Changes: Gargoyle

Revision as of 12:18, 22 July 2011

"People ask me what it's like being a gargoyle... well, to be honest, most of the time you have a very cold bottom."

Gargoyle refers to a carved stone or statue with an ugly monstrous design. Since medieval times, gargoyle statues have been commonly seen in many structures and buildings, including the Hogwarts Castle.

Nature

Architecturally, two distinctions are made between gargoyles: functional ones, whose purpose is to direct water away from the sides of a building through their spouts; and aesthetic garoyles, whose appearance is said by the superstitious to add to their ability to ward off evil. It is unknown if the latter ability is preserved with gargoyles in the wizarding world.

It should be noted that, whilst some gargoyles, like the Lonely Male Gargoyle, do seem to have some degree of sentience, this is not known to be an innate ability and any noted animation is likely due to magic, such as a charm.

Known Gargoyles

Hogwarts

Hogwarts is home to many gargoyles, such as the one placed in the entrance to the Headmaster's office located in the second floor, which is described as an extremely ugly statue andcomes to life when the correct password is spoken.^[1] Other gargoyle statues are seen in Hogwarts' Paved Courtyard as well as the one in the Clock Tower Courtyard.

Gargoyle statue Chamber of secret (film) pic2 — A gargoyle statue outside the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts.

Talking Gargoyles

A number of Hogwarts gargoyles have the ability to talk, such as:

The two gargoyle statues that guard the entrance to the staffroom, having the ability to talk.^[2]
The Comedic Female Gargoyle
The Barking Mad Male Gargoyle
The Lonely Male Gargoyle
The Lonely Male Gargoyle's friend
The Miserable Female Gargoyle
The Sarcastic Male Gargoyle

Etymology

From the French gargouille, meaning "throat" or "gullet". In Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from the root gar, meaning "to swallow", which represented the gurgling sound of water.

Behind the scenes

Gargoyle statue 1995 — A gargoyle statue in Hogwarts' Middle Courtyard.

In the PC video game adaption of Philosopher's Stone , Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban , they are used as targets to cast Lumos and when done so, they will make a small movement.
In the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game), The Gargoyle statue that stood in the second floor entrance to the Headmaster's office was moved to the Entrance Courtyard.
One of the sayings of wizards is "Galloping gargoyles".

Appearances

Notes and references

[lemon-drop-1] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 11

[DH31-2] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Chapter 31

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |bgcolor2=
 |sentience=
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@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 Architecturally, two distinctions are made between gargoyles: functional ones, whose purpose is to direct water away from the sides of a building through their spouts; and aesthetic garoyles, whose appearance is said by the superstitious to add to their ability to ward off evil. It is unknown if the latter ability is preserved with gargoyles in the wizarding world.
-It should be noted that, whilst some gargoyles, like the [[Lonely Male Gargoyle], do seem to posess a sentience, this is not known to be an innate ability and any noted animation is likely due to magic, such as a [[charm]].
+It should be noted that, whilst some gargoyles, like the [[Lonely Male Gargoyle]], do seem to have some degree of sentience, this is not known to be an innate ability and any noted animation is likely due to magic, such as a [[charm]].
 ==Known Gargoyles==