The Forbidden Forest contains all manner of mysteries, including a number of scary, or sometimes just misunderstood, creatures.
Continuing Pottermore’s celebration of the magical creatures found in Newt Scamander’s textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, artist Andy Singleton has recreated the Forbidden Forest’s most notorious residents as unique 3D paper models. So you can see some of your favourites as you’ve never seen them before...
Hippogriff
The Hippogriff, a majestic flying animal which is part-horse, part-eagle, is a beast we get to know in the Harry Potter books rather well in the form of Hagrid’s beloved Buckbeak.
The artist took inspiration from the Shire horse to portray the creature’s strong legs, but was sure to give the beast a slightly bowed head in true, gentlemanly Hippogriff fashion.
Unicorn
One of the most beautiful beasts from the wizarding world, the unicorn also has highly magical properties. In fact, a unicorn’s blood will ‘keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death’. Harry learnt this the hard way, when he encountered a figure drinking unicorn blood in the Forbidden Forest.
Thestral
The Thestral is a rare winged horse that can only be seen by those who have encountered death. When you can see them, a Thestral is often described as skeletal and black with a ‘dragonish’ face. They may not be pretty, but they certainly helped Harry out a few times.
Acromantula
Unless you have Hagrid’s opinion, Acromantula are one of the less friendly inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid, you really need to pick better friends. According to the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook, the Acromantula is a ‘monstrous eight-eyed spider capable of human speech’. But would you really want to chat with one?
Werewolf
According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the werewolf is – to put it bluntly – ‘a murderous beast’. As such, the artist portrayed this werewolf as aggressive and confrontational. No offence meant to Professor Lupin, one of our favourite werewolves.
Centaur
Harry first met the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest in Philosopher’s Stone. The group of half-men, half-horses pride themselves in living in the forest away from human life, which they’re not too keen on. They are fascinated by the stars, which this model celebrates. Firenze would be happy with that.
Ford Anglia
Although you won’t find Arthur Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the car certainly displayed a lot of beastly behaviour after running wild in the Forbidden Forest for a few months. It was later discovered smeared with mud, covered in tree branches and had gone a bit feral.
Andy designed his version of the Anglia to have vines and plant life growing through it. The Anglia is certainly at one with nature here.
For more of Andy’s work, check out his take on the six new beasts recently introduced in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.