Nagini (Harry Potter)

Magical creatures are an aspect of the fictional Wizarding World contained in the ''Harry Potter'' series and connected media, all created by British author J. K. Rowling. Throughout the seven main books of the series, Harry and his friends encounter many of these creatures on their adventures in Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest, or other locations throughout the Wizarding World. In addition, students learn to take care of creatures such as hippogriffs and unicorns 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, and based on the fictional textbook of the same name written by Newt Scamander and used by students at Hogwarts. Many of these creatures are derived primarily from Greek mythology and other folklore, namely British and Scandinavian folklore. Many of the legends surrounding these mythical creatures are also incorporated in the books. "Children ... know that I didn't invent unicorns, but I've had to explain frequently that I didn't actually invent hippogriffs," Rowling told Stephen Fry in an interview for BBC Radio 4. "When I do use a creature that I know is a mythological entity, I like to find out as much as I can about it. I might not use it, but to make it as consistent as I feel is good for my plot."

Some creatures in the series are ordinary animals that may be imbued with magical properties or possess certain magical abilities. Owls, for example, deliver mail and have the ability to find the recipient regardless of their location. Other animals such as cats, dogs, frogs, toads, rats and mice do not necessarily have magical abilities.

Magizoology

In the ''Harry Potter'' franchise, Magizoology (a portmanteau") is the study of magical creatures. A person who studies Magizoology is known as a magizoologist. 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 is the in-universe author of ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' and the protagonist of the ''Fantastic Beasts'' franchise, which serves as a prequel to the ''Harry Potter'' story.

Regulation and classification

Regulation

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, dwarves, house-elves, giants, goblins, hags, veelas, and vampires. Fairies, pixies, gnomes, and most other creatures are classified as "beasts." Affairs related to ghosts are relegated to the Spirit Division.

These definitions are not without problems: Werewolves and Animagi are typically in human form, but may transform into an animal. (A werewolf transforms from the human state only at the full moon, but an Animagus is a human who has learned to transform into an animal at will.) Their classification is unclear, and offices responsible for werewolves exist in both the Beast and Being Divisions. Dangerous creatures such as Banshees and Dementors have never been officially classified. In addition, creatures such as centaurs, leprechauns and merpeople (mermaids and mermen) have been rejected from the "being" status in favour of "beast" status.

''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' also assigns a threat rating to each creature, in the form of "X" marks. Five Xs means "Known wizard killer/impossible to domesticate". Four Xs means "Dangerous/requires specialist knowledge/skilled wizard may handle". Three Xs means "Competent wizard should cope". Two Xs means "Harmless/may be domesticated". One X means "boring". Creatures that need to be treated with a sophisticated amount of respect, e.g. centaurs, unicorns, phoenixes, and merpeople, are also given a XXXX rating.

Classification

Below is a list of magical creatures mentioned in the ''Harry Potter'' universe. For a list of magical plants mentioned in the series, such as mandrakes and devil's snares, see List of fictional plants.

Beasts

* – A gigantic spider that is capable of human speech.
* – A serpent-like creature created from ashes from a magical fire.
* – A greyish-green, mournful, looking bird also known as the "Irish Phoenix".
* Basilisk – A giant snake whose stare can kill people in seconds. They are created illegally by having a toad sit on and hatch a chicken's egg.
* Bicorn – A cow-like creature that sheds its horns annually. At least one of its horns is used as one of the ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion.
* Bigfoot/Sasquatch – A humanoid ape-like creature native to North America.
* – Vivid blue Australian insects which are common but rarely noticed by Muggles. They have a long curved stinger at the bottom of their bodies. Victims stung will suffer from giddiness, followed by levitation. Several escape Newt Scamander's suitcase in ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them''.
* – The Blast-Ended Skrewt are a mix between a Manticore and a Fire Crab created by Hagrid. Skrewts make their debut in ''Goblet of Fire'', as one of the creatures that Hagrid teaches the students about as Professor of Care of Magical Creatures. The first fan to learn of the blast-ended skrewts was Catie Hoch, an eight-year-old cancer patient from Albany, New York. Hoch's mother, who had read the first three books to Hoch during her treatment for neuroblastoma, emailed Rowling to ask her when the fourth book would be released, and Rowling gifted Hoch with transatlantic phone calls in which she read her extracts from the unpublished book, including explanations of the blast-ended skrewts, which Rowling described as looking like headless lobsters.
* – An insect-eating, tree-dwelling, wooden creature that is hard to spot. Professor Grubbly-Plank taught the 5th year Care of Magical Creatures class about them while substituting for Hagrid. Rowling has written on Pottermore that they are "selective creatures who only inhabit worthy trees. They are alternatively called 'the wandmaker's friend' as the trees they inhabit can be used to make wand's wood." A particularly needy bowtruckle named Pickett plays a role in the film ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (2016). Pickett is revealed to be Newt Scamander's friend and Leta Lestrange's acquaintance since Newt and Leta's years at Hogwarts, as revealed in '' The Crimes of Grindelwald''.
* – A beast resembling a patch of greenish fungus with eyes.
* Centaur – A creature whose head and upper torso resembles a humans but lower body including the four legs and tail resembles a horse.
* Chimaera – A creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon from Greek mythology.
* – A parasite resembling a crab, living on the fur and feathers of Crups and Augureys.
* Chupacabra – A blood-sucking creature that is half-lizard, half-homunculus.
* – A tree-dwelling creature resembling a cross between a frog and a monkey.
* Cockatrice – A creature that resembles a rooster with a lizard tail. Its stare also kills people in seconds.
* – A magical breed of dog resembling a Parson Russell terrier/Jack Russell terrier but with a forked tail.
* – A docile orangutan-like creature that can turn invisible. The creature's sight is based on precognition. An escaped Demiguise plays a role in the film ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (2016). Their pelts are often used to make Invisibility Cloaks.
* – Also known as the dodo by muggles, is a bird that can disappear when threatened. According to Newt Scamander, this ability is the reason why muggles think it is extinct.
* – A small fairy-like creature with four arms and four legs, also known as the Biting Fairy. In ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'', they appear more like lizards.

