Dragon/Wizarding World

"*Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing on their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks.*"
— The dragons used in the Triwizard Tournament[src]

**Dragons** were giant winged, fire-breathing reptilian beasts. Widely regarded as terrifying yet awe-inspiring, they could be found all over the world and were frequently referred to in Asian and medieval European folklore.

Able to fly and breathe fire through their nostrils and mouths, they were one of the most dangerous and hardest to conceal creatures in the wizarding world. Their heartstring could be used as the core of a wand and were designated by Garrick Ollivander as one of the "Supreme Cores", which was a distinction shared by only two other beasts.

The British Ministry of Magic classified them as XXXXX, known wizard killers that were impossible to train or domesticate. Despite how dangerous they were, there were people who were trained to work with them, called dragon keepers, or dragonologists.

A wizard or witch who traded and sold dragon eggs (which was an illegal activity) was referred to as a dragon dealer.

It was a possible, yet rare corporeal form of the Patronus Charm.

## Contents

* 1Description
	+ 1.1Early life
	+ 1.2Social behaviour
* 2History
* 3Dragons in the wizarding world
	+ 3.1Uses
	+ 3.2Books
	+ 3.3Spells that affected dragons
	+ 3.4Dragon reserves
* 4Known breeds
* 5Behind the scenes
* 6Appearances
* 7Notes and references

## Description

### Early life

"*Your dragon requires a lot of care during these first few months.*"
— *Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit*[src]

Dragon mothers breathed fire on their eggs to keep them warm. They did not keep their eggs in nests. Newly born dragons were referred to as chicks. The dragon's first fire breaths, usually accompanied by thick grey smoke, appeared when the dragon was around six months old.

However, the ability to fly was normally developed later, at around twelve months, and the dragon would not be fully mature until it was two years old, having developed both of these abilities, and ready to live on its own. *Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit* stated that you were to feed a baby dragon a bucket of brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. This apparently served as a replacement for dragon milk.

### Social behaviour

Not much is known about dragon behaviour, however it seemed that, at least with the Chinese Fireball breed of dragons, females were generally larger and dominant over males. *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* stated that sometimes females ousted males from their territories, at least with the Antipodean Opaleye.

It also stated that Fireballs were unusual in that they were willing to share territory with one another, although when it came to other species of dragon, no more than three dragons would share the same territory. This indicated that dragons were highly territorial.

Dragons were generally highly aggressive towards anything, even wizards, and would sometimes attack humans without provocation, such as in the case of the Ilfracombe Incident.

## History

The Great Fire of London in 1666 was probably started by a young Welsh Green Dragon kept in the basement of the house in Puddling Lane.

Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709.

In 1799, a Ukranian Ironbelly dragon carried off a Muggle sailing ship, fortunately there was no one aboard the ship at the time.

In 1802, according to an unsubstantiated report off the coast of Norway A Norwegian Ridgeback dragon (supposedly) carries off a whale calf.

Newt Scamander, for a time, worked in the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau at the Ministry of Magic. He also spent World War I working with Ukrainian Ironbelly dragons on the Eastern Front.

A rogue Welsh Green dragon descended on a beach full of Muggle holidaymakers in 1932. Tilly Toke and her family happened to be there, and her family cast the largest mass of Memory Charms of the century on all the Muggles of Ilfracombe. She was later awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class for her quick action to avoid breaking the International Statute of Secrecy. The Muggles later remember nothing of the incident, with the exception of an old fellow known as Dodgy Dirk, who still claims that a *“dirty great flying lizard”* attacked him on the beach. However, Muggles do not believe him and consider him to be crazy.

In the 1970s, a rogue Antipodean Opaleye dragon killed several kangaroos in Australia. It was a male, believed to have come to Australia in search of a place to live after being ousted from its territory in New Zealand by a female.

In 1992, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger arrived just in time to see a baby Norwegian Ridgeback emerge from its egg. The baby dragon sneezed some sparks and almost bit Hagrid (who was delighted). The first signs of hatching must have begun by breakfast time, since it was then that Harry, Ron, and Hermione received a note from Hagrid informing them of it. They went to his hut right after their morning Herbology class.

## Dragons in the wizarding world

"*It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden — anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous.*"
— Dragons and their nature[src]

Draco Malfoy's first name came from the constellation The Dragon ("Draco" in Latin). The motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was *Draco dormiens numquam titillandus*; Latin for *Never tickle a sleeping dragon*.

The Hogwarts gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, loved and adored dragons, briefly owning a Norwegian Ridgeback named Norbert, who turned out to be a female and was subsequently renamed Norberta. In 1993, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, suggested placing dragons to guard the school, after being compelled to remove the Dementors, something that Professor Dumbledore thought Hagrid would be very happy with.

Many useful materials came from dragons, but they were hard to obtain (see Uses below). It took almost half a dozen wizards just to stun a dragon. Muggles believe that dragons are a mere myth, but have been known on occasion to glimpse these beasts and thus the dragon became a huge staple of European and Asian legends. To prevent them from being seen by Muggles, and to protect them from poaching, dragons were kept in dragon reserves around the world, most of which were far from human habitation. Dragons couldn't be domesticated, despite individuals trying to do so.

