Creatures

List of magical beasts

Below is the complete list of magical beasts mentioned in the Harry Potter universe. Blood-Sucking Bugbears,^[3] Banshees, Bicorns, Boggarts, cockatrices, hinkypunks, and Dementors have been mentioned in the series but do not appear in Fantastic Beasts. Nor is the Blast-Ended Skrewt (a hybrid of manticores and fire crabs) mentioned in Fantastic Beasts. Those creatures that Rowling took from myth and folklore have links to their mythological articles.

[edit]Prominent creatures

[edit]Basilisk

In the Harry Potter universe, a basilisk is a monstrous serpentine creature. Larger than its mythical counterpart, the basilisk in the Harry Potter universe is capable of reaching a length up to fifty feet and living up to hundreds of years. Basilisks are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, and the first basilisk is believed to have been created by a Dark wizard and Parselmouth named Herpo the Foul.^[HPF] Herpo made this discovery by attempting, with success, to hatch a chicken egg under a toad. A male basilisk has a scarlet plume on its head^[HPF]. A basilisk kills both with its powerful venom and its eyes, which are immediately lethal to any creature who looks at them directly.^[HPF] To anyone who looks at it indirectly, such as through a camera or in a reflection, it creates a profound state of petrification. Ghosts who look at it directly will become petrified, since they could not die a second time.^[HP2] It would seem that glasses do not work as protection from a basilisk's eyes since Moaning Myrtle was described as wearing glasses and still died. Since she had been crying, however, she may have temporarily removed her glasses. The tear of a phoenix is the only known cure for the devastating effect of the basilisk's venom. Spiders always flee from the Basilisk, as they are mortal enemies. The basilisk flees only from the crowing of a rooster, which, if heard by the basilisk, is fatal.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a basilisk was the monster inhabiting the Chamber of Secrets. When student Tom Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, opened the chamber, the basilisk killed Moaning Myrtle and hid in the chamber for fifty years, until Riddle's memory (and soul) opened the chamber again by possessing Ginny Weasley. During the events in the book, it is set loose again by a Horcrux of Voldemort, and attempts to kill several Muggle-borns, but due to good fortune all its victims were merely petrified. The Horcrux commanded Ginny Weasley to kill all the school roosters remarked upon by Hagrid. When Harry discovers the existence of the chamber and of its location, Riddle reveals his identity and sets the basilisk loose upon Harry while Ginny's life force ceases. Fawkes helps Harry, by blinding the basilisk with his talons and carrying the Sorting Hat; Harry pulls the sword of Godric Gryffindor from the hat, and uses it to impale the basilisk in the roof of its mouth, killing it.

The basilisk's fangs and its venom absorbed by the sword of Gryffindor proved instrumental for destroying most of Voldemort's Horcruxes. In Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter used a fang and punctured one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, a diary. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, after losing the sword of Gryffindor to Griphook, Ron Weasley and Hermione Grangergo to the chamber and pull some fangs from the Basilisk's mouth, and use one to destroy Helga Hufflepuff's cup. This time the chamber was opened by Ron by imitating Harry'sParseltongue. Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Albus Dumbledore used the sword of Gryffindor, laced with the basilisk's venom, to destroy the locket, Nagini, and the Gaunt ring, respectively.

[edit]Boggarts

A boggart is a shape-shifter that takes on the form of its intended victim's worst fear. It likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, such as closets and cabinents. Since a boggart changes shape upon sight, few know what one looks like in unaltered form. Mad-Eye Moody, however, is one of these few. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Moody determines, with his magical eye, that there is a boggart in the desk in the drawing room. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Remus 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. The "Riddikulus" charm is used to combat Boggarts, by changing their appearance into a less fearsome or even comical apparition, which weakens the creatures.

Characters and their Boggarts:

• Harry Potter — A Dementor. The thing Harry fears most is fear itself.
• Ron Weasley — an acromantula. He has a fear of spiders due to a prank his brothers played on him when he was young.
• Hermione Granger — Professor McGonagall telling her she had "failed everything". She is afraid of failure.
• Neville Longbottom — Professor Snape.
• Remus Lupin — The full moon. Werewolves have an inbred fear of the moon.
• Molly Weasley — The dead bodies of her loved ones.
• Parvati Patil — A bloodstained, bandaged mummy. In the movie, it is a giant snake.
• Seamus Finnigan — A banshee.
• Dean Thomas — A severed hand walking on its own.
• Lord Voldemort — His own corpse, a prefigurement of his fear of Death.^[4]
• Albus Dumbledore — The corpse of his dead sister, Ariana.^[5]

Author J. K. Rowling has stated that her boggart would be the same as Mrs. Weasley's: her loved ones dead or alternatively herself buried alive.^[6]

[edit]Centaurs

Centaurs in the Harry Potter universe are wild creatures who claim to possess intelligence greater than humans. Their heads and torsos resemble those of humans but they possess the four legs, lower bodies and tail of a horse. Although sentient, they have not requested assignment as beings, preferring to remove themselves entirely from human affairs. Centaurs who decide to associate with humans, such as Firenze, who agrees to teach Divination at Hogwarts, can be seen as traitors and attacked by other centaurs. Firenze's interest in human affairs resulted in violent reprisals by other centaurs and were it not for Hagrid's intervention, Firenze could have been killed. The Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures has a Centaur Liaison Office, but no centaur has ever used it. Centaurs are skilled in healing and astrology, and spend much of their time scouring the stars for portents. They live in forests, and their society consists of groups called herds. They do not appear to employ or need any technology more advanced than a bow and arrow. They are proud and territorial, therefore highly diplomatic skills must be employed in dealing with centaurs. Displaying lack of respect to centaurs can have violent consequences, as Dolores Umbridge learned to her cost. In Deathly Hallows, the Hogwarts centaur herd, after being admonished fiercely by Hagrid, takes sides with the Order of the Phoenix, and turns the tide of the Battle of Hogwarts.

The films depict the centaurs with very bestial, animalistic facial features. However, the obvious attraction of Hogwarts' female population to Firenze suggests that the books depict centaurs in terms that are more classical.

Named Centaur characters:

• Firenze
• Bane
• Magorian
• Ronan

[edit]Dementors

For other meanings see