Dragon

Dragon
Name	Dragon
Locations found	Worldwide
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast (XXXXX)
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Last appearance	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Dragons are huge, flame-breathing lizards in the Harry Potter book series. They are found throughout worldwide and are very dangerous.

Wizarding governments in many countries have to work tirelessly to keep these huge beasts hidden in the Muggle world, where they are thought to be legendary beasts. It is illegal to own a pet dragon and they are kept in dragon sanctuaries. A person who cares for dragons are called a "dragon-keeper", while those who study them are a "dragonologist".

About

Dragons are hatched out of eggs. When the eggs are still developing, the female dragon will keep breathing flames around it. When they hatch, they have to be fed a bucket of brandy and chicken blood every half an hour. If a person is bitten by a dragon with poisonous fangs, the cut will swell up twice its size and eventually turn green if untreated.

There are twelve known uses of dragon blood. They are incredibly difficult to hide and in order to uphold the International Statute of Secrecy, dragons are kept within reservations under constant supervision. However, they will try to escape to capture prey. There is a dragon sanctuary in Romania. They should not be approached by anyone that isn't highly skilled and trained.

The female is typically larger and more aggressive than the males. Dragon hide, blood, heart, liver and horn have very high magical properties and are known to be harvested and sold. However, dragon eggs are Class A Non-Tradeable Goods.

History

Dragons flying around Hogwarts Castle during the Triwizard Tournament

Before the International Statute of Secrecy, dragons were known to Muggles and often appeared in art and literature throughout the Middle Ages. During the dark days when witches and wizards were persecuted, sightings of dragons occurred and contributed to the hysteria. After the Statute was enacted, dragons have been stringently hidden from Muggle knowledge and they've grown to believe dragons are fictional.

In the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, dragon bladders were used in the ancient sport of Stichstock.

During the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, dragon-breeding was banned because owning a pet dragon was said to be too dangerous and a threat to the International Statute of Secrecy. Since then, Memory Charms have been used on many Muggles who have seen a dragon.

There is a Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau at the Ministry of Magic. Newton Scamander once worked with the organisation to research dragons on trips abroad, during which he collected information for his best-selling book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Sometime before September 1991, Charlie Weasley became a dragon keeper who worked at a dragon sanctuary in Romania.

In spring 1992, Rubeus Hagrid was given a dragon egg that hatched into Norberta, a Norwegian Ridgeback. He later had to give her away.

In June 1994, Cornelius Fudge thought about having dragons guard the entrance to Hogwarts instead of Dementors after they acted out of control and attacked a student.

Percy Weasley, while working for Bartemius Crouch Snr., received dragon dung his work in-tray which he thought was a sample fertiliser from Norway. In truth, Fred and George Weasley had sent it.

Known species

There are ten breeds of dragon but rare hybrids have been produced through interbreeding.

Norwegian Ridgeback

• Antipodean Opaleye
• Chinese Fireball
• Common Welsh Green
• Hebridean Black
• Hungarian Horntail
• Norwegian Ridgeback
• Peruvian Vipertooth
• Romanian Longhorn
• Swedish Short-Snout
• Ukrainian Ironbelly

Books about dragons

These books are known to have information about dragons:

• Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland
• From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them