However, it was possible to condition them via torture to make them somewhat subservient, as Gringotts Wizarding Bank had done to the one guarding the lower vaults, who had been trained to expect pain upon hearing a certain noise. The selling of dragon products was closely regulated by the British Ministry of Magic, and only dragon species that were over-breeding were killed to make these items. Those who studied dragons were known as dragonologists.

A dragon was mentioned in a song heard by Newt Scamander and his friends at the speakeasy known as the Blind Pig in 1926 New York. Also, the curse Fiendfyre produced flames in the shape of dragons, and Gringotts Bank employed dragon feeders. The position included fireproof robes and paid 7 Galleons per week.

### Uses

Dragons were used in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament of 1994, in which the champions had to retrieve a golden egg from a nesting mother. The varieties used were: the Hungarian Horntail, the Chinese Fireball, the Swedish Short-Snout, and a Welsh Green. Ron Weasley's brother Charlie worked with dragons in Romania at the time, and helped transport the dragons used in the Tournament.

Dragons were also used to guard certain vaults at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and one was used by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to escape the bank following their break-in in 1998.

Though they couldn't be domesticated, there was one known instance of a dragon being used as a mount. In May 1998, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger rode on the back of a dragon, though they had trouble maintaining a grip on their steed, and could not control its flight. During the 1993–1994 school year, before playing in the Quidditch final against Slytherin, Harry dreamed that the Slytherin team were flying on dragons instead of broomsticks. When he awoke he realised that in reality they would not be allowed to ride dragons.

The dragon model, like the model in the First Task of Triwizard Tournament of 1994, was used in a roast chestnuts sale, near Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, in Diagon Alley to hold the chestnut in place.

Dragon milk could be used to create dragon milk cheese, as noted in the revised edition of *Charm Your Own Cheese*.

Madam Rosmerta owned a silk dressing gown embroidered with dragons, which she was wearing on the night in June 1997 when Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore apparated back from the Crystal Cave.

There was also a disease called the Dragon Pox in the wizarding world, which was named after the dragon, although it had nothing to do with the creature.

In rare cases, a corporeal Patronus might take the form of a dragon.

 Dragon claw
 Dragon dung
 Dragon eggs
 Dragon heart
 Dragon horn
 Dragon hide
 Dragon liver
 Dragon meat

### Books

"*Tried and tested tips to help you breed dragons, including the old-time favourite of brandy and chicken blood every half hour for newly-hatched chicks.*"
— *Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit*[src]

*Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit*

*Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland*

*From Egg to Inferno: a Dragon-Keeper's Guide*

*Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* by Newt Scamander

### Spells that affected dragons

"*Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate...*"
— A Hogwarts Library book[src]

While dragon skin could resist most spells, such as a single Stunning Spell, a dozen wizards casting one at once at a dragon could stun it, and certain strategies might be employed to circumvent the strength of their hides.

While dragons resisted most spells due to their hide, their eyes were their weakest point, and as such, the Conjunctivitis Curse, which caused irritation in the eyes, remained effective towards them. In the Triwizard Tournament of 1994, Durmstrang champion Viktor Krum used this curse on a dragon, with satisfying results.

In the Triwizard Tournament of 1994, the idea that multiple wizards using the same spell as a dragon could indeed stun it was proven, as Charlie Weasley and several other dragonologists used multiple Stunning Spells to successfully subdue several dragons.

Fleur Delacour somehow succeeded in putting a Common Welsh Green into a trance or bewitched sleep during the Triwizard Tournament.

## Known breeds

"*There was a silvery blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground, a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might, a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air, and a gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, which was nearest to to them.*"
— Physical descriptions of different breeds[src]

There was no officially sanctioned breeding of dragons, as dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709. However, they had been known to interbreed, producing rare hybrids. Below is a list of the ten known pure-bred breeds of dragons according to the fifty-second edition of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*:

The existence of these two dragons were only shown on a page of notes concerning the book *Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit*.

 Portuguese Long-Snout

## Behind the scenes

* Dragons exist in the legends of many cultures worldwide. The dragons of *Harry Potter* bear the most resemblance to the modern European dragon in that they fly, breathe fire, and have magically powerful blood.
* Draco Malfoy's first name, Draco, is Latin for both "snake" and "dragon".
* In the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Fred and George Weasley have a firework dragon chase Dolores Umbridge through the Great Hall.
* Most of the dragons in the films don't have front legs and have the posture of a bat or a pterosaur.
* The Catalonian Fireball appears to be an early draft on the Chinese Fireball because these were notes for *Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit* on J. K. Rowling's official site. The same for the Portuguese Long-Snout which seems to be an early draft for the Romanian Longhorn and the Swedish Short-Snout.
* In the credits of the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, it says "No Dragons were harmed in the making of this movie". This probably refers to the scene in the film where the Hungarian Horntail falls off the bridge and presumably dies.