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 Named Beasts "Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou' their pets." --Rubeus Hagrid (PA14) The Minister for Magic in 1811, Grogan Stump, decreed that a
beast was a creature that does not have "sufficient intelligence to
understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the
responsibility in shaping those laws" (FB). This means that not
only are witches and wizards classified as "beings," rather than "beasts," but so are giants,
goblins, hags, merpeople, and vampires (you can find out more about
these characters here). For the sake of our Lexicon pages, we put centaurs and
house-elves into the "being" category as well - because though both are
intelligent enough to fit the definition, centaurs have asked to remain
classified as "beasts" and the official status of house-elves is
unknown. What that leaves us with is a whole host of creatures - and,
in the case of this page, a whole host of characters, some of whom have
quite a bit of personality.
A male Acromantula,
acquired as an egg c. 1942
[Y-38] by
Hagrid from a traveller.
Hagrid hid Aragog in a cupboard in the
castle and reared him on table scraps
until Aragog's existence was exposed by Tom Riddle.
At that point Hagrid was expelled, but he managed
to release Aragog into the
forest, where the
Acromantula spent the
rest of his life. Hagrid later found a mate for
Aragog (see Mosag), and they had many offspring; the
entire colony remained deep in the
forest.
Harry and Ron first
encountered Aragog and his family in May of
1993
[Y13] and barely
escaped with their lives, although out of respect for
Hagrid Aragog neither sought out humans as prey
nor permitted his family to do so
(CS15).
At the end of his life, Aragog was the size of a small elephant; his
colouration was mixed with grey and he had gone blind, evidently due to
cataracts
(CS15).
Aragog died of old age in the spring of
1997
[Y17]
(HBP22).
Arnold
A Pygmy Puff that Molly Weasley bought for Ginny at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in the fall of her fifth year (HBP6). Arnold tends to ride around on Ginny's shoulder in the Gryffidor common room, which is probably a good thing as Crookshanks seems to have taken an interest in him (HBP14).
Bandon Banshee, the
The Bandon Banshee was supposedly defeated by
Gilderoy Lockhart
(CS6), but actually was defeated
by a witch with a hairy chin
(CS16,
CS - Edits and Changes to the Text).
Barny is the mascot of the
Ballycastle Bats;
he also appears in Butterbeer
commercials ("Barny says: I'm just batty about
Butterbeer!")
(QA7).
Pet of Lavender Brown,
a young rabbit that was killed by a fox in the fall of 1993 [Y13]. Lavender was convinced this was, as Professor Trelawney had predicted, "the thing she was dreading," though Hermione pointed out that logically this didn't make much sense (PA8).
Buckbeak
Bungy
A couple of months after Voldemort's return,
Harry was sitting under the Dursleys' window listening to the news - and the final story to appear was that
"Bungy the budgie... has learned how to water ski!" At this, Harry
decided that nothing useful would come from the news that night (OP1).
Hermione's pet, Crookshanks is remarkably intelligent, capable of actions that
no normal animal could perform (more...)
The Weasley family's aging and decrepit owl,
who is barely able to complete
some of his deliveries. Hermione worries that "perhaps it would
be better if you used a different owl, because I think another delivery
might finish your one off" (CS4).
Fang
Pet of Hagrid, Fang is large and loud and slobbery, but a coward at heart;
however, he did fight to defend Hagrid against the Ministry Aurors when they
came to arrest him (OP31).
Fawkes
Dumbledore's pet phoenix, whose tail-feathers are used as the core in Harry
and Voldemort's wands (GF36). He helped Harry in his fight against the Basilisk
during his second year, and healed his injuries with his tears, that have magical
healing properties (CS17). He also healed Harry after his return from the encounter
with Voldemort in the graveyard (GF36). Dumbledore sometimes uses Fawkes to
deliver messages or give warnings (OP22). In the climactic battle between Dumbledore
and Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries, Fawkes swallowed a Killing Curse
which had been aimed at Dumbledore and died, only to be reborn yet again (OP32) -
Anna L. Black, ed.
Fluffy
Very dangerous, very large three-headed dog, owned by
Rubeus Hagrid. After lending him to Dumbledore to help
protect the
Philosopher's Stone (PS11),
Hagrid released Fluffy into the Forbidden Forest (BP).
Hedwig
Hermes
Owl belonging to
Percy Weasley, having been
given to him as a reward in
his fifth year
upon his becoming a Gryffindor prefect
(PS6).
Percy uses him for sending
personal correspondence, such as letters to
Penelope Clearwater
while they were dating at Hogwarts
(CS), and
letters to his youngest brother Ron
(GF,
OP14).
