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in the section on wizard banking.
Kelpie
    A kelpie (or kelpy) is a legendary horse-shape Celtic water sprite that dwells in lakes and seas with the hopes of drowning unsuspecting travelers; the same description holds true in the wizarding world. See the “Sea Serpent” section later in this chapter for additional information.
Leprechaun
    An Irish folkloric creature, a leprechaun is part fairy, part dwarf: a diminutive old cobbler, usually bearded, who can lead a person who closely follows him to his pot of gold. In the wizarding world, leprechaun gold vanishes in a few hours, making it worthless.
    MAGIC TALE
    In Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl fantasy novels, LEPrecon stands for "Lower Elements Police (LEP) reconnaissance,” a fairy version of the FBI or CIA.
Pixie
    Similar to elves and fairies, Celtic pixies are said to dance in the moonlight, sometimes on the roofs of houses. Wizarding pixies, on the other hand, are tiny—less than a foot high—are bright blue, and have shrill voices. As far as we know, they do no moonlit rooftop dancing, but they do love practical jokes, especially those that involve hurling people high into the air.
Red Cap
    A Red Cap is so named in Scottish folklore because this creature, who looks like an old man, wears a bloody cap. He is incredibly fast and strong, but he can be overcome by a victim’s religious zeal. In the wizarding world, Red Caps are creatures that look like goblins and hang out wherever they can sense bloodshed (dungeons, battlefields, and the like).
Sea Serpent
    The Old Testament gives accounts of several battles between God and a sea serpent called Leviathan or Hahab. In the Biblical book of Ezekiel, a sea serpent makes its home in the Nile, where God catches and kills it. Leviathan is still the word used today to describe a sea monster.
    The best-known sea serpent (also called a kelpie) is in Rowling’s own country: Scotland’s Loch Ness monster, who is sometimes affectionately called “Nessie.” Since the late 1800s, tourists and residents alike have spotted a two- or three-humped creature with a long neck who appeared, turned over boats, and caused both interest and panic. Photographs and videorecordings offer proof of Nessie’s existence, although most people still consider the sightings either outright hoaxes or cases of mistaken identity.
Werewolf
    From the Old English wer (man) and wulf (wolf), werewolves have long existed in folklore: people who shapeshift into wolves at night (whether the moon was full or not), attack or even eat people, and turn back into human form by day. Usually, one has to be bitten by a werewolf (and survive) to become one, although some werewolves are born with the power. Legend has it that scars obtained in battle while in wolf form carry over into human form, which led, at some points in history, to the panicked execution of people who had unusual scars.
    Historians who have begun to look carefully at supposed werewolf (and, for that matter, vampire) killings see striking similarities to modern serial killings; werewolf and vampire legends may have been created to explain what was otherwise inexplicable.
    In many literary cases, as is true in the wizarding world, werewolves are reluctant participants, who feel they are cursed to possess their shapeshifting powers. Wizards who are bitten by a werewolf will spend the rest of their lives changing into wolf form at each full moon, although drinking Wolfsbane Potion (see Chapter 11) does keep part of the man-into-wolf change from occurring—the body still changes into that of a wolf, but the mind does not. Fenrir Greyback is considered the most dangerous werewolf in the wizarding world, because he specializes in biting children, hoping for an all-werewolf society.
    MAGIC TALE
    Norse mythology holds that Fenris (also called Fenrir) is a great wolf who can be controlled only by magic ropes bound by gods. The Norse also give us the word berserker (from which we get the English "berserk”), a