creatures (defined as beings, rather than beasts), chiefly involved with metal work and the running of Gringotts bank. They are represented by the Goblin Liaison Office in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Goblins are described as having long, thin fingers and feet, black eyes, and domed heads that are much larger than human heads .Template:DH Goblins eat a diet of largely raw meat, roots, and fungi.Template:DH Goblins converse in a language known as Gobbledegook. Goblins harbor very different feelings about ownership than Wizards: they consider the true owner of an object to be its maker, invariably, rather than its purchaser, whom they see as simply renting the object until their death, and resent the passing of goblin-made heirlooms through Wizarding families without further payment. Template:DH As seen through the goblin Griphook, goblins can be bloodthirsty and cruel, especially towards Wizards.Template:DH

Goblins can use magic without the aid of a wand, although they resent the refusal of Wizards to allow them to use wands, believing that they might "extend their power".Template:DH In turn, goblins harbor the secrets of their own magic from Wizards, which are chiefly concerned with metal work, particularly weaponry and armor. Their weaponry and armor are indestructible when created and have a very particular property. For example, a goblin-made blade such as the Sword of Godric Gryffindor will imbibe only what makes it stronger (Gryffindor's sword imbibed basilisk venom in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, enabling it to destroy Horcruxes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).Template:DH

Relations between goblins and wizards have been poor for centuries due to errors on both sides, sometimes leading to violence in the form of goblin rebellions and riots.Template:DH Along with house-elves, goblins seem to occupy positions as second-class citizens in the Wizarding world. Goblins resent the fact that only wizards are permitted to carry wands (legislation on this matter led to a number of goblin riots in the 18th century

), and deem them untrustworthy in matters concerning treasure, particularly goblin-made artifacts. They also consider them to be arrogant.Template:DH

The goblins remain a neutral force during the Second Wizarding War, siding with neither Lord Voldemort or the opposition to him, claiming that it is "a wizard's war". Template:DH In some cases, a state of friendship exists between certain wizards and goblins (particularly Bill Weasley, who works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Bank), and there have even been some instances of goblin-wizard interbreeding (Professor Filius Flitwick has distant goblin ancestry, which likely accounts for his small size [2]).

Named Goblin characters:

• Griphook
• Gornuk, an associate of Griphook.
• Bogrod
• Ragnok
• Ragnuk the First: Supposedly the creator of the sword of Godric Gryffindor Template:DH

Thestrals

File:Thestral.jpg

An artist's impression of a Thestral.

Thestrals are the most elusive and least horse-like breed of magical horse. They have earned an undeserved reputation as omens of evil. They are visible only to those who have witnessed and accepted a death, and their appearance is skeletal, fleshless. They are described in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as having "blank, white, shining eyes," a "dragonish face", "long, black manes", "great leathery wings", and the "skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse". They are also described, by Hagrid, as "dead clever an' useful".. Dolores Umbridge asserted that Thestrals are considered as "dangerous creatures" by the Ministry of Magic.

Thestrals have fangs and possess a well-developed sense of smell, which will lead them to carrion and fresh blood. Carnivorous in nature, the Thestral is an opportunistic scavenger, but will occasionally go after birds. According to Hagrid, they will not attack a human-sized target without provocation. Their wings are capable of very fast flight for at least several hours at a time, though they usually spend their time on the ground, and they have an excellent sense of direction. When they fly, they are said to resemble large bats, dragons, or pterodactyls for their large membranous wings. Little is known about their mating habits, though Thestral foals have been portrayed in the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix. The breed is at least semi-domesticable, given a willing trainer. Thestrals can be used to pull loads, and make a serviceable if very uncomfortable mode of transportation for someone with enough nerve.

Hogwarts has a herd in the nearby Forbidden Forest and primarily uses them to pull the carriages that transport students to and from the Hogsmeade train station. These have been trained not to attack the post owls. They're introduced to Care of Magical Creatures students in the fifth year under Hagrid. They are first introduced in the same year as Harry becomes able to see them (after witnessing the death of Cedric Diggory), after having previously thought that the carriages moved on their own. In Order of the Phoenix several characters were shown to be able to see Thestrals including Harry Potter, Rubeus Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Theodore Nott. Thestral are featured in the Battle of Hogwarts at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, seen attacking Death Eaters.

Trolls

Trolls are tall, greenish creatures. They speak in trollish (which consists mostly of grunting and pointing) and carry large clubs as weapons. Even training trolls seems to require little intelligence; when Harry and his friends see advertisements to train security trolls, they seem to regard it as a job prospect fit only for those of little promise. Goblins appear to have a long history of training and domesticating trolls.

