Animals from the Harry Potter novels

This article describes important animals and beasts from the seven volumes of the Harry Potter novel series by Joanne K. Rowling .

The English name as used in the original edition of the novels is in brackets. If this information is missing, the name is identical in the German and English edition.

In addition to this article, there are four others that describe important parts of the Harry Potter universe :

• Characters from the Harry Potter novels
• Locations of the Harry Potter novels
• Terms of the Harry Potter novels
• List of spells and curses from Harry Potter novels

Differentiation between animal and magical beings

Numerous magical mythical creatures populate the fictional world of Harry Potter, which Joanne K. Rowling created in the novel series of the same name. She drew on creatures from old legends and from different mythologies , for example dragons , centaurs or werewolves . She has also reinvented or reinterpreted some beings, such as the house elves .

Is as described by her world between the so-called "Beasts" ( beasts ) and "sorcery" ( beings ) are differentiated. The latter are described as human-like in behavior and appearance; They include the giants , the goblins and the house-elves. As an exception, she describes the centaurs who, despite their intelligence, insisted on being classified as "beasts".

These beasts are divided into five classes by the Ministry of Magic , from "Boring" and "Harmless" to "Can be tamed by skilled wizards" and "Dangerous" to "Wizard-slayer, impossible to tame". The book Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, published in 2001, provides a directory .

This article only covers Rowling's fictional creatures, which, according to their categorization, represent beasts.

Abraxans

Abraxans (or Abraxas horses (in the original: Abraxan Horse)) are winged riding or draft horses. They are tremendously strong and large and are bred in magical stud farms . All Abraxans are palominos with additional blue wing plumage. They also have red eyes and are very demanding in keeping. For example, the Abraxans who are curious about the Beauxbatons carriage only drink 'single malt whiskey'.

Acromantula

The acromantula are spider-like creatures living in colonies with eight eyes, legs up to three meters long and a body covered by thick black hair. They are proficient in human language, intelligent and extremely dangerous.

The Acromantula Aragog (approx. 1942–1997) was imported to Great Britain as an egg. A traveler left the egg that he had brought from Borneo , the country of origin of the acromantulas, to Hagrid , who was then third grader . This took place in 1941/42. Of course, it was against Hogwarts school rules to raise an acromantula and keep it at school as a pet. So Hagrid hid his acquisition in a dark cupboard in the underground part of the castle building. Thanks to his careful care, Aragog was able to hatch from his egg there. Hagrid always fed him well with scraps of food, so that the spider grew up and reached a handsome size. After a few months, however, Aragog felt to his horror that a basilisk was moving somewhere in the building. Like all spiders, he instinctively wanted to flee immediately, but Hagrid didn't let him go. Instead, Aragog learned from him that there was a murderous monster going on in the school and that no one knew what it was. So Hagrid kept pushing him to reveal what a monster he sensed. But like all acromantulas, Aragog did not dare to pronounce the word "basilisk". In June 1942, Aragog's hiding place was blown and he was himself accused of being the wanted murderous monster. At that time Aragog still managed to escape into the Forbidden Forest. At that time Aragog was able to settle deep in the forest, where no more light can penetrate the treetops. After Hagrid even found an acromantula female named Mosag for him, he lived there with her and her ever-growing family. Harry was over fifty years old during his school days and his eight eyes had gone blind and white. During Harry's sixth year, the aged Aragog fell seriously ill and eventually died. Professor Slughorn was able to secretly steal acromantula venom from him at his funeral, a rare, sought-after, and very expensive potions ingredient.

Aragog did not kill people out of respect for Hagrid, who raised him as a little spider. Aragog had so much control over his descendants that they too did not touch Hagrid, but they kill anyone who comes too close to them.

In 2017, the wolf spider species Lycosa aragogi was named after Aragog.

Basilisk

The basilisk is the most dangerous creature in the world of Harry Potter novels. In Rowling, basilisks are creatures that resemble snakes and are bright green in color, up to 17 meters long and many hundreds of years old. Spiders flee from the basilisk because it is their archenemy. The basilisk itself only flees from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.

In addition to its deadly fangs, the basilisk has a murderous look that instantly kills any living thing that looks directly into its yellow eyes. An indirect look into his eyes, for example through a reflection, leads to petrification. A basilisk hatches from a chicken egg that was hatched by a toad or frog .

