Fairy

SPECIES INFORMATION

EYE COLOUR

Varies

SKIN COLOUR

Varies

HAIR COLOUR

Varies

RELATED TO

Pixie

Doxy

NATIVE TO

Existing worldwide

HEIGHT OF AVERAGE ADULT

1-5 inches

MORTALITY

Mortal[1]

DISTINCTION

Very small diminutive humanoid with insect-like wings

Possess Fairy magic

Vain natures

MINISTRY OF MAGIC CLASSIFICATION

Beast

XX

STATUS

Extant

The fairy is a small and decorative beast of little intelligence. Often used or conjured by wizards for decoration, the fairy generally inhabits woodlands or glades. Ranging in height from one to five inches, the fairy has a minute humanoid body, head, and limbs but sports large insect-like wings, which may be transparent or multi-coloured, according to type.

NEWTON SCAMANDER, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

A Fairy was a small, humanoid magical beast with large insect-like wings, which were either transparent or multi-coloured.

Description

They possessed diminutive intelligence, and lived mainly in woodlands or glades. The fairy was a vain creature, and would often allow itself to be used as decoration by wizardkind. Due to their vanity, fairies were almost constantly grooming themselves. They possessed a weak brand of magic that allowed it to evade its predators such as the Augurey.

The fairy could not speak; instead, it made a high-pitched buzzing noise to communicate with its fellow fairies, but they were able to laugh in a similar way to the Flitterbies playful buzzing with the wings. Their wings were used as an ingredient in certain potions; removing their wings, while it would not kill them, tended to cause them extreme annoyance, as it did not play to their vanity.

Fairies could lay up to fifty eggs in one go, laying them on the underside of leaves. The eggs hatched into brightly coloured larvae, and, at six-to-ten days, they span themselves into a cocoon. They emerged a month later as adult fairies. Bowtruckles ate fairy eggs.

Muggles' impression of the fairy was a generous one, having been ingrained into children's minds in the form of "fairy tales". Wizards believed that, of all the magical creatures in the world, the fairy, along with the unicorn, had received the best Muggle "press".

History

Fairies were known to be found living on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In 1986, Fang found one in the pumpkin patch by Hagrid's Hut and ran away. Fairies could also be found in the neighbouring village of Hogsmeade.

There was at least one organisation committed to the preservation of fairies and their natural habitats in Britain: the Witches' Holistic Institute for Friends of Fairies (WHIFF), whose only members were Winifred Whittle and Sage Bragnam. In the 1987–1988 school year, they managed to temporarily get Hogwarts to stop using fairies.

During the 1988–1989 school year, fifth year Care of Magical Creatures students at Hogwarts were taught about how to analyse and care for Fairies by Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, during their O.W.L. classes that year.

In December 1993 at Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick used live, fluttering Fairies as Christmas lights to decorate his classroom.

During the Yule Ball in Harry's fourth year, fairies were sitting in the conjured rosebushes and flying around the statues outside the castle.

For Horace Slughorn's Slug Club Christmas party on 20 December 1996, held in Slughorn's office, fairies were used as decorations inside an ornate golden ceiling lamp.

Behind the scenes

Fairies have a wide, many-varied appearance in mythology and legend, though they are commonly humanoid and possess magical powers of some form. The small, insect-winged creatures depicted in Harry Potter are consistent with the modern depiction of fairies, though in more ancient times they were described as more akin to angels or trolls, and usually lacked wings.

The use of fairies as decorations around Christmas time in ways that Muggles use Christmas lights is presumably a reference to the fact that said decorations are called "fairy lights" in the United Kingdom. This reference is reinforced in the series itself, as "fairy lights" is one of the passwords used to get into Gryffindor Tower.

Care of Magical Creatures

Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts

Hagrid's Hut · Forbidden Forest · Care of Magical Creatures classroom · Magical Creatures (club)

Professors

Silvanus Kettleburn · Rubeus Hagrid · Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank (substitute teacher)

Textbooks

The Monster Book of Monsters · Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Creatures studied at Hogwarts

Blast-Ended Skrewt · Bowtruckle · Chimaera · Crup · Diricawl · Doxy · Fairy · Fire Crab · Fire Dwelling Salamander · Flobberworm · Fwooper · Glumbumble · Golden Snidget · Hippogriff · Imp · Jackalope · Knarl · Kneazle · Moke · Murtlap · Niffler · Porlock · Quintaped · Streeler · Thestral · Unicorn

Magical Creatures by classification

X

Flobberworm · Horklump

XX

Augurey · Bowtruckle · Chizpurfle · Clabbert · Diricawl · Fairy · Ghoul · Gnome · Grindylow · Imp · Jobberknoll · Mooncalf · Porlock · Puffskein · Ramora · Winged horse

XXX

Ashwinder · Billywig · Bundimun · Crup · Doxy · Dugbog · Fire crab · Fwooper · Glumbumble · Hippocampus · Hippogriff · Hodag · Jarvey · Knarl · Kneazle · Leprechaun · Lobalug · Mackled Malaclaw · Moke · Murtlap · Niffler · Nogtail · Pixie · Plimpy · Pogrebin · Red Cap · Salamander · Sea serpent · Shrake · Streeler · Winged horse

XXXX

Centaur · Demiguise · Erkling · Erumpent · Golden Snidget · Graphorn · Griffin · Hidebehind · Kappa · Kelpie · Merpeople · Occamy · Phoenix · Re'em · Runespoor · Snallygaster · Sphinx · Tebo · Thestral · Thunderbird · Troll · Unicorn · Winged horse · Yeti

XXXXX

Acromantula · Basilisk · Chimaera · Dragon · Horned Serpent · Lethifold · Manticore · Nundu · Quintaped · Wampus cat · Werewolf