Winged Horse (Harry Potter)

Thestral

The Thestral is an invention of JKR, although like the Abraxan it is a winged horse, and thus takes its inspiration from Pegasus in Greek mythology. Thestrals are black and skeletal in appearance, with protruding bones, leathery wings, blank white eyes and a dragonish face. They are visible only to those who have seen death [OOTP21]. Harry, Neville, Luna and Theodore Nott are known to be able to see them [OOTP10, OOTP21]. The creatures are carnivorous: Hagrid took a dead cow into the Forbidden Forest to attract them when he covered Thestrals in a Care of Magical Creatures class, and was confident that they'd pick up the smell of the meat. He also gave a cry like a monstrous bird to hurry them along, which also seemed to catch their attention [OOTP21].

Thestrals are traditionally associated with bad luck, although this is only a legend and is untrue, probably arising from their link with death. Hagrid believes he is the only wizard in Britain to have successfully trained a Thestral. He has, in fact, bred an entire herd and has given them names. His favourite is called Tenebrus [OOTP21].

Thestrals fly extremely fast, have an unerring sense of direction, and understand human speech. All that is required is for the rider to tell them where to go, and they will fly there at an exceptional pace. Despite their unnerving appearance and carnivorous nature, they are docile and have no objection to being ridden in this manner. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna used Thestrals to fly to the Ministry of Magic at the end of their fifth year [OOTP34].

Thestrals are also used to pull the carriages that the students take from the train station to Hogwarts at the start of each term [OOTP10]. Most of them have not witnessed death, and so to them it appears that the carriages are moving on their own. The Hogwarts Thestrals joined in the Battle of Hogwarts, helping to scatter the Death Eaters when Voldemort approached the castle to claim victory [DH36].