Centaurs are minor characters of the Wizarding World franchise. They serve as supporting characters in the first and seventh installment Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, minor antagonists of the novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. and it's 2007 film adaptation and minor characters in the sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
They are spiteful of wizards who have allowed them to live alongside them, and towards Muggles who cannot see them, the centaurs are a species from ancient Greece.
In the seventh novel, the Centaurs reform and join the heroes in the battle of Hogwarts against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Deeds[]
Characterization[]
- They are spiteful of all humans in general, such as wizards who have allowed them to live alongside them, and incredibly spiteful towards Muggles who cannot see them. However they were especially hatred towards wizards affiliated with the British Ministry of Magic due to their crimes against them. During the fifth book, they grew to hate Cornelius Fudge for his laws
- The centaurs as a species are aggressive and they make no discrimination between who visits them. They would even attack children.
- They are territorial, as they hated when Hagrid brought Grawp into the Forbidden Forest and attacked Hermione, Harry and umbridge when they came to their hunting territory.
Antagonistic[]
Pre-Series[]
- They hate being called Beings because that means their classified as creatures along with vampires.
- They hate how muggles depicted them as fairytale creatures and reduced to
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone[]
- Bane and Ronan were furious at Firenze for saving Harry from Quirrell and especially for letting him ride on his back like a horse, displaying hostility towards humans.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix[]
- Bane was offended that Hermione thought they were "pretty talking horses."
- The Centaurs' leader Bane proceeded to banish Firenze from the herd for accepting Dumbledore's hiring at Hogwarts as the new Divination professor. Prior to that, the Centaurs nearly beat Firenze to death due to feeling enraged by his "betrayal." They only stopped because of Hagrid's arrival.
- Hagrid's intervention and his keeping of Grawp in the forest costed him his friendship with the centaurs, who told him to not come back, or else they would kill him. Hagrid, however, ignored their threats and kept entering the forest multiple times to see Grawp and Aragog.
- After Dumbledore escaped from Hogwarts, Hagrid, Hermione, and Harry encountered the Centaurs. The Centaurs were frustrated with Hagrid for ignoring their warnings to not return to the Forbidden Forest but ultimately decided not to harm them due to Harry and Hermione's presence. However, they issued a final warning to Hagrid, urging him to stay away from the forest despite his friends living there. This angered Hagrid, who confronted the Centaurs for acting as if they owned the entire forest. He also criticized Firenze's banishment, which further aggravated Bane, one of the Centaurs, for Hagrid's interference in the herd's affairs.
Nobler Attentions[]
- Centaurs seemed to favour nature over technology, the extent of their tools visibly in use being their bows and arrows.
- Though they would attack children, they refrained to do so when they saw Harry and Hermione accompanying Hagrid in despite showing their willingness to attack their former friend. Magorian stated they were just "foals" and persuaded Bane.
- They were genuinely disturbed of Voldemort (cloaked) attacking and killing unicorns despite not doing anything about it.
- Some of the Centaurs weren't as territorial or violent on the earlier days of the Wizarding War, such as just greeting Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid upon meeting them in Philosopher's Stone.
- Despite their hatred towards humanity, they showed begrudging respect for Dumbledore, even attending his funeral and shooting several series into the grass for his send-off.
- Firenze was the only centaur to fight with the humans, also as a staff member of the school. Though the centaurs remained neutral during the most of the second wizarding War they eventually sided with the heroes after Hagrid called them out for their cowardice after showing them an unconscious Harry's body. The final straw was when the amused Death Eaters mocked the centaurs, insulting them in their own home, whilst Voldemort ignored the scene and kept walking towards Hogwarts.
- The centaurs realized that Firenze's pro human were not shameful, but honourable, and they allowed him to continue teaching their knowledge at Hogwarts as well.
Films[]
- Like in the book series, Firenze saved Harry Potter from a hooded figure feeding on a unicorn's blood. I'm like the novel however, Hagrid seems to be guarded when he sees Harry is taking with Firenze, hinting that he isn't as close to the Centaurs as he is in the novel.
- In the fifth film, the centaurs do not confront Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Hagrid. Instead they just ride by. Additionally the centaurs are unhappy with Fudge and the Ministry because they are restricting their land.
- The Centaurs send a warning shot at Umbridge but not to Harry or Hermione.
- As Umbridge chokes one of the Centaurs with her rope spell, Hermione rushed over to the centaur with none of the others but being provoked by this action.
- The centaurs only attack because Umbridge antagonized them with her rope spell and by Grawp, seeing him as a genuine threat.
- The Centaurs also take Umbridge prisoner. Unlike the fifth novel the Centaurs do not question whether or not they should take Hermione and Harry as well, and leave the children and Grawp alone.
Trivia[]
- In both Harry Potter and Greek mythology Centaurs are said to be savage, rowdy and boisterous.
- Centaurs are less antagonistic in the Harry Potter film series, and only attacked Harry, Hermione and Umbridge because she was the one who provoked them.
- They are also similar to the Centaurs from the Camp Half-Blood series. They are both rowdy individuals but they have one Centaur (Chiron and Firenze respectively) who contradicts their portrayal. Additionally a character feels disrespected if a human rides them. (in The Battle of the labyrinth Percy felt awkward that Chiron was giving him a ride on his horse half. Meanwhile The Centaurs in Harry Potter were offended when they saw that Firenze let Harry rode on him.