Fantastic Beings and Where We Find Them

[dfrankis at dial.pipex.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 20607

Fantastic Beings and Where We Find Them

The recent discussion about the possibility of Snape being a vampire 
set me thinking.  We know from FB that all non-plant living things 
are classified by Wizards into Beings (who have some say in the 
running of magical affairs), Beasts, and Spirits.  Newt Scamander 
does not precisely define which creatures are Beings.  The list below 
is an attempt to glean as full a list as possible from the books 
(with a quick skim of the Lexicon too).  I have done a bit of 
classifying by status in the sense of how certain we are.  I have 
also indicated very roughly where we find them in canon.  Chapter and 
verse exercise for the reader, as my teachers used to say.

The idea is to have a basis for speculating about the secret identity 
of your favourite character.

***Definite: known to be classified as Beings, without any 
controversy:***
Wizards and witches;
Hags (FB footnote, there is one in the Leaky Cauldron (PA) and they 
are mentioned by Lockhart) – are they necessarily female?;
Vampires (FB footnote).

***Voluntarily Excluded: meeting the criteria for Beings but 
voluntarily classified as Beasts:***
Centaurs (FB);
Merpeople (FB).

***Debated: classified as Beings, according to some but not others:***
Muggles (FB);
Werewolves (FB).

***Probable: not classified by Newt Scamander as Beasts, and almost 
certainly not Spirits:***
Goblins (strongly implied by FB as they get invited to all the 
discussions);
House-elves (CS, GF);
Dwarfs (CS), perhaps Professor Flitwick is a dwarf;
Veela (GF) can interbreed with humans (wizards only?);
Giants (GF), likewise;
Leprechauns (GF);
Dementors (PoA, GF);
Banshees (CoS (Lockhart), also in PA as Seamus fears/imagines them to 
be). Could they (or any of the above, be Spirits?.

***Speculative: could be either Beings or Spirits***
Peeves (poltergeist) seems much more solid than the only known 
definite Spirits (ghosts).

***Questionable: not apparently meeting the Being criteria but not in 
FB:***
Boggarts, which are not counted as Beasts by Newt Scamander, but seem 
to share many characteristics with them.  Could be Spirits.  If they 
are Beings, then surely Lupin is violating some type of `Being 
rights' in his lesson.
Blood-sucking Bugbear, suspected of killing roosters by Hagrid in CS.

The question of the `Darkness' or otherwise, of these Beings is 
interesting.  Dumbledore and Hermione regard the prejudice against 
Giants as just that; werewolves have already been brought out of the 
closet.  Centaurs, who seem to display a range of character similar 
to humans, are clearly strongly opposed to classification with Hags 
and Vampires, and Dumbledore himself regards the Dementors as beyond 
the pale.  We don't know why the Merpeople lined up with the Centaurs 
as Beasts: did they agree with their reasoning, or feel they couldn't 
belong to a system that would let go of the Centaurs so easily?

The degree of magic is also variable, from House-elves with plenty, 
to Merpeople with, apparently, none.

Have I missed any? Any thoughts?

David