Every Single Dragon In Harry Potter
In the magical world of the Harry Potter franchise, there were 10 known species of dragons in existence. That number could have been bigger since there’s evidence of two other breeds that were rumored to have gone extinct. Dragons were beautiful creatures but almost impossible to domesticate, and those who tried were classified as Dragonologists. But the giant, fire-breathing beasts served more than one purpose to wizards and witches. Dealers were known to illegally sell and trade dragon eggs out of the sight of the Ministry of Magic. Materials such as dragon blood, claws, horns, hides, and hearts were highly sought after and used for potions, clothing, and wands.
Charlie Weasley was a known Dragonologist and worked with various breeds of Harry Potter dragons in Romania. During the Triwizard Tournament, Charlie was the one who accompanied the chosen dragons to Hogwarts. Newt Scamander of the Fantastic Beasts franchise also had a history working with dragons as a famed Magizoologist. Dragons appeared and were mentioned a handful of times within the Harry Potter franchise but not a lot is known about each specific breed.
Antipodean Opaleye
The Antipodean Opaleye is the first of the Harry Potter dragons and had a pearly shimmer to its scales, making it one of the most beautiful dragon breeds. The Opaleye was native to New Zealand but it had a history of migrating to Australia. The breed was not known to be aggressive unless it was searching for food. According to Newt Scamander’s book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a male Opaleye traveled to Australia in the 1970s after it was forced out of the territory and killed several kangaroos with its powerful fire-breath.
Chinese Fireball
A known Harry Potter dragon is the Chinese Fireball. Also referred to as the Liondragon, the Chinese Fireball as the name suggests, had the power to shoot out balls of flame from its nostrils. The Fireball also had smooth red skin fringed with golden spikes. The breed was native to China and was used during the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. Viktor Krum faced this particular breed during the Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The wizard was able to steal the Golden Egg after he used a Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the Fireball.
Common Welsh Green
The Common Welsh Green Harry Potter dragon was native to Wales and tended to reside in mountain regions. The Fantastic Beasts creature was known for his identifiable roar and usually preyed on sheep or small mammals. The Welsh Green was particularly subdued but in 1932, a rogue dragon attacked sunbathers Ilfracombe, in Devon, England. According to Rowling, a Welsh Green may have been responsible for the Great Fire of London in 1666. Fleur Delacour faced the breed during the Triwizard Tournament and was able to snatch the Golden Egg by enchanting the dragon until it fell asleep.
Hebridean Black
As the second Harry Potter dragon breed indigenous to Great Britain, the Hebridean Black was much more aggressive than the Common Welsh Green. It was native to the Hebrides Islands of Scotland, near where the Hogwarts castle is located, where the MacFusty clan took responsibility for the breed. The Hebridean Black had dark scales and an arrow-shaped tip on the end of its tail. The dragon could grow up to 30 feet long and had stunning purple eyes.
Hungarian Horntail
The Harry Potter dragon breed native to Hungary had a lizard-like appearance with black scales and yellow eyes. Hungarian Horntails were known for being violent with the use of its bronze horns and flames that can reach up to 50 feet. The breed ate cattle, goats, sheep, and humans. Harry Potter was the one who drew the Hungarian Horntail during the Triwizard Tournament in Goblet of Fire, a dragon that Hagrid pointed out as aggressive. He tried to use his broomstick to thwart the dragon, but it kept up in flight.
Norwegian Ridgeback
The Norwegian Ridgeback was very similar to the Hungarian Horntail in appearance except it had black ridges on its back and is less vicious. This Harry Potter dragon was native to Norway and takes refuge in the Northern mountains. The breed contained venomous fangs and was known to eat large mammals, and water mammals at times. According to Fantastic Beasts, a Ridgeback once took a whale calf right out of the water. Hagrid was given a Norwegian Ridgeback egg in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
When it hatched, Hagrid named the Harry Potter creature Norbert and had help raising the creature from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hagrid eventually gave the dragon to Charlie Weasley, and it was later discovered to be a female dragon. The name was then changed to Norberta.
Peruvian Vipertooth
The Vipertooth, native to Peru, also had venomous fangs similar to the Norwegian Ridgeback. The Harry Potter dragon breed had smooth copper-colored scales and short horns on their heads. The Vipertooth was known as the smallest and fastest breed of dragon. Unfortunately, the breed enjoyed eating humans, making it one of the most dangerous creatures in the Wizarding World. In the 19th century, the International Confederation of Wizards sent out exterminators to take care of the growing Vipertooth population. The Dragon Pox disease, similar to Game of Thrones’ in-universe disease greyscale, was thought to have started with wizards who worked with Peruvian Vipertooths.
