A goblin is a small, humanoid creature with long fingers and feet. They are uncommonly clever. Goblins run Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Goblins have their own type of magic and can do magic without a wand. Their own language is Gobbledegook.
Rebellions
Urg the Unclean, a goblin activist who lead some Goblin Rebellions.
Throughout the history of the Wizarding world, there have been several goblin rebellions. These rebellions were most prevalent in the 1600s and 1700s, but even today there are subversive goblin groups who work in secret against the Ministry, according to the Daily Prophet. One rebellion, in 1612, took place in the vicinity of Hogsmeade; the Three Broomsticks Inn was used as headquarters for the rebellion. The rebellions have been described as "bloody and vicious". The names of the rebels tend to run along the lines of "Bodrod the Bearded" and "Urg the Unclean", according to Ron Weasley.
The reasons for starting some of the varied Goblin Rebellions include all but one of the following (according to J.K. Rowling's Official Site's 3rd W.O.M.B.A.T. test, all but one of the following are true):
- An allegation by Ragnuk the First that Godric Gryffindor stole his sword
- The pursuit and imprisonment of Ug the Unreliable, who was peddling leprechaun gold
- The accidental death of Nagnok, Gringotts Wizarding Bank goblin, at the hands of an untrained Security troll sent by the Ministry of Magic
- Imprisonment of the notoriously violent Hodrod the Horny-Handed, who attempted to kill three wizards
- The public ducking in the village pond by a gang of young wizards of goblin activist Urg the Unclean
- The Ministry of Magic decree of 1631 preventing magical beings other than wizards and witches from carrying a wand.
Cleverness
Gringott, founder of Gringotts Bank.
Goblins are extremely clever and over the years have dealt with wizard-kind effectively. They are still subservient in the minds of most wizards, but they have established themselves as a vital part of wizarding society. The goblins run Gringotts, the wizarding bank. Therefore, they control the wizarding economy to a large extent. It is unknown if Gringotts is the only bank in the British wizarding world.
Apart from their cleverness with money and finances, goblins are also very capable metalsmiths. Their silverwork is well known and prized (Sirius Black's wealthy family had dishes which were 'finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest'). When Rubeus Hagrid visited the Giants, one of the presents he brought was a goblin-wrought helmet which was described as "indestructable". Goblins actually mint the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts used in the Wizarding world; each coin is stamped with a serial number identifying the goblin who cast it.
It is possible that part-goblin Filius Flitwick has inherited such cleverness, as he is in Ravenclaw, which encourages the intelligence, and that Flitwick has demonstrated such brilliance in many occasions.
Known Goblins
Griphook, a Gringotts employee.
- Ragnuk the First: maker of Godric Gryffindor's Sword.
- Gringott: Founder of Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
- Filius Flitwick's goblin ancestor: distant ancestor of Filius Flitwick.
- Eargit the Ugly: a spokes-goblin.
- Urg the Unclean: an activist.
- Ug the Unreliable: a con-artist.
- Alguff the Awful: a commercialist.
- Ragnok the Pigeon-Toed: an author and activist.
- Gringotts Head Goblin: employee and head at Gringotts.
- Ragnok: an associate of Bill Weasley.
- Bogrod: employee at Gringotts.
- Griphook: employee at Gringotts.
- Gornuk: employee at Gringotts.
- Nagnok: employee at Gringotts.
- Ludovic Bagman's goblin creditors
- Unidentified goblin associate of Oswald Beamish
- Unidentified goblin at Gringotts
- Unidentified goblin killed by Voldemort
- Unidentified goblin philosopher
- Unidentified goblin stockbroker
- Unidentified Gringotts Bank goblin guard
- Brodrig the Boss-Eyed
Wizarding Wars
The goblins suffered their share of losses during the first rise of Lord Voldemort in the 1970s. A family living near Nottingham had been murdered by Voldemort's followers at that time, and Bill Weasley has been approaching the goblins, appealing to their sense of belonging to the Wizarding community. This proved problematic, however, because a Ministry official, Ludo Bagman, swindled a group of goblins out of a large amount of gold at the Quidditch World Cup in the summer of 1994, leading the goblins to distrust both sides and became neutral during the war. When the trio broke into the Lestrange Vault in 1998, Voldemort personally murdered many goblins present in the bank in fury and to eliminate witnesses of those who knew of his cup horcrux.
Goblin values
A goblin stockbroker, who lost a lot of Galleons in August of 1995.
Overall, goblins' idea of payment and repayment are not the same as humans. Goblins dislike theft, but use a different definition of the word. By goblin standards, the maker of an item, not the purchaser is the rightful owner; the purchaser is required to return the item to its maker upon his or her death. Paying for a goblin-made artefact is merely renting, not buying. Goblins consider the passing of an item from one wizard or witch to another without further payment to its maker "little more than theft", as Bill Weasley puts it.
Goblins also holds debt to extremes, as they hunted down Ludo Bagman after he lost a bet with them, and that even though they took everything of value from him after he cheated them with Leprechaun gold, they still hound him due to it being not enough to cover his debt. When Bagman ran out on his final loss against the goblins, they refused to side with the humans due to this cheat.
Behind the scenes
- According to W.O.M.B.A.T., it is possible that goblins fear sunlight, which may explain why Humans guarded the outside doors of Gringotts.
- At Gringotts, goblins appear to have a lounge, where they can relax and dance. It is located in Vault 712.
- Goblins are known to have not agreed with the Statute of Secrecy summit decisions of 1692.
- In Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 the goblin that asked Hagrid for Harry's keys appeared to have been taking notes. However, when the goblin went to fetch Griphook, Hagrid caught a glimpse of the paper, revealing it to have simply been a child's drawing of a house.
- Goblin ideas of ownership are similar to the theory of Georgism.
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- Harry Potter LEGO Sets