Read The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter for Free Online Page B

goat (her middle), and part fire-breathing dragon (her hindquarters, plus her fire-breathing ability). Wizards do not dispute this mythological tradition.
Giant
    In the wizarding world, a giant looks vaguely human, but is built in gigantic proportions (20- to 25-feet high) with a very small head, no neck, thick skin, ugly features, and little ability to think, communicate, or get along with others. Arguments amongst themselves, in fact, are quickly leading to their extinction. This may be positive, in a sense, because, if influenced by Dark Wizards, giants could pose an enormous threat to both wizards and Muggles. But because they are so taken with their own internal bickering, they cannot be ruled by others. Giants live far from humans, usually in mountainous areas (where they frequently cause avalanches), because they were banished to those places by wizards. Like chickens in a pen, however, they now live in quarters too close to be comfortable—when giants live farther apart, they argue (and, therefore, kill each other) far less frequently.
    Mythologically, giants are considered enormous, savage brutes, born of Gaea. In Greek tradition, giants were involved in a series of clashes (known as the Gigantomachy) with many gods, who eventually succeeded in ridding the world of giants. In more recent tradition, Gog and Magog were two giants who were captured by the founder of Britain. Literature’s most famous giant, in Jack and the Beanstalk, fits the folkloric pattern of a dimwitted, brutish creature.
    Although Biblical references to giants are rare, giants are represented much differently in the Bible than in the wizarding world and in mythology. In the Old Testament books of Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, ancient giants are depicted as god-like men who were highly skilled warriors. That their size diminished their intelligence or reasoning skills is not part of these Biblical depictions.
Griffin
    The griffin (or, more commonly, gryphon, from the Latin grypus and the Grek gryps ) is hugely popular in mythology. Part eagle (upper body, wings, and head) and part lion (the rest of its body and tail), the griffin is revered and thought of as a protector of people, doing battle with one-eyed giants or men on Apollo’s behalf. Although little else is known of the cultural importance of griffins, drawings and carvings of the creature abound in ancient caves and other dwelling places. In the wizarding world, griffins are sometimes used as guards.
Hippocampus
    From the Greek hippos (meaning horse) and kampos (meaning sea monster), this ancient mythological creature has the body of a horse and the tail of a fish or dolphin and is mentioned only briefly in the wizarding world.
Hippogriff
    A Hippogriff has the body, hind legs, and tail of a horse, but it has the head, wings, and front legs of a giant eagle, thus enabling it to fly. In the wizarding world, Hippogriffs are difficult to tame and ride, but if you approach them with respect, bowing and maintaining eye contact, the animal will bow back and allow you to come close, pet it, and even fasten a rope over its eagle neck to use as reins. They eat dead rats by the packful.
    Hippogriffs originated in Greek mythology, but were first named by Ludovico Ariosto in Orlando furioso. Ariosto had long heard legends of a griffin—a mythological creature with the body, legs, and tail of a lion, and the head, wings, and claws of an eagle—being crossed with a horse. The word is Greek in origin ( hippos means horse; griff is from the Greek grypos, or “hooked one”). A Hippogriff, therefore, takes the eagle portion of a griffon and crosses it with a horse.
Manticore
    From the Greek mantichoras, which was derived from an Iranian word for man-eater ( martiya + xvar ), this demonic mythological creature has the head of a man, albeit with horns, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon. Ouch.
    In the wizarding world, the manticore adds insult to injury by singing a little song as