* Dragon – Dragons are winged fire-breathing reptiles. In the films, the dragons are depicted as having wings in place of their arms and walk on them like bats. Their heartstrings are one of the three main wand cores.
** – A species of dragon native to the valleys of New Zealand with pearly scales and multicolored, pupiless eyes.
** – A species of dragon native to China. It is also known as the Lion Dragon, red with a fringe of golden spikes around its face. Its name comes from the mushroom-shaped ball of fire it emits from its nostrils. Viktor Krum faced one for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
** – A species of dragon native to Wales. The notorious Ilfracrombe Incident was caused by a Welsh Green, when it attacked a beach of Muggles. Fortunately, a Wizarding family on holiday prevented any fatalities. Fleur Delacour faced one for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
** – A species of dragon native to the Hebrides Islands of Scotland. Black, with rough scales and brilliant purple eyes.
** – A species of dragon native to Hungary. It is considered the most dangerous of the dragons. Black and lizard-like with bronze spikes down its back, and on its tail. Can shoot fire up to 50 feet. Harry faces one as the first task in the Triwizard Tournament in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''.
** – A species of dragon native to the northern mountains of Norway. Hagrid received a Norwegian Ridgeback egg and named the hatchling "Norbert". He ended up having to give Norbert to Charlie Weasley, who worked at a dragon reserve. He discovered that "Norbert" was actually female and renamed her Norberta.
** – A venomous species of dragon native to the eastern and northeastern parts of Peru. It is considered the smallest and fastest of the dragons.
** – A species of dragon native to the mountains of Romania. They are deep green with long golden horns.
** – A species of dragon native to the northern mountains of Sweden. A pretty silver-blue dragon whose blue flame reduces its targets to bone in a matter of seconds. Cedric Diggory faced one for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
** – A species of dragon native to Ukraine, and the largest species of dragon ever recorded.
* Dugbog – A crocodilian-like creature resembling a piece of dead wood while stationary.
* Erkling – An elvish creature that uses music to lure in human children and eat them.
* Erumpent – A creature that appears as a rhinoceros with a roundish body and has explosive liquid in its horn and can blow up at the slightest touch. Xenophilius Lovegood had an Erumpent horn in his house which he called "the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack", but Hermione was able to recognise it as an Erumpent horn. It then blew up his house as depicted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
*
* Fairy – A small human-like creature with insect wings. Immensely proud and rather stupid.
* – Despite its name, the Fire Crab resembles a cross between a tortoise and a crab. It shoots fire from its rear-end when threatened.
* Fire-Dwelling Salamander – A lizard-like creature that lives and feeds on the flames.
* – A garden-slug-like creature with corrosive spittle.
* – A 10-inch toothless brown worm with no notable magical abilities, though it can be used in potion making.
* – A brightly coloured bird that has a high pitched, twittering song that would drive the listener insane.
*Ghoul – A creature that resembles a slimy buck-toothed ogre.
**Chameleon Ghoul – A ghoul that can disguise itself as an everyday object to evade detection.
* Giant squid – A huge creature that lives in the Black Lake near Hogwarts.
* – An insect resembling a bumblebee that produces a treacle that induced melancholy in those who consume it.
*Gnome – Gnomes are known to infest the gardens of wizarding households and are found in Europe and North America.
* – A small golden bird that was used in the earlier versions of Quidditch as the Golden Snitch.
* – A creature built like a condylarth; similar to a smilodon but with horns on its head and slimy tentacles in its mouth. They are the favorite mounts of the Mountain Trolls, much to the dismay of the Graphorns.

