Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today we’re going to be
discussing the 10 LARGEST magical creatures- the behemoths of the wizarding world. This list
was particularly difficult to make as the exact specifications of each creature (height, weight
etc) are not easy to come by. Suffice to say,
the honourable mentions list following the main list is pretty long as well.
I don’t think you’ll be able to guess all 10,
but leave a comment down below before you start and see if you’re right at the end.
Anyway, I won’t dawdle, here are the 10 most ENORMOUS magical creatures.
10. Giants
Ironically, the aptly named ‘giant’ is the SMALLEST creature on this list,
but that’s a rare position for them to be in.
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 giants 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 can grow to be approximately 20-25 feet in height, which puts the largest
giants at about twice the size of Hagrid who is 12 feet tall. What’s important to note,
however, is that Robbie Coltrane in the films was portrayed to be 8 foot 6. Therefore,
the actual size of giants is about 3x what we see from Hagrid on-screen.
9. Three-headed Dog
"They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the
whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling,
mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction;
three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.”
The creature described above is of course Fluffy,
Hagrid’s three-headed dog that once guarded the Philosopher’s Stone.
Three-headed dogs were very rare creatures that hailed from Greece.
The introduction of Fluffy in Harry Potter is undoubtedly an homage to
‘Cerberus’ or the ‘Hound of Hades’ from Greek Mythology.
Given that Fluffy filled the whole space between ceiling and floor, and that Hogwart’s boasted some
impressively high ceilings, I’d be willing to bet that Fluffy was AT LEAST 25-30 feet tall.
8. Horned Serpent Horned Serpents are large horned
magical snakes (with a few different variations in species) that inhabit bodies of water and possess
all sorts of unusual abilities. Their horns are used in wand cores, and was notably used
in the wand of Ilvermorny founder Isolt Sayre. The core of these wands vibrates when Parseltongue
is being spoken and warns the owner of danger by emitting a low musical tone.
Horned Serpents also exist OUTSIDE of Harry Potter in folklore, and the general consensus
is that these creatures are AT LEAST 30 feet in length and weigh over 1000 lbs.
7. Erumpent
Erumpent’s are large grey African beasts that may be mistaken for a rhinoceros at
a distance. They have thick hides that repel most charms and curses, a large,
sharp horn upon its nose and a long, rope-like tail. An Erumpent does appear in Fantastic Beasts
and let me just say that this thing is COLOSSAL. In fact, it’s been expressed that Female Erumpents
can grow up to 5 times the size of a non-magical hippopotamus- which has a similar body type.
This would put the largest Erumpents at nearly 7.5m in height and almost 15m in length. The
Erumpent is listed as a ‘medium’ sized creature in some places, but that is simply untrue.
6. Basilisk
Basilisk’s are enormous serpentine creatures
that were originally created by a dark wizard by the name of Herpo the Foul:
"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious
or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake,
which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg,
hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and
venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of
its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy,
and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."
In size Basilisks are ENORMOUS creatures- growing up to 50 feet in length (on some
accounts 60 feet). Not only that, but they’re the ultimate weapon- possessing giant fangs,
protective scales, and a gaze that can kill you instantly. The Basilisk used
in the film was about 80 feet in length (according to prop creator Robert Bliss)
so if you want to imagine the real size subtract about 37.5%.
5. Dragons
There’s no way you’ve watched or read Harry Potter without seeing or reading about a
dragon or two. Dragons are giant, winged fire breathing beasts that incite fear in the hearts
of even the bravest witches and wizards. They play an integral role in the series,
and are even mentioned in the Hogwarts Motto ‘draco dormiens nunquam titillandus’
which literally translates to ‘never tickle a sleeping dragon’.
Dragons also bear the potential to be extremely destructive- classified as a
category XXXXX beast by the Ministry of magic. But where do they fall in terms
of the LARGEST creatures? To uncover that, we’ll have to figure out what type of dragon.
