Characters

Age: 69. Born on December 6, 1928. Next>>

House: Gryffindor

Distinguishing Characteristics: Hagrid is a half-giant. His mother was the giantess Fridwulfa and his father was a human. This means he is immensely strong and twice the size of a normal man.

Heritage: Half-giant

Family: One known half-brother (the giant Grawp). His human father died in 1942. Hagrid found out during his trip to Eastern Europe in 1995 that his giantess mother was also deceased.

First Mention: Chapter one of Sorcerer's Stone/Philosopher's Stone

General: Hagrid (as he is known to all acquaintances--he prefers to be addressed by his surname) is the Keeper of the Grounds and Keys at Hogwarts, a job he is considered good at. In 1993, he was also appointed Care of Magical Creatures teacher, a job at which he is, at best, hopeless. Despite his immense size, Hagrid seems to have successfully kept his half-giant heritage a secret for the vast majority of his life. Surprisingly few people asked questions, and those who did wonder about how he came to be so big generally just assumed he had been the victim of some sort of magical accident.

Hagrid attended Hogwarts from 1940 to 1943, but he was expelled at the end of his third year. He had, by this time, already fostered an interest in vicious monsters of all sorts, and at the time was keeping an Acromantula called Aragog as a pet. While this was against school rules, it was not an expulsion offense; his expulsion was the work of Tom Riddle, who convinced those in authority that Aragog was the creature from the Chamber of Secrets that had attacked and killed a student.

The only teacher who believed in Hagrid's innocence was Professor Dumbledore, who was then the Transfiguration professor. He persuaded Headmaster Dippet to offer Hagrid a position as trainee gamekeeper, from which he advanced to his position of Keeper of the Grounds and Keys by 1990.

Hagrid is essentially a kind and gentle man, although somewhat over-fond of ale, and not without a tendency to be indiscreet after a few. He is also rather irresponsible (trying to raise a baby dragon and illegally creating the dangerous cross-breed he named the Blast-Ended Skrewt are prime examples), although never malicious. He still lives in a single-room hut in the school grounds despite his promotion to the teaching staff.

His roots as a half-giant only came to light when he finally met another half-giant in Olympe Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons. He formed a friendship with her, and they traveled together to the mountains of Eastern Europe in the summer of 1995 to make contact with the giants and to attempt to procure their support in the war against Voldemort. He is, at the least, still friendly with Madame Maxime and saw her again a year later. This was a very difficult time for him, as Dumbledore and Aragog had just died, and Hagrid's beloved hut had been partially burned. The support from Madame Maxime, and even from Grawp, will surely not go unappreciated.