Kneazle

Kneazle
Species information
Eye colour	Varies
Hair colour	Varies
Related to	Cat
Native to	Britain
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Cat-like, flecked, speckled or spotted fur, out-sized ears and a tail like that of a lion's Highly intelligent Uncanny ability to detect untrustworthy individuals Independent Sometimes aggressive Capable of guarding homes
Affiliation	Wizardkind
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXX
Status	Extant

Ron Weasley: "What was that?"

Harry Potter: "It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger."

— Ron and Harry meet Crookshanks for the first time

A Kneazle was a magical beast related to, and similar in appearance to, a cat.

Description

Crookshanks, a half-Kneazle and pet to Hermione Granger

They had spotted, speckled or flecked fur, large ears and a lightly plumed tail, akin to that of a lion's. They were thought to have separate breeds, like cats, and therefore each one varied in appearance. They made excellent pets if they liked the witch or wizard who wanted to own them. Kneazles could interbreed with normal cats, and generally had up to eight kittens in every litter. Kneazle owners were required to be licensed. Some people, both wizards and Squibs, made a living by breeding Kneazles or part-Kneazles, such as Arabella Figg. One notable Kneazle hybrid was Hermione Granger's half-Kneazle, Crookshanks, who she purchased from the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley in 1993, which was known to sell pet Kneazles.

Kneazle whiskers could be used in wand cores, although they were said to make inferior wands when compared with unicorn hair, phoenix feather and dragon heartstring.

Nature

An adult Kneazle

They had a very high level of intelligence, were independent and occasionally aggressive, and had an uncanny ability to detect suspicious and untrustworthy people. They could also safely guard their owner's home. Because of their aggression towards certain individuals, Kneazles had an XXX classification by the Ministry of Magic, if they were not interbred with another species.

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.

Caught Kneazles on Care of Magical Creatures grounds

During the 1987–1988 school year, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn taught his fourth-year Care of Magical Creatures students about Kneazles. During the 1990–1991 school year, Jacob's sibling and Charlie Weasley practised catching Kneazles as a warm-up for their planned capture of a Wampus cat.

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.

Known Kneazles and part-Kneazles

Some Hogwarts students owned Kneazles as pets

Pure Kneazles

• Hoppy
• Kneil
• Mauler
• Milly

Half-Kneazles

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

Behind the scenes

A Kneazle in the Magical Menagerie in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• 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

• 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
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions (Mentioned only)
• 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
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened