Information on Magical Creatures

[Dominique Weasley]

Centaur:

A centaur is a magical creature whose head, torso and arms appear to be human joined to a horse's body. However, they are their own species, and are not any kind of half-breed. Despite being highly intelligent, centaurs are classified as Beasts by the Ministry of Magic, at their own request, as they were unhappy at having to share Being status with hags and vampires.

Dhampir:

Dhampirs are children of vampires and humans. They do not attend Hogwarts unless their human parent is a witch/wizard. Then they have the ability to use magic, as well as the powers and to a certain extent weakness of their vampire parent as well. They age slower than normal, due to the fact they are half vampires themselves. They also must partake of their vampire parent‘s blood about once a month in order to survive.

Dwarf:

A Dwarf is a short, stocky humanoid creature, little is known about them. On Valentine's Day in 1993, Hogwarts professor Gilderoy Lockhart, had a whole squad of Dwarves dressed up as cupids deliver singing valentines around the school, one of which was delivered to Harry Potter from Ginevra Weasley. Ginny's poem read,"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, His hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he's truly divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord." In 1993 Harry also spotted a few raucous dwarves in the Leaky Cauldron.

Giant:

A fully grown Giant stands approximately twenty feet tall, and appear to be large Humans. Giants are not as intelligent as wizards and witches, but they have their own language, culture and societal structure. They are capable of learning English, and presumably other languages as well. A Giant tribe is led by the strongest Giant, known as the Gurg.

Goblin:

A goblin is a small hominid, with long fingers and feet. They are uncommonly clever. Goblins run Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Goblins have their own type of magic and can do magic without a wand. Their own language is Gobbledegook. Goblins are a race of highly intelligent creatures who live side by side with wizards. Goblins are considered to be inferior by many wizards, who foolishly believe that the goblins are comfortable with that arrangement.

Goblins are short and dark-skinned. They have very long fingers and feet, and some have pointed beards. Griphook, one of the hundreds of goblins working at Gringotts, has a bald head, pointed nose, and pointed ears. Some have dark, slanted eyes, and some goblins even wear pointed hats.

Hag:

Hags, also called crones, are a savage sort of creatures that look like ugly, old witches. They employ archaic earth magic and are easily recognised by Muggles. Hags are what Muggles think are "fairy tale witches." They have been granted the status of Being by the Ministry of Magic, though children and raw liver are a part of their diet. The decision to grant Hags the status of Being was part of the reason why the Centaurs and Merpeople chose to be classified as Beasts, since they did not want to be associated with them.

Hags can be occasionally encountered in Knockturn Alley or the Leaky Cauldron, and also Hogsmeade though it is not clear if hags live there or merely pass through. Some Hags, like Annis Black, are known to live in caves.

Hags are often malevolent, and some have shapeshifting skills, or at least maintain the illusion of shapeshifting. Hags can be terrifying, apparently, since Quirinus Quirrell allegedly had "a nasty bit of business" with one during his time abroad.

House-elf:

A house-elf is a magical creature which is devoted and loyal to the one designated as their master. They serve wizards and witches, and must do everything that their masters command unless they are freed. A house-elf can only be freed when his master gives him a piece of clothing such as a sock or hat.

All house-elves have their own brand of powerful magic, which allows them to perform tasks, such as Apparating, where wizards and witches cannot.[1] More than just a mere housekeeper, a house-elf is a ruthless protector of their master, and will attack threats and enemies with great fury and strength and without even a moment's hesitation. In 1993, Dobby protected Harry Potter by using his magic to throw Lucius Malfoy across the floor. However this is limited by their lack of wands, a fact that is shared with all non-human magical beings. However, unlike most magical beings, the house-elf is actually quite happy not to own a wand, as almost all house-elves never require one for the type of magic they perform (mostly domestic spells and Apparition).

A house-elf must obey any commands given to them by their masters. At times, they seem to desire to disobey these orders, but as their master's orders are "the house-elf's highest law", they cannot. However, a house-elf may find loopholes within their master's or mistress's orders. For example, despite his loathing for Sirius Black, Kreacher could not disobey his direct orders. However, when Sirius yelled at him to "get out", which he meant to get out of the kitchen, Kreacher was able to interpret the command in way that enabled him to leave number 12 Grimmauld Place and go to Sirius' cousins, Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Also, during the 1996–1997 school year, Harry Potter ordered Kreacher to follow Draco Malfoy in order to find out what he was doing and where he was going, and carefully phrased his command to prevent Kreacher from contacting or alerting Draco. Kreacher, still reluctant to be owned by Harry, was unable to find a loophole in the orders about contacting Draco, but instead merely told Harry only about Draco's mundane daily activities.