Mosag
Mr. Paws
One of Mrs. Figg's cats (PS2) and most likely a part or full Kneazle, since we know she breeds them (JKR).
Mr. Tibbles
One of Mrs. Figg's cats (PS2). This cat (or, more likely, Kneazle) was on lookout duty under a car when
Mundungus Fletcher abandoned his post guarding Harry and the boy was attacked
by two Dementors in an alley near his home (OP1,OP2).
Mrs. Norris
Dust colored cat (who is likely at least part Kneazle) with lamp-like yellow eyes and a skeletal build.
Mrs. Norris prowls the corridors of Hogwarts, ever on the lookout for
miscreants and mischief-makers. Mrs. Norris was temporarily Petrified during
the 1992-1993 school year when the Basilisk attacked her. It is the fond
wish of many of the students to give the meddlesome, tattling Mrs. Norris
a good solid kick, but so far no one has carried out this wish because of
their fear of Filch. Harry was unsure during his
first year as to whether
invisibility cloaks
work on cats (PS16, but judging
from the fact that she was tracking him by scent when he worked on the
egg clue
(GF25), it would seem that she
cannot see through them.
The name Mrs. Norris come from one of JKR's favorite Jane Austen books, Mansfield Park. In that book, Mrs. Norris is the busybody aunt of the main character who interferes and pokes her nose into other people's business.
Nagini
In order to survive in his "hideous baby" form,
Voldemort needed to drink regular doses of a
potion created
from unicorn blood and snake venom. He kept a large snake named Nagini
around for this purpose. Among his other custodial duties,
Wormtail had to milk venom from the snake at
regular intervals.
Voldemort could speak with Nagini, of course,
and he promised first Wormtail, then
Harry to the snake for a meal
(GF1).
See also Horcruxes.
"naga" is Sanskrit for "snake". Readers of Rudyard Kiping's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" will remember that the two cobras in that story were named Nag and Nagaina, their names having been derived along the same lines as Nagini's here. 
"In Buddhism and Hinduism, Nagas are a race of semi-divine snakes with
great powers..." (pp. 131-132)
A Norwegian Ridgeback dragon,
hatched from an egg by Hagrid and raised for several
weeks in the spring of 1992
[Y12]. Norbert outgrew
his surroundings rather quickly and had to be sent to a
dragon reservation in Romania
(PS14).
Pigwidgeon
Ron's owl, a tiny bird, possibly a Scops owl. "Pig," as he is called, is very
excitable. He annoys Ron and also irritates Hedwig, who apparently doesn't
think Pig has the proper bearing and manners for a post owl. Pigwidgeon was
given to Ron by Sirius Black, who used Pig for a delivery after Black and Buckbeak's
escape from Hogwarts. Sirius suggested that Ron keep the tiny owl in exchange
for the pet rat that Ron lost. Ginny gave Pig his name and it stuck, although
Ron would have liked to have changed it (GF5).
Ripper
Of Marjorie Dursley's twelve dogs,
the evil-tempered Ripper is her favourite. She takes him with her when
she goes visiting, because she says he pines for her when she's not
there (PA2).
Animagus form of
Peter Pettigrew, lived as
Ron Weasley's pet for years to hide from
Death Eaters bent on vengeance. Scabbers had
the appearance of a plain gray rat, somewhat worse for the wear, who
surprisingly had lived quite a bit longer than normal rats
should. He was missing a toe, which corresponded to
Pettigrew's missing finger
(PA19). He originally
had belonged to Percy Weasley, but when
Percy was given Hermes upon
being made prefect (summer, 1991 [Y11]), Scabbers became
Ron's rat
(PS6).
Snowy
One of Mrs. Figg's cats (PS2) and most likely a part or full Kneazle, since we know she breeds them (JKR).
Sparky is the team mascot of the Moutohora
Macaws, an exciting Quidditch team from New Zealand (QA8). This
is the only domesticated phoenix we know of, besides Fawkes - and
possibly the only other one in existence, since we know phoenixes are
very difficult to domesticate (FB).
Tenebrus
One of the thestrals who live in the Forbidden Forest, the first to be born
there (and Hagrid's favorite) (OP21).
Tenebrus = "tenebrous" which is English for "dark."
Trevor
Neville's pet toad, supposedly just a simple animal, who he frequently loses (PS6). However, there seems to
be something unusual about Trevor. For example, Harry managed to learn the
Summoning Charm once Trevor was in the room (GF20). Coincidence? Maybe...
Tufty
One of Mrs. Figg's cats (PS2) and most likely a part or full Kneazle, since we know she breeds them (JKR).
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