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter come upon a troll in the bathroom menacing Hermione Granger. They defeat the troll together, and this incident is instrumental in the boys becoming friends with Hermione. It is later revealed that Professor Quirrell let the Troll into the school and that he has a gift with them. Harry, Ron and Hermione later encountered an unconscious troll on their way to the Philosopher's Stone.

Dumbledore hired two security trolls to guard the Fat Lady's Portrait after she was attacked by Sirius Black. They appeared to be slightly more intelligent than mountain trolls. Dolores Umbridge allegedly hired security trolls to guard Harry Potter's Firebolt down in the dungeons. Hagrid mentions that in his travels with Madame Maxine they ran into some mad trolls on the Polish border. Hagrid also, according to Tom Riddle, wrestled with trolls in the Forbidden Forest when he was a student at Hogwarts.

There are three different types of Troll:

• Mountain Trolls: This is the kind that Harry, Ron, and Hermione ecountered. They are incredibly stupid, stand about twelve feet tall, have greyish skin, lumpy body, flat, horny feet, and exude an awful smell. Their mucus looks like lumpy grey glue. Quirrell let one in on Halloween to draw attention away from his attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry and Ron accidentally lock it in the girls' bathroom with Hermione in it. The three of them then fight it and render it unconscious using a mixture of skill and luck.
• Forest Trolls: This type of troll is green, and possess thin and straggly hair.
• Water Trolls: These possess horns, purplish skin, and sometimes live under bridges.

Unicorns

A dead Unicorn appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in both the book and film versions. The poor creature is the victim of Voldemort, who drinks its blood to prolong his "life." Several live unicorns appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but only in the book version, not in the film. Fourth-grade students of both Gryffindor and Slytherin study the Unicorn in the Care of Magical Creatures class. However, only the girls are allowed to approach and pet the fabulous beast. Boys must keep their distance for their own safety. If traditional beliefs about Unicorns apply, the girls must all be virgins. Baby unicorns have gold hair instead of the white of the adults. They are also more tolerant, and do not being touched by boys.

Werewolves

A werewolf is a human who, at the full moon, transforms into a wolf. ("Were" is an [[Anglo-Saxon word for "man." It is a close cognate of Latin vir, "man," pronounced wir.)

The werewolf is a creature that exists only for a brief period of time around the full moon. At any other time, a werewolf is a normal human. However, the term werewolf is used for both the wolf-like creature and the normal human. Remus Lupin is perhaps the most notable werewolf in the universe of Harry Potter.

A werewolf can be distinguished from a true wolf physically by several small distinguishing characteristics, including the pupils, snout, and tufted tail. Most werewolves live outside of normal society and steal food to survive. They currently support Voldemort, who they think will give them a better life. Lupin is the only known exception to this.

A person becomes a werewolf when bitten by a werewolf in wolf-form. Once this happens, the person must learn to manage the condition. Potionmaker Damocles Belby (uncle of Marcus Belby) developed a draught called Wolfsbane Potion which controls some of the effects of the condition; by allowing the sufferer to maintain his human mind in wolf form, it prevents him from harming others. Wolfsbane Potion is quite difficult to make, even for fully qualified wizards - Lupin is unable to do so and has to rely on Severus Snape — and is said to have a rather disgusting taste. (Adding sugar renders the potion useless.) Nothing discovered in the wizarding world can completely cure a werewolf.

There are only three known werewolves in the Harry Potter series: One is Remus Lupin, one is an unnamed character who was in the same ward as Arthur Weasley in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and the third one is Fenrir Greyback, a supporter of Voldemort: he is the one who bit Lupin. Bill Weasley was also bitten by Greyback during the battle at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Most wizards expect that because Greyback was in human form at the time, Bill will not become a complete werewolf, but may gain wolfish features. One change already observed is that Bill now favours very rare meat. Lavender Brown and some students had been attacked by Greyback, but details are lacking.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle claims that, while at school, Rubeus Hagrid used to try to raise werewolf cubs under his bed. He was, however, exaggerating Hagrid's fondness for wild animals: according to Rowling, Riddle's claim was a lie told to slander Hagrid [3]. It has not been specified if werewolf cubs themselves exist in the series: nothing has been said to suggest it. It is also known that werewolf traits are not necessarily transferred to offspring, as seen in Ted Remus Lupin, the only child of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks.

Known Werewolves:

• Remus Lupin
• Fenrir Greyback

See also

• Ghosts (Harry Potter)
• House-Elf
• Dark creatures
• Pets from Harry Potter
• Care of Magical Creatures
• Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

External links

• Beasts on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki