Chimaera

Chimaera
Species information
Eye colour	White
Hair colour	Golden
Native to	Greece
Height of average adult	Large
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Head of a lion Body of a goat Tail of a dragon Extremely violent and dangerous
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXXXX
Status	Extant (rare)

"He kept saying nobody in their right mind would rather study Knarls than Chimaeras."

— Hermione Granger on Rubeus Hagrid's love of these beasts

A Chimaera was a type of hybrid animal and a violent magical beast native to Greece.

Description

The Chimaera was a vicious, bloodthirsty beast with a lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail.

History

Because of their ferocity, Chimaeras were classified by the Ministry of Magic as XXXXX (extremely dangerous and lethal), and their eggs were classified as Class A Non-Tradeable Materials.

There was only one recorded instance of a wizard killing a Chimaera, although the victor died from the exhaustion after killing it.

Dai Llewellyn, the famous Caerphilly Catapults player, was killed by a Chimaera while on holiday in Mykonos, Greece.

Silvanus Kettleburn's Chimaera

In the 1987–1988 school year in Hogwarts, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn repeatedly said that a Chimaera had escaped and was roaming the castle unleashed. The Chimaera was still loose at the beginning of the following year. Jacob's sibling found her in the Forbidden Forest, but was unable to subdue her with magic. Liz Tuttle managed to calm her down. In the 1988–1989 school year, Professor Kettleburn taught his fifth year Care of Magical Creatures about how to handle these beasts.

In 1995, Rubeus Hagrid stated to Hermione Granger that it was difficult to get a Chimaera egg, causing Hermione to speculate that he had tried to get one, and wanted to use it as part of a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, while Hermione advised Hagrid better not to bring dangerous beasts to teach to the Hogwarts students, due to Dolores Umbridge's inspections.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, when Vincent Crabbe cast Fiendfyre (cursed fire), flaming Chimaeras appeared out of it.

Behind the scenes

• In classical Greek mythology the Chimaera was the daughter of Typhon and Echidna, her siblings included the Neamean Lion and the Lernean Hydra. The Chimaera was hunted and slain by the hero Bellerophon, son of Poseidon, with the aid of his winged steed Pegasus. The statement in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that the only known killing of a Chimaera resulted in the wizard falling off his winged horse is a direct homage to this tale, as Bellerophon was said to have fallen from Pegasus' back although that happened a long time later when Zeus sent a gadfly after him.
• A chimaera is literally a "hodge-podge" of several creatures. They are usually described as having three heads in Greek mythology: a lion's head on its front, a goat's head emerging from the back of the lion's head, and a tail tipped with a serpent's head. In the original myth, it was said to have breathed fire (some sources say all three heads did so, while others say only the goat did).
  • In more recent fantasy settings, such as the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, the third (or fourth, if the snake tail is counted) head of a dragon and draconic wings are often added as well.
• While the classical Chimaera is part lion, goat, and dragon, a true Chimaera is simply any two or more of anything including humans which leads to the medical diagnosis known as "Chimaerism" which happens when multiple genetic patterns merge in a single organism (often due to two or more fertilised eggs combining into a single embryo).
• Professor Kettleburn's female Chimaera had a mane, something that is considered unusual, at least for non-magical lionesses.

Appearances

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First appearance)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (Cut from the film)
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)

External links

• Chimaera on Wikipedia
• Pottermore - "8 fantastic beasts to be scared of this Hallowe’en"