The basilisk has its origin in Greek mythology , see basilisk (mythology) .

Dragons

There are different types of dragons in the world of Harry Potter . Rowling describes all of them as very dangerous. Keeping them as pets is strictly prohibited. Female dragons are usually larger than males, more dangerous and more aggressive, especially when it comes to defending their clutch. The skins, blood, hearts, livers and horns of dragons have very powerful magical properties, heart fibers, for example, are often used as the magical cores of magic wands or skins as gloves. Dragon eggs are considered 'non-salable goods'.

According to Fantastic Beasts, there are a total of ten purebred dragon species that rarely crossbreed. They are based on dragon myths from a wide variety of cultures, such as Chinese and Anglo-Saxon.

unicorns

The unicorn is described as an animal highly respected by the fictional magical population, which was modeled on its mythological counterpart.

In the fictional world of novels, killing a unicorn is considered a great crime. If someone is kept alive by the silvery unicorn blood, their life is cursed. Drinking the silver unicorn blood will make you live longer than normal. In the first volume, Quirinus Quirrell, who is host to the spirit of Lord Voldemort, drinks the blood of a dead unicorn in the Forbidden Forest.

The unicorn foals appearing in the fourth volume initially have a golden coat, while adult animals, like their mythological models, have a pure white coat.

According to Rowling, the tail hairs should be tear-proof and are often used as the magical cores of wands . Horns and tail hair are also used as ingredients in magic potions.

Owls

All kinds of owls are magical beasts in Rowling's fictional universe, are used as post owls for delivery services and are therefore very popular as pets. Even if a sender has no knowledge of the addressee's whereabouts, owls are always able to track him down and deliver the shipment. There are post offices where owls can be rented. Well-known owls are:

Hedwig

Hedwig belongs to Harry Potter . In the first volume, Hagrid gives Harry the snow owl for his birthday . In the seventh volume, Hedwig dies on the run from Privet Drive .

Pigwidgeon

Pigwidgeon belongs to Ron Weasley . He gets it in the third volume as a replacement for his rat Scabies, which turned out to be Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), from Sirius Black . Pigwidgeon is about the size of a hand and usually excited little owl .

Hermes

Hermes is Percy Weasley's owl . Percy got the barn owl when he became a prefect in the first volume.

Errol

Errol is the post owl of the Weasley family . It is an old great gray owl ( English Great Gray Owl ) and can after long flights on their own barely left to give.

Grindelohs

The Grindeloh ( grindylow ) is a small, but very stubborn animal, which has pointed green teeth and horns. The little water demon likes to attack people for pleasure and clings to them.

In the Harry Potter series, a Grindeloh appeared for the first time in the third year of school, as it was Remus Lupine the subject of class. Furthermore, during the second task in the Triwizard Tournament , Grindelohs prevent Fleur Delacour from being able to solve her task, Harry manages to repel the Grindelohs with a spell ( Relaschio ).

Hippogriff

The hippogriff ( hippogriff ) has the head, front legs and wings of an eagle and the abdomen of a horse. It is modeled on the mythical creature Hippogryph , which was probably invented by the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto . Hippogriff are carnivores and feed on insects, birds, and small mammals. They reproduce in an oviparous manner: they lay exactly one large egg, and after an incubation period of 24 hours, a young hatches, which fledged after about a week.

Hippogriff can be tamed by skilled wizards, but handling them requires a certain degree of caution, as they are very proud animals. A safe approach is only possible after a bow and its reply by the animal, whereby continuous eye contact is very important.

A well-known hippogriff is Buckbeak, who was sentenced to death in Volume 3 for attacking Draco Malfoy , who insulted him despite Hagrid's warning. Hermione and Harry save Buckbeak's lives as they travel back in time with Hermione's Time-Turner.

Bogus

The Boggart ( boggart ) is a formative walking creature in a dark, quiet places like dark recesses or old unused cabinets lives. The actual outward appearance of a bogus is unknown, for he is permanently transformed into the embodiment of the worst fear of those who meet him. When a bogus tries to frighten several people at the same time, it happens that he turns into a mixture of the fears of the people, which can lead to grotesque appearances. The only way to fight a bogus is to use the ridiculum spell to transform its appearance into a form that is funny for the user and thus make it look ridiculous. Bogus is not dangerous in itself, but its appearance can lead to anxiety and panic attacks. When he takes on a human form, a bogus can speak too.