Romanian Longhorn
The Romanian Longhorn was one of the larger Harry Potter dragons in existence. The breed inhabited the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. The Longhorn had dark green scales and two enormous glittering gold horns on its head. Those horns were highly prized ingredients for certain potions. Due to the demand for their horns, the Romanian Longhorn was endangered so its territory was turned into a dragon reservation.
Swedish Short-Snout
The Swedish Short-Snout preferred to live in the isolated mountains of Sweden. The silvery-blue Harry Potter dragon had a flame so powerful, it turns blue and can turn bone into ashes. This made it one of the more dangerous species of dragon. The Short-Snout appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, although it was yellow in the film. Cedric Diggory faced the breed during the Tournament and was able to distract the dragon long enough to retrieve the Golden Egg.
Ukrainian Ironbelly
The Ukranian Ironbelly was the largest breed of Harry Potter dragon that existed in the Wizarding World. Due to its size and strength, it was one of the most dangerous. The Ironbelly had metallic grey scales that were hard as steel. Native to Ukraine, an Ironbelly was said to have carried off a ship sailing in the Black Sea in 1799. Newt Scamander notably worked with the breed during WWI. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a Ukranian Ironbelly was used to guard the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rode the dragon to make their escape after their Gringotts break-in.
Lesser-Known Dragon Breeds In Harry Potter
Newt Scamander has claimed that only 10 dragon breeds existed to his knowledge, but two other Harry Potter dragons were revealed by Rowling. In a page from the book Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit seen on the author’s website, there was an image of a Portuguese Long-Snout, found North of Portugal. This particular breed was said to have light green scales and long pointed horns. The other breed was revealed to be the Catalonian Fireball, a breed native to Spain. The Fireball had a scorched snout and two black horns. It’s assumed that the Portuguese Long-Snout and Catalonian Fireball went extinct as their existence in Harry Potter was unknown.
Which Dragons Were In The Triwizard Tournament
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Triwizard Tournament takes precedence over all else at Hogwarts, and the First Task for the four champions is to retrieve a golden egg, which is guarded by a real Harry Potter dragon. Since there were four champions, four different dragon breeds were used for the First Task: the Welsh Green, the Swedish Short-Snout, the Chinese Fireball, and the Hungarian Horntail. Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons selected the Welsh Green figurine from Barty Crouch Sr.’s magical purple pouch, and she was able to snatch up her egg by using a charm to put the dragon to sleep.
Viktor Krum of Durmstrang picked the Chinese Fireball to go up against, and during his run at the first task he used the Conjunctivitis Curse to temporarily blind the creature and steal the egg from its clutches. Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) chose the Swedish Short-Snout for his Harry Potter dragon, and in turn, transfigured a large boulder into a Labrador Retriever to distract the beast, grabbing the egg while it was unaware.
Harry Potter got the unfortunate task of taking on a Hungarian Horntail. In the Goblet of Fire movie, Harry summoned his broom and took the dragon on a thrilling chase throughout the castle. In the book, Harry spent a large amount of time learning the Accio charm to summon his broomstick from the castle, but kept the Horntail in the confines of the arena, instead using his flying prowess to his advantage.
Why There Are No Dragons In Fantastic Beasts
While there are a wide variety of Harry Potter dragons to choose from, the Fantastic Beasts series chose none of them to draw from. Oddly enough, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) was the one who wrote Harry’s textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the title of the first film in the prequel franchise. While the series has depicted everything from Demiguises to Nifflers, not a single dragon has appeared thus far. It’s bizarre to say the least, especially considering Newt spent a lot of time during WWI (which occurred before the Fantastic Beasts movies) working with the Ukrainian Ironbelly, that not one dragon appears in his magical case.
Other fantasy series like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have capitalized on their use of the mythic beast and it is seen as a missed opportunity that the Fantastic Beasts franchise features zero dragons, despite their knowledge in the Wizarding World coming straight from protagonist Newt Scamander. It’s possible that Fantastic Beasts 4 could show some of these Harry Potter dragons. However, the franchise doesn’t seem as though it will continue, thanks to Fantastic Beasts 3’s poor box office returns.