* Griffin – A creature that is part-eagle, part-lion.
* Grindylow – A small horned water demon with grasping fingers. The films give them octopus tentacles for legs, though they are not described as such in the novels.
* Gytrash – A dog-like spirit similar to the souls of ghosts.
* Hidebehind – A magical creature that is the result of illegally mating a Demiguise and a ghoul.
* Hippocampus – A sea creature with the head and front legs of a horse and back and tail of a fish.
*Hippogriff – A creature that is part-eagle, part-horse. Wizards can own them provided they cast a daily Disillusionment Charm on them.
* Hodag – A cynodont-like creature with horns resembling a cross between a frog and a dog.
* Horklump – A pink fleshy creature resembling a mushroom, with no discernible purpose.
* Horned Serpent – A giant sea serpent with horns.
* Imp – Imps are found in Britain and Ireland where they are the same height as pixies.
* Jackalope – A jackrabbit-like creature with antlers of a deer.
* Jarvey – An overgrown ferret-like creature that can talk but in very short, often rude statements.
* – A blue speckled bird that never makes any noise until the moment before it dies. It would then release a long scream, which consisted of every sound it ever heard backwards.
* Kappa – A Japanese river demon. It can exit the water for short periods of time using the hole in its head to store water. One is seen as an attraction at the Circus Arcanus in France in ''The Crimes of Grindelwald'', where Credence is asked to clean it.
*Kelpie – A shapeshifting aquatic creature that often appears as a horse with kelp as a mane. When mounted, it drags down and drowns the unfortunate rider. (One large Kelpie is known as the Loch Ness Monster.)
* Knarl – A hedgehog-like creature that would never trust an owner of the house when given food, instead causes havoc in their garden instead.
* – A cat-like creature with a lion-like mane and tail, spotted, speckled or flecked fur and long ears. Intelligent and independent but may bond with a wizard or witch and can be a good pet. Also known to be able to detect untrustworthy people.
* Leprechaun – A dwarf-like creature associated with gold that deceives both wizards and muggles alike.
* Lethifold – A Dementor-like creature that has the taste for human flesh.
* Leucrotta – A moose-like creature with a larger mouth.
* Lobalug – An aquatic creature that spits out venom when threatened but is also used as a weapon by Merpeople.
* Mackled Malaclaw – A sea creature that resembles a lobster. When bitten by a Malaclaw, it had the unusual side effect of making the victim unlucky for up to a week.
* Manticore – A carnivorous creature with the head of a human, body of a lion, a stinger tail like a scorpion, and is capable of human speech, or a scorpion-like creature with five eyes and three tails that can spray an unidentified flaming substance, which can grow to sizes comparable to a dragon,
* Marmite – A very tiny squid-like beast with longer tentacles and its body glows in the dark.
* Matagot – A cat-like creature that multiplies when attacked.

