Order of the Phoenix (Magical Creatures)

For this instalment of Nadia talks about how much she loves the brilliance of Harry Potter, let's talk about magical creatures.


I decided to focus on this because of the new creatures introduced in OotP: Kreacher and the thestrals. Also, I want to discuss dementors and centaurs.


Kreacher, I think is desperately addled and distraught. While he redeems himself in the later books, his character is despicable in OotP. Dumbledore explains Kreachers behavior when he says, "Kreacher is what he has been made by wizards... Yes, he is to be pitied. His existence has been as miserable as your friend Dobby's... Sirius was not a cruel man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living reminder of the home Sirius had hated" (832, 834). Sirius mistreats Kreacher, not from any prejudice against house elves, but because Kreacher is a symbol for the past that Sirius has been running from for so long. I, for one, am glad that Kreacher showed up again in the later books, especially DH, and redeemed his character.


The other creature introduced in this book is the thestral. These are deeply misunderstood as well, because only people who have witnessed death can see a thestral. Therefore, they have an almost Grim-like reputation. But, they also are extremely clever and have an amazing sense of direction. These creatures are a symbol for acceptance of death, opposite the freedom the hippogriffs. There is an interesting essay comparing and contrasting threstrals and hippogriffs that can be found here: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/essays/issue10.


Next on the list is dementors. JKR herself said that these characters symbolize depression, and there are very few things more terrifying than the thought of a dementor. A creature that takes away your soul through a personal and intimate gesture? One that can force you to only live in the worst times of your life? One that takes away all your happiness and all your hope? That is positively petrifying. These creatures truly do symbolize clinical depression and I admire the way JKR put a personal bit of her life into Harry's world through this creature. Better keep some chocolate on hand, just in case.


Centaurs are found in mythology, including Greek and Roman. In some of them, they are teachers like Firenze the Divination teacher. I am fascinated with the idea of such a creature being an instructor. I can't even say how many times I've said, "Mars is bright tonight". I like that they know that their predictions can be misinterpreted easily, even by the centaurs themselves. I also love how all of their situations in the books are complex in some way- they usually involve arguing between two groups of centaurs. It opposes them to the image seen in Fountain of Magical Brethren seen in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, in which the centaurs, along with a goblin and house-elf, are all "looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard".


Many of the creatures in the world of Harry Potter are mistreated and underestimated. This is most prevalently seen in OotP with Umbridge and her discriminations against "half-breeds". These non-human intelligent beings are hated and feared by Umbridge. But, one of the main themes of Harry Potter is to not judge by appearance. Hagrid, a "half-breed", is one of the most lovable and loyal characters in the entire series. These magical creatures that are prejudiced against are symbols for any group of people that a majority discriminates because of some trivial difference.

Time read: 24 hours, 12 minutes, 45 seconds
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