Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing DRAGONS. More specifically- we’re going to be ranking the most powerful
dragons by- you guessed it- POWER. I’ve made lots of these ranking videos in the past-
ranking Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, Aurors, Order of the Phoenix
Members, Dumbledore’s Army members and more. I’ve even ranked the most powerful magical
beasts- a list where Dragons made it to the #2 spot- losing out to well, you’ve got
to watch THAT video to find out. Anyway, you guys seem to always enjoy them- so I thought:
why not rank one of the most POWERFUL beasts in the wizarding world?
Dragons pop up in the Harry Potter films quite a bit, and are frequently referred to as some
of the most powerful creatures in existence. They play a prevalent role in the Harry Potter
story, and their name is even nestled in to the Hogwarts motto ‘Draco Dormiens Nunquam
Titillandus’ which means ‘Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon’. Dragons are giant, winged
fire breathing beasts that incite fear in the hearts of even the bravest witches and
wizards- and it’s for this reason that they’re classified as category XXXXX beasts by the
Ministry of Magic. In essence- this classification means that they are nearly impossible to domesticate,
and that historically they have been known to kill witches/wizards. There is certainly
no shortage of TYPES of dragons in the wizarding world, and they all have their own unique
traits that set them apart, so ranking them should be fun.
Before we get started comment your OWN top 7 down below, then watch the video and see
how they match up.
7.Hebridean Black The Hebridean black is a native dragon to
Britain, sharing the area with the common welsh green. However, the Hebridean black
is MUCH more dangerous. The Hebridean black is a large, intimidating rough-scaled dragon
with razor-sharp ridges along its back, bat-like wings and a spiked tail. It can grow up to
30 feet long, and has glaring purple eyes. The Hebridean black resides in the hebrides
islands in Scotland, and can usually be found there feasting on cows and, its favourite,
freshly sourced venison.
6.Romanian Longhorn The Romanian Longhorn is a medium-large sized
dragon with dark green skin and -consistent with its name- two long golden horns. It is
a native dragon to Romania, where Charlie Weasley works for the romanian dragon sanctuary.
The Romanian longhorn is particularly muscular, and it’s horns jet straight out of its head
like a bull. It uses these horns to gouge its prey. However, while it is a particularly
intimidating looking dragon, it is worth mentioning that they’re not particularly aggressive.
Unfortunately, the Romanian longhorn population is relatively low, and that’s because their
horns have such a high value. This makes them a common target for poachers.
This is even referenced on a chocolate frog card:
"The horns of this breed of dragon are highly valued as potion ingredients and as a result,
its numbers have fallen in recent years."
On a positive note, Longhorns are now the subjects of intensive breeding programs in
an effort to recoup their dwindling numbers.
5.Chinese Fireball The chinese fireball (aka the lion dragon)
is a medium-large sized dragon (between 2 and 4 tons) that dwells in all sorts of landscapes.
The dragon is native to China, and primarily presides there. The chinese fireball is known
to be more accommodating about sharing its territory than some other dragons. The fireball
is scarlet coloured, with smooth scales and golden spikes. It also has particularly piercing
eyes. The ‘fireball’ part of its name comes from the balls of flame that it shoots
out of its nostrils- balls that appear to be almost mushroom-shaped. The breed is notably
aggressive towards, well, everything apart from its own kind. Viktor Krum notably faces
a Chinese fireball in the triwizard tournament- attempting to retrieve a golden egg that it
was protecting. The chinese fireball keeps trim with a relatively modest diet of pigs
and humans.
4.Ukrainian Ironbelly The Ukrainian Ironbelly is a MONSTER of a
dragon, and the largest known breed of dragon. It is stated that the Ukrainian Ironbelly
can reach a weight of up to six tonnes, which is at least 2-3x the weight of most of the
dragons in this list. It has metallic grey scales, deep red eyes, and long vicious razor-sharp
talons. The Ironbelly’s sheer mass means that it is slow, but it’s dangerous nonetheless,
as it’s sheer mass causes it to crush anyone and everything that it lands near. Apparently,
once, one of these dragons was able to take off while carrying an ENTIRE vacant sail boat.
Notably, the Lestrange vault inside of gringotts was guarded by a ukrainian ironbelly, and
was subsequently set free by Harry Potter in 1998 during their escape from gringotts.
The Ironbelly is mentioned in the Fantastic Beasts films as well, when Newt mentions to
Jacob that he worked with Ironbellies during the first world war.
3.Peruvian Vipertooth The Peruvian vipertooth is the smallest of
the dragons, but is extremely dangerous and highly venomous. The average adult is approximately
15ft in length, which, compared to the 50ft Horntail, is not particularly large- but that
certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t a threat. The Vipertooth was once a substantial threat
to wizardkind as they were reproducing at an alarming rate. Their bite is particularly
venomous, and these copper coloured customers love chewing on human flesh. They are smooth-scaled,
with copper-coloured black ridge markings, short horns, and long fangs. The vipertooth
usually eats goats and cows, but it has been expressed that they have a ‘particular’
craving for humans.
2.Norwegian Ridgeback The Norwegian Rideback goes by another name---
Norbert AKA Norberta. The Norwegian Ridgeback is a rarer breed of dragon, and resembles
the Horntail in a lot of ways. The main exception is that the ridgeback has black ridges on
its back, and a browner quality to its scales. The Rideback is known to prey on large mammals,
even water mammals, and it was reported in 1802 that a norwegian Ridgeback was seen carrying
a whale calf in its mouth off the coast of norway. To add to all of this, the Ridgeback
has a very toxic bite and develops fire-breathing capabilities very early on.
In the series, Hagrid receives a Ridgeback egg from a stranger in the pub. After he hatches,
Hagrid named him Norbert. Hagrid eventually has to give up Norbert, and gives him to Charlie
Weasley who takes him to the Romanian dragon sanctuary. It’s later discovered by Charlie
Weasley that Norbert was in fact a girl! Later renaming her Norberta. Apparently, he was
able to tell that Norberta was a girl by how much more vicious the female Ridgebacks are!
Charlie Weasley: "Norbert? The Norwegian Ridgeback? We call her Norberta now."
Rubeus Hagrid: "Wha — Norbert's a girl?" Charlie Weasley: "Oh yeah."
Hermione Granger: "How can you tell?" Charlie Weasley: "They're a lot more vicious."
1.Hungarian Horntail
The Hungarian horntail is widely considered to be the most dangerous of all dragon breeds,
and Harry famously faces one in the tri-wizard tournament. Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find them, admitted himself that the Horntail is the most dangerous of
the dragon breeds- and he certainly knows his magical beasts.
The Horntail is enormous, and has a lizard-like appearance, along with bronze horns, spikes
that protrude from its long tail, and yellow eyes with vertical pupils. It is known to
have one of the longest firebreathing ranges, and can scorch you from fifty feet away. Hagrid
had this to say about dragons in general:
"Oh, don't worry about 'em, Harry, they're seriously misunderstood creatures — Although,
I have to admit that Horntail is a right nasty piece of work."
Perhaps the scariest aspect of the Horntail is the double threat that it poses- with a
powerful flamethrower on its front, and a spiked club on its back.
Charlie Wealsey once remarked that: ‘Its back end’s as dangerous as its front.’
And that’s it for this list! Honourable mentions include the Swedish Short-Snout,
Common Welsh Green, and Antipodean Opaleye. Did I MISS any POWERFUL dragons that deserved
to be on this list? Would you change up the order? Comment down below
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Until next time
Fascinating but misunderstood beasts, Harry. Fascinating but misunderstood.