Fans of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series can surely name at least five magical creatures off the top of their head. Creatures like phoenixes, centaurs, and house elves quickly come to mind. However, there are some creatures that stand out due to their level of creativity.
Some of Rowling's creatures have classic fantasy elements with a unique interpretation for the world at Hogwarts. The attention to detail and consistency in creating new magical beings is not an easy task, and is one that Rowling pulls off impressively.
Monster Book of Monsters- A Book with a Bite
Form fits function with this school textbook for Care of Magical Creatures. Required for third years in the Prisoner of Azkaban, this book about monsters is a monster itself. The feisty book tries to attack anything and everything, and will only become a resting book if someone strokes its spine. Much to Rubeus Hagrid's (Robbie Coltrane) dismay, most students did not figure this out before class, and even stroking the spine proves difficult.
While a clever moniker, having a monster guard a book about itself may not be the brightest idea a wizard has ever had. Textbooks ought to inspire students to learn and not run in fear because of the creature inside it. Having a book of monsters actually be a creature encapsulates the worst part of the textbook-the author surely could have thought of a more practical approach when writing a spell book. However, this sense of humor is what makes the book memorable. It may even be the only time a student can use the excuse that "my textbook ate my homework" and be believed
Blast-Ended Skrewts- Bursting with "Fun"
A mix between fire crabs and manticores, these scorpion-like creatures were made to cause trouble. Moody creatures that blast forward by fire in their backside, blast-ended skrewts are not nice creatures to come across in the wild. One word to describe them is chaotic. Hagrid introduces them to Gryffindor and Slytherin students in a Care for Magical Creatures' lesson during the Goblet of Fire, and the class does not run smoothly, to say the least.
Hagrid reveals that he does not even know much about the creatures and tasks the students to find out as much as they can about the skrewts’ habits. Unfortunately, each class escalates in chaos as the creatures reveal their temper and dislike for being contained for the class. Blast-Ended Skrewts are like encountering someone who is always having a bad day. They always keep students on their toes and remind them that the magical world is not filled with all deadly creatures; some are simply a handful.
Boggart- Facing Fear Itself
Causing quite a stir in Professor Lupin’s (David Thewlis) Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the Prisoner of Azkaban, boggarts are elusive creatures. Their natural form is unknown because they shape-shift into the observer’s worst fear on sight. Boggarts are unique to each person because they prey on individual fears. The worst fear for one person might not even be scary to another person, so it is best to face a boggart with others, so the boggart becomes confused on who to attack.
Thankfully, the spell to banish boggarts turns their strength into their very weakness. With the aptly named spell “Riddikulus”, a wizard can transform the boggart into something laughable.
Boggarts are creative because they play on the idea of fear without being truly sinister. They do not possess the full power of the thing they imitate, but they can still terrify those they encounter. They prove that fear itself is a powerful weapon and that the solution against said fear is to show how ridiculous it really is. Facing a boggart can build character in an encouraging and usually safe environment.
Mandrake- A Man-Baby Menace
Mandrakes first appear in the Chamber of Secrets during a Gryffindor Herbology lesson. They look like grubby little plant babies, but they have deadly cries. Professor Sprout (Miriam Margoyles) requires the students to wear earmuffs to protect themselves from the mandrakes’ screams.
Mandrakes are a lot to handle, but they are worthy creatures because they can be used for offensive and defensive purposes. Offensively, their baby scream can knock someone out for hours, and their adult cry can kill whoever hears it. Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) and Professor Sprout even threw mandrakes around to try and slow down Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts.
Defensively, they are also very useful for potion-making. As Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) points out in class, a Mandrake can heal people from their cursed state, which Madame Pomfrey (Gemma Jones) used that very year to restore students from the Basilisk petrifying attack. Though humanoid with their own personalities, mandrakes are still wild creatures who need strict care and attention. Mandrakes like to make their presence known and keep life entertaining.
Thestral- Dignity in Death
One of the rarer magical creatures, thestrals are skeleton horse animals who only appear to those who have seen death. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), who had witnessed Cedric Diggory’s (Robert Pattinson) death in the Goblet of Fire, is surprised how often he sees them around Hogwarts in the Order of the Phoenix. These dark creatures pull the carriages to Hogwarts at the beginning of the school year. They wander in herds throughout the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid even uses them as a subject lesson in Care of Magical Creatures. Because of their grim outward appearance and association with death, people often think they are bad luck and ought to be feared.
However, they are intelligent and loyal, if not private creatures. Harry and the gang use them to fly to the Ministry of Magic to try and save Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and the Order of the Phoenix rides thestrals and broomsticks when they rescue Harry on his seventeenth birthday in the Deathly Hallows. Also, thestrals bond students in their grief. Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) confesses to Harry she can see them because she saw her mother die when she was young. It is a sincere moment of loyalty and friendship between the two, and the creatures are to thank for it. Overall, thestrals provide a bittersweet perspective on death and are noble creatures who should be treated with respect.