Gargoyle

"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 gargoyles, 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

Sentient Hogwarts Gargoyles

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

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

Other Gargoyles

Sandstone 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 video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Gargoyle statue that stood in the second floor entrance to the Headmaster's office was moved to the Entrance Courtyard.
Some of the sayings of wizards are "Gulpin' gargoyles" and "Galloping gargoyles."
A scene cut from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) mentioned a Gargoyle Strike of 1911.
In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 a Gargoyle that looks like a dragon-creature can be seen in the Room of Requirement near a photo of a wizard in Egypt. Later on, a real dragon Gargoyle can actually be seen, which the player destroy.

Appearances

The Harry Potter Wiki has 1 image related to Gargoyle.

Notes and references

↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Chapter 31

[DH31-1] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Chapter 31

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Gargoyle

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