Harry Potter/Characters/Animals and Pets
Pets
Hedwig (Gizmo)
Harry's faithful pet snowy owl, and aside from Hagrid, first friend in the magical world.
- Berserk Button: An indirect version—being locked in her cage for long periods of time pisses her off. Also, she doesn't like it when Harry is rude to her for whatever reason.
- She also gets unhappy when Harry uses another owl for messages.
- Empathy Pet
- Eyes of Gold
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the film version of Deathly Hallows, she attacks a Death Eater chasing Harry and Hagrid, then flies into the path of a Killing Curse meant for Harry.
- Killed Off for Real: In Book 7.
- Pride
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Pigwidgeon's red.
- Sacrificial Lion
- Tsundere: Type A.
Fawkes
Dumbledore's pet Phoenix. His feathers were used as the cores for both Harry and Voldemort's wands.
- Big Damn Heroes: Comes to Harry's aid in the Chamber of Secrets.
- Cool Pet
- Familiar
- Heroic Sacrifice: He takes a Killing Curse for Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix. Since he's a Phoenix, he gets better.
- Long Bus Trip: It's explicitly spelled out after Dumbledore's death that Fawkes has left Hogwarts forever.
- Meaningful Name: Guy Fawkes is famous for trying to blow up (which would lead to burning) the Houses of Parliment. Phoenixes burn at the end of each 'life.'
- The Phoenix
- Swiss Army Tears: An inherent Phoenix ability.
Aragog (voice by Julian Glover)
One of Hagrid's pets, an Acromantula who lives in the Forbidden Forest with his mate and thousands of children. In Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid, while a student at Hogwarts, cared for him when he was young, and Aragog was accused by Tom Marvolo Riddle of being the creature living in the Chamber of Secrets. Years later, he tells Harry and Ron about the creature living in the titular chamber, then sics his sons and daughters on the two (don't worry, they escape).
- Back for the Dead: In Half-Blood Prince.
- Cool Pet
- Giant Spider
- I Owe You My Life: Hagrid cared for a young Aragog after he hatched and later got him to safety in the Forbidden Forest following Riddle's accusation. The two maintained contact, which saw Hagrid getting him food and a mate. As such, Aragog forbade his children from ever harming Hagrid. Unfortunately for Harry and Ron, Aragog's family extends that courtesy ONLY to Hagrid himself.
- Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge
- Red Herring
- The Scapegoat: For what the Basilisk did. To add further insult to it, Acromantulas hate and fear Basilisks.
- Spiders Are Scary
- To Serve Man: A species trait, though never seen doing so himself. Aragog tells Harry and Ron that he never ate humans, as repayment for Hagrid's kindness. His children, on the other hand...
Nagini
Voldemort's right-hand pet snake. She is also one of his horcruxes, and is killed by Neville with the sword of Godric Gryffindor in the Battle of Hogwarts.
- Chekhov's Gunman
- Face Stealer / Kill and Replace: She takes Bathilda Bagshot's place upon her death.
- Familiar
- Right-Hand Attack Snake
- Soul Jar
Crookshanks (Crackerjack)
Hermione's pet half-Kneazle cat.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: He is able to find Neville's list of common room passwords, understands enough English to understand Ron saying that Scabbers is in his bag, knows how to freeze the Whomping Willow, and knows right away that dog!Sirius is not a dog.
- Cats Are Mean: Subverted.
- Demoted to Extra: He does appear in the film adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban, but his "constantly trying to eat Scabbers" subplot is cut out.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: The first thing we see him do in the books is pounce on Scabbers, who's actually Peter Pettigrew in disguise. Justified, because this is a species trait for Kneazles as a whole.
- Spanner in the Works: In the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix, he breaks the Extendable Ear that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny are using to eavesdrop on the adults' conversation downstairs.
Ron: Hermione, I hate your cat.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Hermione doesn't take him on the Trio's journey in Deathly Hallows and he's not mentioned to be at her parents' house or at the Burrow either.
Pigwidgeon
Ron's pet owl, sent to him by Sirius as a replacement for Scabbers.
- Fun Size: Harry mentions that he looks like a very fluffy Snitch.
- Keet: He is quite hyper.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Hedwig's blue.
Fang
Hagrid's gigantic boarhound dog.
Errol
The very old pet owl of the Weasley family.
- Butt Monkey
- Running Gag: He faints a lot after delivering letters.
Other
Buckbeak / "Witherwings"
Hagrid's pet hippogriff, who was provoked into attacking Malfoy during a Care of Magical Creatures class and set up to be executed by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. He's saved by Harry and Hermione and escapes with Sirius instead.
- Berserk Button: He doesn't take kindly to Malfoy calling him a "great ugly brute".
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Half bird, half horse.
- Off with His Head: Narrowly averted thanks to Harry and Hermione's meddling with the Time-Turner.