In Harry Potter there are all sorts of dragons referenced hailing from all different locations,
but as it turns out, the three biggest are the Norwegian Ridgeback, Hebridean
Black and of course the behemoth that is the Ukrainian Ironbelly.
The Norwegian Ridgeback and Hebridean Black are roughly 30 feet in length,
and the Ukrainian Ironbelly is double that at 60 feet!
I’d also like to give an honourable mention here
to WYVERNS as they fall (somewhat) in to the same category as dragons.
4.Giant squid
Giant Squid’s also exist in the Muggle World, but the one in Harry
Potter is purported to be ‘magical’ in some capacity, and that’s why it’s on this list.
The Giant Squid in Harry Potter lived in the Great Lake near the grounds of
Hogwarts Castle- and despite the squid being portrayed as a fear-inspiring symbol, the
Giant Squid near Hogwarts was actually rather tame;
a self-domesticated creature that did nothing but occasionally play with students.
While ‘muggle’ Giant Squids are somewhere in the realm of 12-13 metres long (for females),
the one in Harry Potter is supposed to be upwards of 70 feet. Not bad.
3. Sea Serpent
Sea Serpents were aquatic magical beasts of immense size found in oceans all across the
world. In appearance they have a snake-like body paired with
a horse-like head, as well as rows of sharp teeth.
But despite their immense size and capacity to do damage, Sea Serpents,
much like the Giant Squid, have a fairly peaceful temperament.
But, just how big ARE Sea Serpents? Apparently- over 100 feet!
This makes them the largest creatures on this list (so far) by a HUGE margin.
They are absolutely colossal- but if you happen to find yourself near
one, fear not- as there have been NO reported attacks on man or wizardkind.
2. Nundu
Next up we have the Nundu. Nundu’s are magical beasts (somewhat resembling a
lion) that have a reputation for being the most destructive and powerful creatures in
the entire wizarding world. At least, when they’re untamed.
But, how big are they?
Well, this one’s a bit of a mess, because the Nundu has been very differently portrayed from
book to film. You see, the Nundu actually appears in both the BOOK and FILM versions of Fantastic
Beasts- but they are not even remotely consistent with one another in their portrayal. In the films,
the Nundu is certainly large, but nothing even remotely comparable to the upper
echelons of this list. The BOOK, however, shows the Nundu as an absolutely COLOSSAL
creature that DWARVES everything on the list with the exception of the #1 spot.
There’s also some canon that (perhaps) backs up just how massive the Nundu is. Apparently,
it takes up to 100 witches and wizards working together to subdue a Nundu,
where it only takes a dozen to stun a dragon.
This COULD be irrelevant to the creature’s size,
but this fact, in conjunction with how it is portrayed in the book,
tells me that it probably really is quite massive. It’s also quite possible that the
‘small’ Nundu in Newt Scamander’s briefcase was simply underdeveloped because it was young.
1. Occamy
I know what you’re thinking..OCCAMIES are the LARGEST creatures? Let me explain.
First of all, what IS an occamy?
"The Occamy is found in the Far East and India. A plumed, two-legged winged creature with a
serpentine body. It feeds mainly on rats and birds, though has been known to carry
off monkeys. The Occamy is aggressive to all who approach it, particularly in defence of its eggs.”
And while the occamy may not look particularly impressive- it does possess one exceptionally
powerful ability: it grows to fit available space. This ability is referred to as choranaptyxis.
So while the Occamy may not look particularly large in some environments, it’s capacity to
grow means that it could technically outgrow ANY other creature, provided the space is big enough.
And that concludes the list! Creatures that NARROWLY missed the list include Acromantulas
at 15 feet, Yeti’s at 15 feet, Trolls at 12 feet, Manticores at 10-15 feet, Chimaeras,
Graphorns, Sphinxes, Thunderbirds, Re’ems and Blast-Ended Skrewts (to name a handful).
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Until next time
Remember
Imperfect understanding is often more dangerous than ignorance