* Merpeople – Creatures that are half-human half-fish.
**Mermaid – The name for a female merperson.
**Merman – The name for a male merperson.
**Merrow – A kind of merpeople native to Ireland.
**Selkie – A kind of merpeople native to Scotland.
**Siren – A kind of merpeople native to Greece. They are the most prettiest and the most beautiful of the merpeople.
* – A lizard with silver-green skin native to the British Isles and able to shrink at will. Their hide is used to make purses and wallets that shrink when a stranger approaches.
* – A bovid-like creature that comes out of its burrow during a full moon.
* – Hairless creatures that resemble a large rat with soft, fleshy spines on its back. Despite being rodent-like in nature, Murtlaps are marine-based mammals and can be found on the coastal areas of Britain.
* – A small desman-like creature built like a steropodon; >mole-like appearance with platypus-like features (e.g., having a long, flat tail and webbed feet like those of an otter or a beaver, and its long, flat duck-like bill or snout). Nifflers are obsessed with hoarding shiny objects, which they usually store in their pouch until returning to their burrow.
* Nogtail – A demon resembling a long-legged, stubby-tailed, narrow black-eyed, piglet that haunts farms and barnyards.
* Nundu – A giant leopard-like creature with toxic breath.
* – A plumed, two-legged, winged creature with a serpentine body, resembling a cross between a dragon and a bird. Hatched from eggs, the shells of which are made of the purest silver and worth a fortune. It is choranaptyxic, meaning it will grow or shrink to fit available space.
* Phoenix – Birds able to reincarnate themselves and carry immensely heavy loads, their tears having healing properties. Their song is said to encourage the noble and strike fear into the wicked. Their feathers are one of the three main wand cores. Phoenixes appear to have close ties to the Dumbledore family and remain throughout their owner's life before flying off to points unknown, the most prominent Phoenix in the series being Albus Dumbledore's pet Fawkes.
** Hoo-hoo – A Japanese species of phoenix.
*Pixie – tiny troublemakers found in Britain and Ireland; Cornish pixies appear in Gilderoy Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts class in ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.''
* Plimpy – A fish-like creature with legs that Merpeople consider as a pest.
* – A gnome-like demon but resembling a rock instead of a potato.
* – A small satyr-like creature that guards horses.
* – A sphere-shaped custard coloured creature covered in soft fur. A common pet for Wizarding children.
** – A type of creature illegally bred to resemble the pattern of a breed of horse of the same name.
** – A type of creature illegally bred to have fangs.
** – A round fluffy pink or purple creature sold at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
* Qilin – a Chinese scaly deer-like creature that can read and look into a person's soul, and find out if they were pure of heart. If they perceived someone to be pure of heart, they would bow.
* Quintaped – A carnivorous five-legged creature resembling a starfish with a face.
* – A kind of magical fish that guards fishermen.
* Red Cap – A dwarf-like creature resembling a goblin that dyes its hat with its blood of the victim it bludgeoned, which is how it got its name.
* Re'em – A golden oxen-like creature whose blood increases strength of those who drunk it.
* Runespoor – a three-headed giant serpent.
* Sea serpent – A giant snake-like creature that dwells in the ocean.
** Selma – A kind of sea serpent native to Norway.
* Shrake – A magically created fish covered in spines and sought out to destroyed muggle-fishing nets.
* Snallygaster – A bird-dragon hybrid creature related to the Occamy.
* Sphinx – An Egyptian creature that has the head of a human and the body of a lion. The Sphinxes are capable of human speech and are good at giving riddles, puzzles, and enigmas.
* Streeler – A giant snail that leaves a trail of poisonous slime.
* Swooping Evil – A venomous butterfly-like creature with a skull of a wolf that feeds on human brains.
* Tebo – A warthog-like creature that can turn invisible when threatened.
* Thunderbird – An American bird-like creature mainly found in Arizona with the power to cause thunderstorms.
* Troll – An about 12 ft. tall creature with prodigious strength and immense stupidity. Certain intelligent trolls can be specially-trained to be Security Trolls where they guard certain places and objects in the Wizarding Society. The different media appearances depict the trolls with a certain number of fingers and a certain number of toes.
** – A race of green-skinned trolls with four fingers and three toes and hair that are native to forests and woodlands.
** – A race of bald-headed, pale-gray trolls with four fingers two toes that are native to mountains. One was let into Hogwarts by Professor Quirinus Quirrell and was defeated by Ron Weasley.
** – A race of hairy purple-skinned trolls with short horns, five fingers, and five toes that lurk in the middle of rivers or under bridges.
* Trollcleg – A kind of fly that hovers around trolls.
* Trollwig – A kind of earwig that feeds on the earwax of trolls.
* Unicorn – A horse-like creature with a horn protruding out of its forehead that are considered "pure." Their hairs are one of the three main wand cores and their horn is used in some potions. They are born as golden coloured, and gradually become white as they grow into adults. They are very hard to catch. It is said in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' that if one drinks a unicorn's blood, it will give that person long-lasting life. However, it also eternally curses that person.
* Winged Horse – A horse with wings. Wizards can own them provided they cast a daily Disillusionment Charm on them.
** – A giant palomino breed. Drinks only single-malt whiskey.
** – A chestnut breed that is popular in Britain and Ireland.
** – A gray breed that is particularly fast.
** Thestral – A black skeletal breed that is only visible to those that have witnessed death. It is said in ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' that because of this, they are considered unlucky by many wizards.
* Vampyr Mosp – A fanged moth-wasp hybrid.
* Wampus cat – A six-legged puma-like creature
* Werewolf – A human being that can turn into a wolf when in full moon.
** Michigan Dogman – A kind of werewolf native to Wexford County, Michigan.
** Rougarou – A kind of werewolf native to the United States and Canada.
* White River Monster – A monstrous fish that dwells in the White River which it was named after.
* Wrackspurt – An invisible magical creature that, when floated into a person's ears, makes their brain become unfocused and confused.
* Yeti – A humanoid ape-like creature with white fur native to the Himalayas, e.g. from Tibet to Nepal.
* Zouwu – An elephant-sized cat able to travel large distances.

Beings

* Dwarf – A short stocky humanoid creature.
** Curupira – A red-haired species of dwarf native to Brazil.
* Giant – A very large humanoid whose intelligence is much higher than a troll's.
* Goblin – Another short stocky humanoid creature that is associated with working in banks.
** Pukwudgie – A species of goblin native to North America.
* Hag – A species of old, wrinkled witch.
* House-elf – A short skinny humanoid that does house chores similar to a brownie.
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