Giant

"They're not meant ter live together, giants ... they can't help themselves, they half kill each other every few weeks."

- Rubeus Hagrid

A fully grown Giant stands roughly twenty feet tall, and appear to be large Humans. Giants are not as intelligent as Wizards, but they have their own language, culture and societal structure. They are capable of learning English, and presumably other languages as well. A Giant tribe is led by the strongest Giant, known as the Gurg.

History
Giants were once plentiful across the world, with at least a hundred different tribes. During the First Wizarding War, they allied with Lord Voldemort and were responsible for some of the War's worst atrocities against the Muggle community. Aurors from the Ministry of Magic targeted and killed many Giants, and forced them into hiding in remote regions of the world.

The remaining Giants, numbering around eighty in total, retreated into a remote mountainous region in Northern Europe. In 1995, following the return of Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore dispatched Rubeus Hagrid, accompanied by Olympe Maxime, to make an alliance with Giants and deny their forces to Lord Voldemort when Cornelius Fudge refused to make an official approach on behalf of the Ministry of Magic. The pair traveled to a tribe northeast of Minsk, to try and gain the friendship of the tribe. However, they were not alone in their efforts. Two Death Eaters, including Walden Macnair, had also arrived to try and convince the Giants to rejoin Lord Voldemort's forces.

Hagrid and Maxime were doing well, and were on good terms with Gurg Karkus. The Death Eaters, though, courted the favour of Golgomath and engineered an uprising. Golgomath killed Karkus, took his place as Gurg, and allied with the Death Eaters. Hagrid and Maxime were forced to retreat after being attacked by the Giants.

In the opening days of the Second Wizarding War, Giants were responsible for an attack on Muggles in the West Country of England, although the official explaination was that a hurricane had hit the area. The Ministry of Magic covered up the incident, but informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the true cause behind the incident.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, many Giants fought on the side of Lord Voldemort against the defenders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They mainly battled Grawp, a small giant who had fled the colony two years earlier, and the Hippogriffs and Thestrals. It is not known what happened to them after the battle. The most likely theories are that the survivors returned to the northern colony, or were subsequently killed by aurors and The Committee for Disposal of Dangerous Creatures for the part they played in the war.

Giants within the Wizarding World
It is partly because of Giants that much fear of "Part-Humans" in the Wizarding World exist. Half-Giants are look down upon as outcasts of society and are singled out and subject of ridicule. When Rubeus Hagrid was outed by Rita Skeeter as a Half-Giant, many became frightened of him despite having known him for years, and some demanded his resignation. Olympe Maxime refused to publicly admit her heritage, even to a fellow Half-Giant.

Not all Giants are "bad". Grawp was taken from the mountain tribe by his half-brother Rubeus Hagrid, and lived in the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid managed to civilize his half-brother to a degree, and taught him some English. Grawp attended Dumbledore's funeral 1997, and assisted the defenders of Hogwarts Castle during the Battle of Hogwarts. There were also some other giants who grew interested when Hagrid and Madame Maxime when to negotiate with them to live in harmony with wizards. Unfortunately, when the Gurg that they do not agree with raided the area for them, they refused to have anymore to do with Hagrid and Madame Maxime.

Known Giants

 * Bran the Bloodthirsty
 * Cyclops
 * Fridwulfa
 * Golgomath
 * Grawp's father
 * Grawp
 * Hengist of Upper Barnton
 * Karkus
 * Morholt
 * Morholt's brother
 * Olympe Maxime (Half-Giant)
 * Rubeus Hagrid (Half-Giant)

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
Великан