Knee

The kneazle is a feline creature with spotted or speckled fur, large ears, and a long tail. According to Rowling, knies are ideal pets for wizards, if they have taken a liking to one. Self-reliant, playful, and intelligent - they can track down suspects or bring their owner back home if they get lost.

According to Rowling, knees can also be crossed with cats. An example of a Kniesel mongrel in the Potter universe is Crookshanks, Hermione's pet, who is initially mistaken for a cat.

Cuddly muffs

The cuddly muff (in the original: Puffskein ) is often kept as a pet by magician children . Its plush-like fur is vanilla-colored. All dust, nasal populations and rubbish that he tracks down with his long, pink tongue serve as food. The cuddly muff reacts to caresses with a pleasant humming sound, but can also be thrown around. However, he does not survive too rough treatment: In the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Ron notes that he had a cuddle muff as a child until Fred played gossip with him one day.

Cuddly muffs are found all over the world and like to nest in places that are not very clean, such as the bathroom. E.g. Grimmauldplatz 12, where Molly Weasley comes across a nest of dead cuddly muffs under the sofa in the drawing room while cleaning.

A very small special form of the cuddly muff is the mini muff .

Mini muffs

The mini muff (in the original: Pygmy Puff ) is not a magical genus or a special breed , but a cuddly muff that has been reduced in size by using the shrink potion . Mini muffs are covered in long-haired, plush-like fur in candy colors and make squeaky sounds when cuddled or squeezed.

The Weasley twins also have mini-muffs in their new joke shop in Diagon Alley, which girls often buy as pets. Well-known mini muffs are for example Lupia's "Marvin" or Ginny Weasley's "Arnold".

Phoenixes

The phoenix ( phoenix ; Greek : φοῖνιξ (phoínix) also: "purple (red)"; Latin phoenix ) is, according to Rowling's interpretation of the mythological theme, a red and gold bird the size of a swan. Phoenixes live to an old age because when the time comes for them to die, they go up in flames and are reborn from the ashes. Her tears heal any injury and her singing is so emotional and beautiful that it is often referred to as "unearthly". They are loyal pets and, given their size, can carry extremely heavy loads.

The phoenix has its origins in Egyptian and Greek mythology, where it is considered a symbol of rebirth .

The Phoenix Fawkes is Albus Dumbledore's pet . In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets he helps Harry fight the Basilisk, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix he helps Dumbledore escape from the arrest by Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge and other wizards of the Ministry of Magic. The feathers in the wands of Harry Potter and Tom Riddle / Lord Voldemort are from Fawkes.

Thestrals

The thestral (thestral) is a winged horse with a kite-like head, pupilless, white eyes and a skinny, almost fleshless body with black skin. The large, leathery wings of thestrals are similar to those of bats. They are often interpreted as a bad omen by the magical population , as they can only be seen by people who have seen someone die.

Thestrals are classified as dangerous by the Ministry of Magic . Still, Hagrid managed to tame some of them who are now pulling the carriages from Hogwarts. They can serve as flying mounts and find any place their rider wants to get to.

Harry cannot see the Thestrals at the end of fourth grade, despite having recently witnessed Cedric Diggory's death. JK Rowling justifies this with the fact that he has not yet processed his "first shock"; It is not until the beginning of the fifth year, after he has understood the meaning of Cedric's death, that he sees the Thestrals.

Other animals and magical creatures

Catch

In Rowling's novel heptalogy, Fang is Rubeus Hagrid's big boar . He's a coward; Nevertheless, Hagrid always takes him into the Forbidden Forest. Fang is very cuddly, which can be quite uncomfortable because of his strong salivation.

Fluffy

William Blake: Kerberos

Fluffy is a large three-headed dog owned by Rubeus Hagrid and used in the first volume to protect the Philosopher's Stone . He can be made to sleep by music.

