page_title: Magical creatures in Harry Potter
section_title: Beasts
hierarchical_section_title: Magical creatures in Harry Potter / List of magical creatures / Creatures / Beasts
caption_attribution_description: English: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter.
context_page_description: Magical creatures are an aspect of the fictional wizarding world contained in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, both by British author J. K. Rowling. Throughout the seven books of the series, Harry and his friends come across many of these creatures on their adventures, as well as in their Care of Magical Creatures lessons at Hogwarts. The Care of Magical Creatures Class take care of creatures such as Hippogriffs, Unicorns and Owls. Rowling has also written Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a guide to the magical beasts found in the series. Many of these are derived from folklore, primarily Greek mythology, but also British and Scandinavian folklore. Many of the legends surrounding 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."
context_section_description: Acromantula – A gigantic spider that is capable of human speech.
  Basilisk – A giant snake whose stare can kill people in seconds.
  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.
  Billywig – 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 (2016).
  Blast-Ended Skrewt – 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.
  Bowtruckle – 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.
  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.
  Cockatrice – A creature that resembles a rooster with a lizard tail. Its stare also kills people in seconds.
  Crup – A magical breed of dog resembling a Parson Russell terrier/Jack Russell terrier but with a forked tail.
  Demiguise – 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.
  Doxy – A small fairy-like creature with 4 arms and 4 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.
  Antipodean Opaleye – A species of dragon native to the valleys of New Zealand with pearly scales and multicolored, pupiless eyes.
  Chinese Fireball – 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.
  Common Welsh Green – A species of dragon native to Wales. The notorious Ilfacrombe 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.
  Hebridean Black – A species of dragon native to the Hebrides Islands of Scotland. Black, with rough scales and brilliant purple eyes.
  Hungarian Horntail – A species of dragon native to Hungary. I
caption: Buckbeak, a hippogriff
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