50 Fun Facts About Harry Potter Magical Creatures

What is the in-universe term for the study of magical creatures?

Its practitioners work in the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

Who is the in-universe author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?

Rowling published the real-world guidebook under his name in 2001, and he became the hero of the prequel films.

Which giant talking spider got Hagrid expelled from Hogwarts?

He was wrongly blamed for being the monster in the Chamber of Secrets; his kind still dwells in the Forbidden Forest.

What is the Augurey also known as?

In Cursed Child, Voldemort's followers wear a tattoo of the mournful greyish-green bird.

How is a Basilisk created?

Direct eye contact kills; indirect contact, through a mirror or a camera, only Petrifies.

What happens to someone who meets a Basilisk's gaze indirectly, say through a mirror?

That is how Hermione, Colin Creevey and the others survive the Chamber of Secrets attacks.

Which cow-like creature's shed horn is an ingredient in Polyjuice Potion?

Hermione steals the horn from Snape's stores in Chamber of Secrets.

What happens to the victim of a Billywig sting?

Several of the Australian insects escape Newt's suitcase in the first Fantastic Beasts film.

Which two creatures did Hagrid cross to breed Blast-Ended Skrewts?

The Fire Crab shoots flame from its rear when threatened, which explains the Skrewts' habit.

Which charm does Lupin teach to repel a Boggart?

The shape-shifter takes the form of your worst fear, and nobody knows what it looks like alone.

Which tree-dwelling wooden creature lives in wand-quality trees?

Newt's favourite, Pickett, rides in his pocket in the Fantastic Beasts films.

In what two arts are centaurs said to be skilled?

Centaurs who associate with humans are often branded traitors, yet they fight the Death Eaters at Hogwarts.

A Chimaera has the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of what?

It is drawn straight from Greek mythology, like the Sphinx and the Hippocampus.

What is distinctive about a Crup, the wizarding breed of dog?

Chizpurfles, crab-like parasites, like to live on Crups and Augureys.

What did Rowling say inspired the Dementors?

She called them soulless creatures and among the foulest beings on Earth; Muggles cannot see them.

Pelts of which orangutan-like creature are used to make invisibility cloaks?

It can turn invisible and has precognition; one escapes in the first Fantastic Beasts film.

Which real bird do Muggles believe is extinct only because it can vanish when threatened?

Wizards call it the Diricawl, and Newt Scamander says its disappearing act fooled the Muggles.

What is a Doxy, the Biting Fairy, notable for having?

The Weasleys spray nests of them in the curtains of Grimmauld Place.

Which of these is a real breed in the wizarding world's fire-breathing bestiary?

The others are invented; the real list also includes the Hebridean Black, Peruvian Vipertooth and Ukrainian Ironbelly.

What does Xenophilius Lovegood claim his explosive Erumpent trophy comes from?

The rhinoceros-like Erumpent's horn contains explosive liquid, which the Lovegood house finds out the hard way.

What does a Fwooper do that makes it distinctive?

The brightly coloured bird's song is said to drive listeners mad in the Fantastic Beasts guidebook.

What does the treacle of a Glumbumble induce in those who eat it?

The insect looks like a bumblebee but its produce is the opposite of honey.

What language do goblins speak?

They run Gringotts, and relations with wizards have been strained for centuries.

Which small bird served as the Snitch in early Quidditch?

The walnut-sized Snitch replaced the bird once its hunting became a conservation problem.

What are Grindylows?

They get tentacles in the films and menace Harry in the lake during the Triwizard Tournament.

The Hidebehind is the result of illegally breeding a ghoul with which creature?

It shares the Demiguise's gift for not being seen.

How does a Hinkypunk lure travellers astray?

It is a one-legged wisp of blue, grey or white smoke, and one of Lupin's third-year lessons.

What daily spell must a wizard cast to legally own a hippogriff or winged horse?

The part-eagle, part-horse Buckbeak is the series' best-known example.

How can a master free a house-elf?

Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby with a sock; Hermione's SPEW campaigns for elf welfare.

What does SPEW stand for?

Scholar Brycchan Carey praised Hermione's group as a model for young people's political engagement.

What is an Inferius?

Voldemort fills the lake in the Horcrux cave with them.

What is notable about the Jarvey's speech?

The creature is ferret-like, and is about as charming as that sounds.

What does a Jobberknoll do at the moment before it dies?

Until then the bird makes no sound at all; its feathers go into truth serums and memory potions.

What does a Kelpie do when someone mounts it?

The shapeshifter often appears as a horse with kelp for a mane.

What can a Kneazle detect?

Hermione's Crookshanks is part-Kneazle, which is how he knows Scabbers is no ordinary rat.

What is the Lethifold also called?

It resembles a Dementor but has a taste for human flesh.

What happens to someone bitten by a Mackled Malaclaw?

The lobster-like sea creature is best left alone.

Purses made from which shrinking lizard's hide shrink when a stranger approaches?

It is native to the British Isles and can shrink at will.

What does a Niffler store in its bottomless pouch?

The platypus-faced burrower causes most of the chaos in the first Fantastic Beasts film.

What is an Obscurial?

The repression creates a Dark parasitic force called an obscurus; Credence is one in the 2016 film.

Of what are an Occamy's eggs made?

The creature is choranaptyxic, growing or shrinking to fit the space available.

Which bird's tears have healing properties and whose feathers make wand cores?

It can carry immensely heavy loads; the hoo-hoo is its Japanese cousin.

Which of these is a species of Puffskein?

Fred and George sell them at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes; Appaloosa and Fanged varieties also exist.

How many legs does a Quintaped have?

It is carnivorous and looks like a starfish with a face.

With what does a Red Cap colour its hat?

The goblin-like dwarf is another of Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts subjects.

How many heads does a Runespoor have?

The Hydra is the nine-headed one.

Who can see Thestrals?

They pull the Hogwarts carriages, and Rowling revealed the Elder Wand has a core of Thestral hair.

What is the name of the Thunderbird Newt rescues in Fantastic Beasts?

His storm at the end of the film wipes the memories of every New Yorker who saw magic.

What does Voldemort drink in the Forbidden Forest to sustain his weak body?

Unicorn tail hair is one of the three main wand cores, along with phoenix feather and dragon heartstring.

What does the Wolfsbane Potion let a werewolf do?

Snape brews it for Lupin; Fenrir Greyback is the series' other famous werewolf.