Fluffy is modeled on the hellhound Kerberos from Greek mythology, who guards the entrance to the underworld . Kerberos is enchanted by Orpheus when he descends into the underworld in search of Eurydice .

Mrs. Norris

Mrs. Norris is a skinny, dust-colored cat with bulging, lamp-like eyes. It belongs to Argus Filch , the Hogwarts caretaker. At night she patrols the school, and since there seems to be an almost supernatural connection between her and Filch, he always shows up immediately when she has discovered a student violating the rules. It is therefore just as hated by the students as its owner.

Joanne K. Rowling has stated that Mrs. Norris is not an unregistered animagus or half-knuckle like Hermione's cat Crookshanks , but just an "intelligent" (and rather nasty) cat. It is named after a character from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park .

Nagini

Nagini (probably from Sanskrit nāga , serpent; see Naga ) is a four-meter-long serpent conjured up by Lord Voldemort . She appears for the first time in the fourth volume as a constant companion of Lord Voldemort, who can communicate with her in the snake language Parseltongue . Nagini is one of Lord Voldemort's seven Horcruxes ; she is killed in the final volume of Neville Longbottom during the decisive battle for Hogwarts , who cuts off her head with the sword of Godric Gryffindor .

Shrunken-horned snorer and erumpent

The Crumple-Horned Snorkack is a magical creature that is said to live in Sweden. In fact, it was never found. He is probably a pipe dream of Xenophilius Lovegood, who often printed reports about him in his magazine Klitterer . Lovegood and his daughter went on an expedition to Sweden in the summer of 1996 to find him; but they did not succeed.

In 1997, Lovegood bought what he thought was the horn of a shrunken-horned snore as a gift for his daughter. When Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione visited him, Hermione gave him insistent evidence that it was in fact an Erumpent horn and dangerous (because it was highly explosive); Lovegood didn't want to listen to her. Shortly afterwards, the horn actually exploded, destroying parts of the house. The Erumpent is also described by Rowling in her book Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them as a large gray creature that from a distance can be mistaken for a rhinoceros .

literature

The primary literature consists of the books in the Harry Potter series by Rowling, particularly Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them . There are also several books in which, among other things, animals and beasts from the Harry Potter novels are described.

• Newt Scamander: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them . Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2001, ISBN 3-551-55306-8
• David Colbert: The magical worlds of Harry Potter . Hueber, Ismaning 2004, ISBN 3-19-072926-3
• Allan Zola Kronzek, Elizabeth Kronzek: The magician manual. The magical world of JK Rowling from A to Z . Goldmann-Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-442-45878-1
• Friedhelm Schneidewind: The ABC of Harry Potter . Lexikon-Imprint-Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-280-6

Web links

• Overview of the magical beings in the Harry Potter novels in the Harry Potter Wiki
• Mythical creatures and magic plants in Harry Potter. (PDF; 6 MB) Catalog of the exhibition from November 8th to 15th, 2003 in the gallery of the Lycée Classique d'Echternach as part of “Magic at the LCE”, compiled by Prof. Jos. A. Massard in collaboration with Prof. Gaby Massard-Geimer. LCE, Département de Biologie, Echternach 2003, 77 pp.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fandom - "Harry Potter" Lexicon - Abraxans. Retrieved August 17, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Fandom - Harry Potter Wiki - Abraxans. Retrieved August 17, 2019 . 
3. ^ Anton A. Nadolny, Alireza Zamani: A new species of burrowing wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae: Lycosa) from Iran. Zootaxa 4286 (4), 2017; Pp. 597-600. doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.4286.4.13
4. ↑ Joanne K. Rowling on Crookshanks. Retrieved May 24, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Joanne K. Rowling on Arabella Figg SQUIBS. Retrieved May 24, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Fandom - Harry Potter Wiki - Knuddelmuff. Retrieved August 16, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Fandom - Harry Potter Wiki - Minimuff. Retrieved August 16, 2019 . 
8. ↑ JK Rowling's Official Website - FAQ - Thestrals. Retrieved May 24, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Rumor: Mrs. Norris is an unregistered Animagus. Retrieved May 24, 2019 .  , at www.jkrowling.com
10. ↑ Interview from October 12, 1999
11. ↑ Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter. Magic Erumpent ; see also English Wikipedia: Luna Lovegood's creatures