The house-elf is so intensely loyal to their master that they will not allow themselves to be set free unless the master presents them with clothes. To symbolise this, they usually wear makeshift clothes made with found objects such as pillowcases and rags. These clothes can become quite filthy, and yet the house-elf will not clean their clothes to further express they have no needs which are not specifically commanded to them by the master. House-elves will torture and maim themselves if they think it will please the master (or to punish themselves.)

House-elves not only serve one specific master, but the whole family of the master and whoever the house-elf is ordered by the master to serve. When Sirius Black was killed in 1996, Harry Potter inherited the House of Black's servant Kreacher. At first they didn't even get along, because Kreacher considered his masters to be the House of Black. However, in due time Kreacher formed a fierce loyalty to Harry after Harry began to treat Kreacher with respect.

House-elves are bound by magic to obey their masters' every command, but if the masters are cruel to the house-elves, then the elves would only obey their orders just enough to avoid breaking these magical binds. For example, when Harry Potter sent Kreacher on a mission to spy on Draco Malfoy, Kreacher did spy on him, but did not take note of any suspicious activity like Dobby did, instead noting only Draco's mundane activities such as eating and sleeping. However, one year later, Harry started being nicer to Kreacher at Hermione Granger's pleading, leading to much smoother compliance with Harry's orders.

Despite the seemingly horrid lifestyle that house-elves endure, house-elves seem to actually enjoy being enslaved. With few exceptions (Dobby being one of them), house-elves will feel insulted if their master attempts to pay them, give them pensions, or reward their service with anything except kindness. In 1995, when Hermione Granger began hiding clothes in Gryffindor Tower in an attempt to free the house-elves of Hogwarts, the house-elves felt rather insulted, and everyone except Dobby refused to clean the Gryffindor common room in protest.

House-elves are between two to three feet tall, with spindly arms and legs and over-sized heads and eyes. They have pointed, bat-like ears and high, squeaky voices. Rather than conventional clothing, house-elves wear discarded items like pillowcases and tea-towels. Though when they are freed, and when they are able to pay for proper clothing, they seem to not know how to wear it. For example, Dobby wore a single different styled sock on each foot.

Merepeople:

Merpeople are sentient beings (or beasts, as they want nothing to do with the likes of vampires and hags) that live underwater, and are found all over the world. Their customs and habits are mysterious, and, like the Centaurs, they refused Being status in favour of Beast. Merpeople can breathe above the waves for a time, but it is unclear if they can ever truly leave their habitat.

Merpeople society is based around organised communities, and they have a great love of music. Their language is known as Mermish, and only a few Wizards know how to speak it. However, since their language can only be heard properly underwater, it sounds like a loud screeching when spoken above water.

The merpeople of Hogwarts have greyish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes are yellow, as are their broken teeth, and they wear thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. Their powerful, silver fish tails allow them to swim expertly, while the upper parts of their bodies resemble those of humans. Merpeople are also very tall, and during the second task, Harry encountered one in the lake near Hogwarts who was seven feet tall with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs, carrying a spear. They have been known to keep Grindylows as pets, and use Lobalugs as weapons. One tribe even managed to capture and domesticate a Hippocampus.

Dolores Umbridge once requested the Ministry to have Merpeople rounded up and tagged, due to her hatred to half-breeds, though Merpeople are in fact a separate species of their own, not a mixed species between fish and human. Regardless of Umbridge's misunderstandings and hatred, this suggestion was never put into practice.

Vampire:

A vampire is a magical being that is known for biting people on the neck and sucking their blood. They are usually pale and gaunt, with sharp teeth for puncturing the neck. They have an aversion to garlic and can be kept at bay by its presence.

Vampires are classified as beings by the Ministry of Magic, a fact that led both the centaurs and merpeople to decline the same status since they did not wish to be associated with them, or hags. They are not considered to be wizards, and the treatment of vampires is laid down in the Ministry's Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans.

Although vampires are studied in Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they obviously have rights and are not considered a true threat to the wizarding community. However, this view does not appear to be universally held. Some people, such as Rita Skeeter, advocate that the Ministry of Magic should be "stamping out vampires" rather than "quibbling about cauldron thickness," while others act as vampire hunters. Others hold the opposite view, such as the author, Eldred Worple, who spent time living among vampires, and wrote a book, Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires. He also considered the vampire Sanguini a friend.

Vampires are unusually strong, and have the natural ability to fly unaided. They also can bend another's will to their own if they meet a human's eyes straight on.

Veela:

Veela are a race of semi-human, semi-magical creatures reminiscent of the Sirens and Furies of Greek mythology. Little is known about their biology, they appear to be young, beautiful human female caucasians, their appearance and especially their dance are magically seductive to almost all male beings. Veela are thought to have their own type of magic which does not require a wand. When Veela are angry, however, they transform into something more like Harpies — their faces turn into cruel-beaked bird heads and long scaly wings burst from their shoulders, and they can launch balls of fire from their hands.

Veela seem to be quite an angry race. For example, in the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, they were easily wound up by the Leprechauns, resulting in a fight between both teams' mascots on the pitch.

Veela were the mascots for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team during the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, which indicates an Eastern European origin, although the Delacours, who are from France, are proof that they can be found all over Europe.

Veela hair is a magical substance, suitable as a core for wand manufacture. Renowned wandmaker Ollivander noted that he personally never uses it, as the product tends to be temperamental.

Veela have been known to marry wizards, although it is unknown whether any have married Muggles. Children of these unions are half-Veela, and they will inherit magical ability from their fathers and beauty and charm from their mothers. Veela traits seem to persist for at least a few generations.

Apolline Delacour is a half-Veela, thus her children Fleur and Gabrielle are one-quarter Veela, and Fleur's children Victoire, Dominique and Louis are one-eighth Veela though it is unknown if they have any characteristics from their Veela great-grandmother. Fleur's wand contains a single hair from her Veela grandmother.

When a Veela mates, they mate for life. The form a bond with their mate, that if broken could cause them to die. This is true for partial Veela as well.

[/b] - For the sake of this game, those that are not full Veela have certain powers. For example, they cannot transform into Harpie like creatures when angry. But they can throw fire when upset.

2. Veela Mating Bond - Like stated above, the mating bond of the Veela is strong natural magic. The Veela or half/partial Veela will feel a need for change when they first realize they have met their mate. The mate will also feel a natural, strong pull towards the Veela or half/partial Veela. Once the bond has grown to a solid connection, such as spending too much time with each other, then they are bonded to one another. Betrayal or breaking of the bond past this point will be fatal for the Veela or half/partial Veela. So once your Veela or half/partial Veela character has found their mate, they have to be careful of how their relationship flourishes.

Also note that the bond allows healing magic to happen between the two involved. For example, if the Veela throws and hits a fireball at his/her mate, then the bond will heal the injury but only slowly. It also works on the Veela if the Veela is injured.

3. Male Veela - There will be male Veela allowed here. However, for the sake of this game we will say that there are full male Veela so that the species can reproduce. They have all the same powers of their female counterpart, and the same goes for the half/partial male Veela as well.[/ul][/size][/blockquote]

Werewolf:

A werewolf is a human being who, upon the complete rising of the full moon, turns into a fearsome and deadly near-wolf. Werewolves can be easily distinguished from regular wolves by several small distinguishing characteristics, such as the pupils of the eyes, the snout shape, and the tufted tail. At all other times, they appear as normal humans, though will often seem to be ill as the full moon approaches. This condition is caused by infection with lycanthropy, usually occurring when a human is bitten by a transformed werewolf. As defined by Hermione Granger, a werewolf differs from an Animagus in the fact that he or she does not transform by choice. With each full moon the person transforms and no longer remembers who he or she is, and would kill even their best friend given the opportunity. There is no known cure for either the bite of a werewolf in his wolf-form or the bite of a werewolf in his human form, though the Wolfsbane potion is the only known potion that can in any way make a werewolf less dangerous by allowing him/her to keep his/her human mind during transformation.