105
votes
Accepted
Why did J. K. Rowling choose to downplay dragons?
She didn't choose to violate genre conventions. She doesn't read fantasy in the first place, and Harry Potter wasn't intended as a (high) fantasy.
In an interview with The New York Times, J. K. ...
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88
votes
Accepted
Are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest consistent with later explanations on werewolves?
The "Werewolves" in the Forest are Actually Highly Intelligent Regular Wolves
This is from the Pottermore entry on werewolves:
One curious feature of the condition is that if two werewolves meet
...
- 1,671
68
votes
Why is Hogwarts allowed to house such dangerous creatures?
Hogwarts is their home. The kids are (mostly) protected by being told to keep away from the animals.
Many of the creatures in question considered Hogwarts to be their home, just as much as any of the ...
- 61.6k
57
votes
Accepted
Are any real-life animals considered magical in the HP Universe?
Yes, the dodo.
In the Harry Potter universe, the small flightless birds are actually magical creatures called Diricawls that can disappear at will when humans approach. Muggles assume they've hunted ...
- 39.6k
52
votes
Why did J. K. Rowling choose to downplay dragons?
Dragons in Harry Potter are indeed powerful.
Though it’s true that dragons were used in one of the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament competed in by schoolchildren, dragons were shown to be powerful ...
- 105k
38
votes
Accepted
Do you only need to bow once when meeting a hippogriff?
You need to bow again.
Harry bowed to Buckbeak in the lessons:
Harry didn't much feel like exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak, but he did as he was told. He gave a short bow and then looked up....
- 38.1k
32
votes
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Why was Sirius Black able to ride Buckbeak?
It doesn’t seem to be a requirement to bow, just highly advised.
In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt writes that bowing to the Hippogriff shows good intentions, but he doesn’t say it’s an ...
- 105k
30
votes
Accepted
What is the name of these creatures in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
Per Pottermore
The Cornish pixies make their second appearance in the Room of
Requirement in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Behind the scenes: Cornish pixies
These are, of course, ...
- 660k
28
votes
Why did Dumbledore appoint Hagrid as professor of Care of Magical Creatures?
Danger is part and parcel of a Hogwarts education
Hagrid may deal with dangerous creatures, and believe them to be far less dangerous than they actually are, but in bringing them to lessons, he is ...
- 115k
27
votes
Does the Crumple-Horned Snorkack exist?
Not specifically, but we know from a Bloomsbury Live Chat with JKR that Luna spent her entire professional life looking for one (with her husband, the noted Magiczoologist Rolf Scamander, grandson of ...
- 660k
27
votes
Accepted
Do magical pests only infest Wizard houses and buildings?
Some do, but some also infest Muggles.
Certain magical pests are either created by or attracted to magic, so therefore affect only wizard dwellings. Other magical pests do indeed infest and affect ...
- 105k
26
votes
Are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest consistent with later explanations on werewolves?
There are no werewolves in the Forest. Hagrid was just giving a quick, factual answer. He might also have been teasing Malfoy.
I think it's correct to say that there were no werewolves in the Forest ...
- 61.6k
26
votes
Accepted
What are these cat like fantastic beasts from The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer?
Those creatures are Matagots, spirit familiars that resemble cats.
Those cat-like creatures are Matagots, as Newt says when he sees them in the French Ministry.
At that moment, MELUSINE enters the ...
- 105k
26
votes
Accepted
Can only humans be witches or wizards?
The non-human creatures that use magic aren’t called wizards.
There are some non-human creatures that can do magic, like goblins and house-elves, but those beings aren’t called wizards - wizards have ...
- 105k
25
votes
Accepted
What is this creature from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?
This is 'Egg Creature'.
Apologies if that seems like an anti-climax but, based on a discussion with the filmmakers, I think that's the best answer we're going to get.
Firstly, if it seems that this ...
- 61.6k
24
votes
Accepted
Why don't Muggles have to de-gnomify their gardens?
According to JKR, gnomes are only found in the homes of wizards. No specific explanation is given as to why this is.
Q. Why are the gnomes bad? What do they do?
JKR: Gnomes eat the roots of ...
- 660k
23
votes
What do the acromantulas eat in the Forbidden Forest?
The official info from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them mentions that they enjoy 'large prey'
The Acromantula is a monstrous eight-eyed spider capable of human
speech. It originated in ...
- 660k
23
votes
Are any real-life animals considered magical in the HP Universe?
Salamanders are mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as being magical in nature. Their properties don't, however, match those of muggle salamanders.
SALAMANDER
The salamander is a ...
- 660k
22
votes
Are White Walkers sentient beings with certain super-powers? If yes, what are their powers?
Unsurprisingly, most of the White Walker (The Others) abilities revolve around ice and cold. I am going to draw on some back story from the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but only where it is relevant ...
- 59.5k
21
votes
Accepted
In Harry Potter, is there a cure to werewolf bites?
There is no cure for someone who's already become a werewolf.
This passage states that there's no way to cure a werewolf, not necessarily that there's no way to cure a werewolf bite.
Humans turn into ...
- 105k
20
votes
Accepted
Identify feminist book involving beast masters
Dragonflight (1968) by Anne McCaffrey — "— Might as well call it rape."
It’s not "Beastmasters," but "Dragonriders" who bond with their dragons. When the dragons mate, ...
- 11.3k
19
votes
Accepted
What are the differences between a ghoul, a ghost and a poltergeist?
We have detailed descriptions of all three in canon. They appear similar on the surface, but they don't seem to have much in common (other than a propensity for annoying living humans).
Ghouls
From ...
- 102k
19
votes
Accepted
What creatures can apparate?
Phoenixes and Diricawls can vanish and reappear at will, which may or may not count as Apparition. Both of these are mentioned in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book. Professor ...
- 32.9k
18
votes
Why does the Obscurus not appear in the textbook?
Well, first of all, quite a number of creatures are omitted from the version of Fantastic Beasts published by J.K. Rowling. No thunderbird, no swooping evil, and so forth. I suppose one could argue ...
- 115k
18
votes
Accepted
Why does the Obscurus not appear in the textbook?
Word of God answer from Rowling: "An Obscurus isn't a creature"
Rowling responded to a fan's speculation on twitter, saying that Obscurus would not be featured in the updated edition of Fantastic ...
- 85.2k
18
votes
Accepted
Did wizards of the coast invent aasimars?
The term "aasimar" was invented solely by TSR. The Oxford English Dictionary does not list it, and I also recall Usenet discussions with some Planescape designers and/or play testers where it was ...
- 93.3k
17
votes
Do adult witches and wizards retain their familiars once they graduate Hogwarts?
It seems just about certain they can keep their pets if they want.
There’s no information on if wizards typically keep their school pet after they graduate, but I don’t see any reason to think they ...
- 105k
17
votes
90s novel: wood nymph (similar to an otik) who becomes a scientist
In case anyone's interested, this came to mind again and I managed to track it down. It's The Forest of Hours by Kerstin Ekman.
This novel begins in the Middle Ages when Skord, a magical being who is ...
- 961
17
votes
What is a hag in Harry Potter?
The hag is a child-eating creature of human appearance, though likely to have more warts than the average witch.
The most clear description of Hags comes from a short excerpt of The Dark Forces: A ...
- 85.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible