Kneazle

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

A Kneazle is a magical beast related to, and similar in appearance to, a cat.^[1]

Description

They have spotted, speckled or flecked fur, large ears and a lightly plumed tail, akin to that of a lion's. They are thought to have separate breeds, like cats, and therefore vary in appearance. They make excellent pets if they like a witch or wizard. Kneazles can interbreed with normal cats, and generally have up to eight kittens in every litter. Kneazle owners are required to have a licence to own the animals.^[1] Some wizards and witches make a living by breeding Kneazles or part-Kneazles. Arabella Figg, a Squib, made her living in this manner, which would explain why she has so many cats.^[2][3] One notable Kneazle hybrid is Hermione Granger's half-Kneazle, Crookshanks, who was purchased by her from the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley in 1993, which is known to sell Kneazles.^[4]

Kneazle whiskers can be used in wand cores although they are said to make inferior wands when compared with Unicorn hair, Phoenix feather and Dragon heartstring.^[5]

Nature

They have a very high level of intelligence, are independent and occasionally aggressive, and have an uncanny ability to detect suspicious and distrustful people.^[6] They can also safely guard their owners home. Because of their aggression towards certain individuals, Kneazles have an XXX classification by the Ministry of Magic, if they are not interbred with another species.^[1]

History

In 1832, wizard Abel Treetops of Cincinnati claimed to have patented a method of taming Wampus cats for use as guards over wizarding houses. Treetops was exposed as a fraud when MACUSA raided his home and found him putting Engorgement Charms on Kneazles.^[7]

During the Calamity in the 2010s, several Kneazle Foundables were guarded by Fire-breathing chicken Confoundables, which appeared throughout the Wizarding world. Volunteer members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force had to liberate these Kneazles being provoked by these Fire-breathing chickens by using the Ebublio Jinx to trap the chickens and allow the Kneazle Foundables to return to their rightful place of origin.^[8]

Known kneazles and part-kneazles

Pure kneazles

• Hoppy
• Kneil
• Mauler
• Milly

Half-kneazles

• Crookshanks
• Mr Paws
• Mr Tibbles
• Snowy
• Tufty

Behind the scenes

• While their exact life expectancy is never stated, it is known that Hoppy, Milly and Mauler have lived with Newt and Tina from at least 1991 - 2017, at least 26 years, an age that would be considered very old if reached by a non-magical cat.

Appearances

The Harry Potter Wiki has 5 images related to Kneazle.

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First identified as Kneazle)
• 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 Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions (Mentioned only)
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World (Mentioned only)
• J. K. Rowling's official site (Mentioned only)
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

Notes and references

Care of Magical Creatures
Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts
Hagrid's Hut · Forbidden Forest · Care of Magical Creatures classroom · Magical Creatures (club)
Professors	Silvanus Kettleburn · Rubeus Hagrid · Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank (substitute teacher)
Textbooks	The Monster Book of Monsters · Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Creatures studied at Hogwarts
Blast-Ended Skrewt · Bowtruckle · Chimaera · Crup · Diricawl · Fairy · Fire Crab · Flobberworm · Glumbumble · Hippogriff · Knarl · Kneazle · Murtlap · Niffler · Porlock · Fire Dwelling Salamander · Streeler · Thestral · Unicorn