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Revision as of 19:51, 29 July 2005
Rubeus Hagrid (born December 6, c. 1928) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of books. He is known to all simply as Hagrid. Hagrid is the groundskeeper for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Hagrid is as much as twice as tall as the average man. He loves animals and magical creatures, particularly those that are unusual or dangerous. J. K. Rowling has said that Hagrid has little interest in tame magical creatures because of the lack of a challenge, although he has a cowardly boarhound called Fang. He, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are friends.
He is one of the first characters to imply that the idea of thinking of wizards as "purebloods" and "halfbloods" is a dated concept. Hagrid is known for his friendliness, and thick accent.
In the movies based on the Harry Potter novels, Hagrid is played by Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, and in some shots where Hagrid's height needs to be emphasised, former England rugby player Martin Bayfield.
Positions held
- Member, Order of the Phoenix
- Groundskeeper, Hogwarts
- Professor of Care of Magical Creatures
Background and role
It is revealed, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, that Hagrid is of mixed human and giant parentage, his mother having been the giantess Fridwulfa, who left his human father when Hagrid was a baby. Since giants have a reputation for being horribly brutal, and were once allies of Lord Voldemort, Hagrid keeps his parentage secret and allows people to imagine other reasons for his great size. Hagrid becomes romantically involved with Madame Maxime—a half-giantess and headmistress of the French magic school Beauxbatons. Hagrid also has a half-brother, a giant named Grawp.
Hagrid was a student at Hogwarts at the same time as Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort) but was expelled during his third year after he was accused of opening Chamber of Secrets, for which Voldemort was actually responsible.
Following his expulsion, the Ministry of Magic broke Hagrid's oak wand and forbade him from performing magic . Hagrid keeps the pieces of his wand in an umbrella, and performs small spells from time to time.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore allowed Hagrid to stay on at Hogwarts, giving him the job of looking after the grounds and animals.
Hagrid's love of dangerous magical creatures is central to the plot of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: a hooded person (Professor Quirrell in disguise) gives him a dragon egg to elicit details about Fluffy, the three-headed dog Hagrid has lent to Dumbledore to help guard the philosopher's stone. Hagrid again lets slip, to Harry, Ron and Hermione, about how to get past Fluffy (by playing music), which allows them to pursue the potential thief. The three also assist Hagrid after the dragon egg hatches, by helping to remove the baby dragon Norbert, who is taken to live with other dragons by friends of Charlie Weasley.
Hagrid and Harry
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dumbledore entrusts Hagrid with rescuing the infant Harry from his parents' house after their murder by Voldemort, and later gives him the task of locating Harry, helping him to find his bearings in the magical world and to buy his school things, and finally, dropping him off at King's Cross Station to catch the train to Hogwarts for the first time. Harry and Hagrid (and subsequently Ron and Hermione) become fast friends.
Hagrid's pets
Hagrid keeps a variety of pets, including some which are believed by the wizarding community to be impossible to domesticate.
Aragog
Aragog (1942-1997) is an acromantula that Hagrid raised while he was a Hogwarts student. The discovery of Aragog was in part responsible for Hagrid's expulsion.
While Aragog started as Hagrid's pet, after Hagrid's expulsion from Hogwarts he lived in the Forbidden Forest until his death in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The name Aragog comes from aranea (a Latin word for spider) and Gog (a legendary giant).
Fang
Fang is a large boarhound who, aside from his enormous size, appears to be an entirely ordinary dog. While Fang's appearance is intimidating, he is rather cowardly. Boistrous and loving with people he knows, he often lays his head in Harry's lap and drools.
Fluffy
Fluffy is a giant three-headed dog used by Hagrid to guard the trapdoor leading to the underground chamber where the Philospher's Stone is hidden in Book One. The only way to get past Fluffy is lull him to sleep by playing music.
In the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Professor Quirrell gets past Fluffy by playing a harp, while Harry, Ron , and Hermione use a flute that had been given to Harry by Hagrid.
Fluffy is based on Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Greek Mythology that guards the gates to the underworld. Like with Fluffy, Cerberus was lulled to sleep by music.
In the book, Hagrid acquires Fluffy from a Greek he meets in a pub, while in the film Hagrid says he got Fluffy from an Irish person instead. Steve Kloves says when he wrote the script it said "Greek," but was changed somewhere along the line. J. K. Rowling was asked in an interview what happened to Fluffy after he was no longer needed to protect the Stone. She said Fluffy was released into the Forbidden Forest.
Norbert
Norbert is a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon which Hagrid acquires as an egg and hatches himself. The Ministry of Magic classifies dragon eggs as Class A Non-Tradeable Goods.
Buckbeak/Witherwings
Buckbeak is a hippogriff. He is sentenced to death after attacking Draco Malfoy, but is rescued by Harry and Hermione and goes into hiding with Sirius Black. After Sirius's death, Buckbeak returns to Hagrid's care, but is renamed Witherwings to hide his identity.
References
- "JKRowling.com Archives: Birthdays" from MuggleNet
- "Extra Stuff: Wands" from the J.K.Rowling Official Site
Hagrid also refers to a chess engine. See Hagrid (chess).
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