Fairies

• Type: Magical Creature
• Ministry of Magic Classification: XX (Harmless / May be domesticated) (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
• Native Range: Woodlands and glades worldwide (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
• Usage: Primarily as living decoration; subject of study in Care of Magical Creatures

Fairies are small, humanoid magical creatures, typically standing between one and five inches in height. They possess a diminutive human body, head, and limbs, but are distinguished by their large, insect-like wings which may be transparent or multi-coloured. Despite their human-like appearance, fairies are not considered to be highly intelligent and cannot speak human languages. Instead, they communicate with each other through a high-pitched buzzing sound. They are known to be exceptionally vain creatures, and if left to their own devices, may spend hours preening and adjusting their appearance. This vanity is their most prominent personality trait.

Fairies possess a very weak form of magic which they primarily use to deter predators, such as the Augurey. Their magical abilities are limited, and they are not considered powerful enough for their body parts, such as their wings, to be used in serious magical applications like wand making. The primary “use” of fairies by the wizarding community is for decoration. Due to their harmless nature and attractive appearance, they are often summoned or placed on objects to create a lively and magical ambiance. Professor Flitwick, for instance, used live, fluttering fairies to decorate the Christmas trees in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Fairies are oviparous, laying up to fifty eggs at a time on the undersides of leaves. The eggs hatch into brightly coloured larvae, which spin a cocoon and emerge as fully-formed winged adults six to ten days later (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

Fairies are a known, if minor, part of the wizarding world.

• In Harry Potter's first year, Professor Binns mentioned in a History of Magic lesson that the topic of goblin rebellions was often confused by students with “elf rebellions and werewolf revolts and fairy riots”.
• During the Yule Ball in Harry's fourth year, he observed that the Christmas trees in the Great Hall were decorated with hundreds of “real, fluttering fairies.”
• While exploring the Room of Requirement in his seventh year, Harry noticed a cage that had once held a five-legged creature and briefly wondered if it might have been a fairy or a pixie.

Fairies primarily serve as a world-building element, highlighting the diversity of magical life and the often-casual, and sometimes exploitative, relationship that wizards have with less intelligent magical beings. Their depiction as vain, low-intelligence creatures subverts the common Muggle folklore image of fairies as benevolent, wise, or powerful beings, a recurring theme in the Harry Potter series where magical creatures often differ from their mythological counterparts.

• In the film adaptations of the series, fairies are often depicted as simple balls or streaks of bright light, rather than the tiny, winged humanoids described in the novels. This portrayal is more akin to some depictions of Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. (film)
• Information on the Wizarding World website reinforces the canon from the books, emphasizing that fairies are vain, unintelligent, and should not be consulted for advice despite their human form. (Pottermore)
• It is important to distinguish fairies from pixies in the Harry Potter universe. While both are small and winged, fairies are harmless and vain, whereas pixies are malevolent, mischievous, and capable of causing significant chaos, as seen in Gilderoy Lockhart's Defence Against the Dark Arts class.