Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’re going to be discussing the TOP 10 most POWERFUL magical Beings of the
wizarding world.
‘Being’ is one of the three classifications used by the British Ministry of Magic to distinguish
the different magical creatures that inhabit the wizarding world (the others being Beast
and Spirit).
The term ‘Beings’, at least for the most part, refers to the HUMANOID (or at least,
seemingly humanoid) lives of the wizarding world.
And when I say humanoid, I mean possessing typical ‘human’ characteristics- i.e 1
head, a standard number of appendages, 2 eyes etc.
Although, I suppose you could argue that possession of these traits being innately ‘humanoid’
stems from a relatively human-centric point of view.
There are also a few exceptions to this which you’ll see down below.
Anyway, with that distinction made, I do want to point out that there are still quite a
few ‘humanoid’ creatures in the wizarding world beyond just conventional ‘human’
witches and wizards, which is why I think that this will make for a fun list.
This list will be ranked from least to most powerful and I’ll stick to CANON to support
my rationale.
Anyway, let’s dive in.
10.
Hags
Hags, which resemble warty, evil-looking witches, were vile child-eating beings that possessed
rudimentary level magic.
Though commonly mixed up with witches, particularly in muggle-literature,it’s important to note
that hags and witches are two very different things.
The appearance of a hag is what one might imagine when trying to consider the appearance
of a witch- but for those who know of the magical world- they know that witches can
actually be very beautiful.
It’s also worth mentioning that the level of magic that hags possess is significantly
lower than that of a normal witch.
In addition to being strikingly ugly and possessing only four toes on each foot, the hag is doubly
scary because it just so happens to have a taste for human flesh- specifically the flesh
of children.
Despite their modest stature and limited magic, Hags are still VERY dangerous, especially
for children.
9.
Trolls
Coming in at number 9 on the list are TROLLS.
Trolls, which originally come from Norse Mythology, were giant humanoid creatures of immense size-
sometimes growing as tall as twelve feet and weighing up to 1 ton.
It’s also worth mentioning that there are several different subspecies of troll, including
forest trolls, mountain trolls, river trolls and the troll of nadroj- a troll subspecies
with disproportionately large hands.
Trolls were incredibly dangerous, unpredictable, violent and aggressive creatures that had
a taste for human flesh- making them particularly terrifying.
It has been stated that trolls possessed ‘rudimentary’ level magic, however, no one seems to really
know how this magical ability was utilized.
The Achilles heel of the troll, however, is it’s intelligence- as trolls are notably
quite stupid creatures.
In fact, trolls were SO STUPID that they had the lowest wizarding exam failing grade named
after them.
8.
Vampire
That’s right- vampires, which are so prevalent in other fantasy worlds, also exist in Harry
Potter.
Rowling had this to say of Vampires:
“Although vampires exist in the world of Harry Potter, as shown by the literature that
Harry and his friends study in Defence Against the Dark Arts, they play no meaningful part
in the story.
The vampire myth is so rich, and has been exploited so many times in literature and
on film, that I felt there was little I could add to the tradition.
The only vampire whom Harry meets in the books is Sanguini in *Half-Blood Prince*, who makes
a faintly comic appearance at a party.”
However, despite the vampire’s absence from the story, it’s worth noting that they are
POWERFUL magical beings.
Vampires- which mostly resembled a normal witch or wizard in appearance, are perhaps
best known for sucking out the blood of their victims.
However, vampires have many other abilities as well, including but not limited to: heightened
senses (including vision, hearing, sense of smell) and the ability to ‘transfigure’
in to a bat.
The biggest weaknesses of a vampire are: That they don’t use magic in the traditional
sense (i.e magic of witches/wizards) And
Garlic
7.
Pukwudgie
Coming in at #7 we have a creature native to America, the Pukwudgie.
We first hear of the Pukwudgie when Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermorny, encounters
one in the mountains.
“Pukwudgies are short, grey-faced, large-eared creatures distantly related to the European
goblin.
Fiercely independent, tricky and not over-fond of humankind (whether magical or mundane),
it possesses its own powerful magic.
Pukwudgies hunt with deadly, poisonous arrows and enjoy playing tricks on humans.”
Pukwudgies are perhaps best known for having one of the four Ilvermorny houses named in
honour of them.
6.
Giants
Coming in at number 6 are giants.
Giants are incredibly powerful creatures that tend to live out their lives in tribes completely
separate from the rest of the wizarding community.
They are smarter than trolls, but stupider than humans, and their innate bloodthirsty
nature has typically resulted in their own population control.
The secret to giant’s power is in their name- they are ‘giant’.
In fact, they are larger than almost any other magical creature, equal in physical strength
to dragons, and highly resistant to spells.
Giants have been known to side with Voldemort, as we saw in both the first and second wizarding
wars, however, despite their immense power they do have an achilles heel - their eyes.
The eyes of giants are much more vulnerable to spells/attacks, and this is how the good
guys were able to take them out.
This obvious vulnerability is the only reason that they aren’t higher on the list.
5.
Centaurs
Coming in at number 5 we have centaurs- beings taken from Greek mythology that possess the
upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse.
The biggest distinction between centaurs of Mythology and centaurs in Harry Potter is
that Harry Potter centaur’s are gifted in divination - a magical discipline that allows
one to gather insights in to future events.
Centaurs are a bit of an odd one out on this list because, as it turns out, they’re actually
classified as beasts.
However, this was purely due to their own request, as they didn’t want to share ‘being’
status with creatures like ‘hags’ and ‘vampires’.
That said, I still think they’re more of a ‘being’.
Centaurs boasted a large, intimidating physical appearance, and were known to be versed in
many different magical disciplines including healing magic, divination and astronomy.
They were also naturally gifted at archery, which made them quite an imposing threat.
Centaurs could also perform non-verbal magic, though their magic was fairly limited when
compared with a human witch or wizard.
4.
House-Elves
House-elves were small beings, often between two and three feet tall, with spindly appendages
and oversized heads and eyes.
They also had pointy bat-like ears and high voices, which meant that they certainly weren’t
particularly intimidating.
However, despite their unassuming appearance and small-stature, house-elves are some of
the most powerful magical beings in the wizarding world.
You see, house elves could easily perform wandless magic at a very high level, higher
than a well-trained witch or wizard.
They could apparate with ease and disarm a witch or wizard in the blink of an eye- they
were also fiercely protective of those whom they had given their allegiance.
But if that isn’t enough to convince you that they’re powerful, just remember that
Harry Potter himself once remarked that house-elves were better at performing advanced magic than
most wizards.
The achilles heel of the house-elf?
Their domestication.
3.
Veela
Veela were magical beings that resembled beautiful human females- sporting white-gold hair and
moon-bright skin.
Veela’s are known for using their good looks to charm and hypnotize.
However, there is certainly more to a Veela than meets the eye, as, when angry, they are
said to take on a less..pleasant appearance.
In moments of anger, the face of a veela elongates into a sharp, cruel-beaked bird head, and
scaly wings burst from their shoulders.
In this state, Veela’s can also launch balls of fire from their hands.
Veela’s also possess their own form of wandless magic.
It should also be mentioned that Veela’s were sometimes known to cross-breed with humans.
A popular known ‘quarter’ Veela was Fleur Delacour.
While breeding with humans granted them certain human-like magical capabilities, it’s also
important to note that it’s unknown whether a half or quarter-blood veela could transform
in the way that a full veela could.
2.
Goblins
Goblins, which are often compared to house-elves, were fair-skinned beings a little bit larger
than elves that often possessed dark slanted eyes, pointed noses and pointed ears.
And, like elves, goblins could perform wandless magic at a particularly high level- perhaps
an even HIGHER level than elves.
Goblins were also skilled metalsmiths and controlled the wizarding economy by running
the banking system and minting all currency.
However, the biggest weapon that Goblins possessed were their brains, as they were particularly
brilliant creatures that were wrongfully regarded as subservient and ‘inferior’ in the eyes
of many ignorant witches and wizards.
Goblinkind have waged war on wizardkind on numerous occasions throughout history, with
the goal generally being the same: abolish the injustices ingrained within wizarding
culture.
However, despite their best efforts, human witches and wizards have always come out on
top.
1.
Humans (normal witches/wizards)
Coming in at number 1 we have human witches and wizards.
Now, this may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, because humans are certainly
less intimidating than many of the other beings on this list.
Humans aren’t 20 feet tall, they aren’t born with impressive magical expertise, they
can’t fly, and they aren’t always very intelligent.
However, as a whole, I think it’d be hard to argue against wizardkind being the most
powerful, because, after all, they are the kingpins of wizarding society.
And, if we look at the history books, we can easily see that the most powerful beings to
have ever graced the wizarding world have been humans.
With that said, not all witches and wizards are powerful, and I would argue that their
‘innate’ level of power is significantly lower than some of the other beings on this
list.
However, their ‘ceiling’ of power, if you will, is the highest- as proven by famous
wizards such as Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Voldemort and even Merlin.
And that’s it for this video!
What’s your top 10?
Did I miss any obvious ‘beings’ as classified by the ministry of magic?
Comment down below.
Until next time
Never mess with goblins, Harry.