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Griphook: "The right to carry a wand has long been contested between wizards and goblins."
Ronald Weasley: "Well, goblins can do magic without wands."
Griphook: "That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wandlore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!"
— Griphook's opinion on how wizards and witches have treated goblins unfairly[src]

Griphook (d. 1 May, 1998[1]) was a goblin who worked at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Diagon Alley. He would later go on the run during the height of the Second Wizarding War following the fall of the Ministry of Magic and the raise of Lord Voldemort's new regime. He would later assist Harry Potter in his break-in of Gringotts in order to obtain Helga Hufflepuff's Cup.

He died at the hands of Lord Voldemort on 1 May, 1998 after betraying Harry and taking the Sword of Gryffindor.

Biography

Work for Gringotts

Griphook1

Griphook during his time as a Gringotts employee

Griphook worked for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. In 1991, he took Harry Potter and Rubeus Hagrid to vaults 687 and 713.[2] This was the first time Harry set foot in Gringotts.

In 1997, Griphook went on the run after the fall of the Ministry of Magic to Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, because the Ministry of Magic made wizards in the sole control of the goblins and he refused to acknowledge any wizard as his master. However, he had a last laugh when he was assigned to put Godric Gryffindor's Sword in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. He noticed that the sword was a fake, but decided not to reveal that information to Bellatrix.[3]

On the run

Dirk: "Hard to know what to believe these days."
Dean Thomas: "I know Harry Potter. And I reckon he's the real thing — the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it."
Dirk: "Yeah, there's a lot would like to believe he's that, son, me included. But where is he? Run for it, by the looks of things. You'd think if he knew anything we don't, or had anything special going for him, he'd be out there now fighting, rallying resistance, instead of hiding. And you know, the Prophet made a pretty good case against him —"
Ted Tonks: "The Prophet? You deserve to be lied to if you're still reading that much, Dirk."
— Dirk Cresswell, Dean Thomas, and Ted Tonks while on the run[src]
Dean griphook 3

Dean Thomas and Griphook on the run from Snatchers

Griphook soon met up with Dirk Cresswell and Gornuk, and finally Ted Tonks and Dean Thomas, and they spent only several months on the run. The group was then eventually caught by a gang of Snatchers led by the dangerously fierce werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. Ted, Dirk and Gornuk were killed, but Griphook and Dean were only taken prisoner.

Shortly after, Greyback's team was alerted to the true location of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley after they broke the Taboo on Lord Voldemort's name. Griphook, together with the others captured, was taken to Malfoy Manor and then imprisoned in the cellar. However, the trio were in possession of the real Sword of Gryffindor. Bellatrix, believing that the sword was taken from her vault, tortured Hermione with the Cruciatus Curse to find out how the trio came into possession of it. She came up with a lie that it was a fake, and Harry then persuaded Griphook to go along with her story.

Goblin Griphook with Ron and Hermione in the bckgrnd 02

Griphook talking with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at Shell Cottage whilst resting

The house-elf Dobby rescued all the prisoners from the Manor, and they took refuge at Shell Cottage. Griphook's legs were injured during the escape, thus Fleur Delacour administered Skele-Gro to heal him. He watched from the bedroom window as Harry buried Dobby's body, surprised by the great respect Harry paid Dobby and by Hermione Granger's later revelation that she wanted house-elves to be freed, as few wizards treat house-elves and other non-human beings with respect.

Breaking into Gringotts and death

Griphook: "As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under Wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?"
Hermione Granger: "We do! We protest! And I’m hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I’m a Mudblood!... Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free? Did you know that we’ve wanted elves to be freed for years? You can’t want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!"
— Conversation in Shell Cottage[src]
Goblin-Griphook, holding the Godric Gryffindor's sword DH

Griphook holding Godric Gryffindor's Sword

Harry soon came to Griphook to ask him to assist them in breaking into Gringotts to steal the Horcrux that was in Bellatrix's vault. Because of his favourable impression of Harry, and Hermione pointing out that all magical beings were united in resisting Voldemort, Griphook agreed to help them — in exchange for Godric Gryffindor's Sword. Griphook considered it goblin property, claiming that Godric Gryffindor had stolen it from Ragnuk, the maker of the sword. Harry reluctantly agreed.

Screen shot 2011-11-11 at 4.58

Breaking into Gringotts

However, Griphook's mistrust of wizards in general, and his feelings that goblin-made artefacts should be returned to Goblins once the original purchaser had died, led him to suspect that Harry would not keep his word and relinquish the sword. During the break-in, he managed to get hold of the sword, then fled into the caves calling for help to deal with thieves. Despite his betrayal, Harry, Ron, and Hermione escaped with Helga Hufflepuff's Cup (now a Horcrux), flying out on a Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon used to guard high security vaults.

Duende

Griphook dead

Later, Griphook, still clutching Godric Gryffindor's Sword, along with the guards and goblins that had tried to prevent the break-in, was summoned to Malfoy Manor to inform Lord Voldemort that Helga Hufflepuff's Cup had been stolen from the Lestrange Vault. Enraged at the loss of one of his Horcruxes, Voldemort immediately shot several Killing Curses, murdering all those present for bringing him the bad news and for hearing about one of his Horcruxes. Griphook's corpse lay in the drawing room floor, and Godric Gryffindor's Sword slowly vanished into the Sorting Hat.[1]

Personality and traits

"The longer they spent time together, the more Harry realised that he did not much like the goblin. Griphook was unexpectedly bloodthirsty, laughed at the idea of pain in lesser creatures, and seemed to relish the possibility that they might have to hurt other wizards to reach the Lestranges' vault."
— Griphook personality, as described by Harry[src]

Being a goblin, Griphook severely distrusted wizardkind and hated wizarding arrogance, stemming from the fact that goblins had been treated brutally by wizards in the past. Griphook had a somewhat barbaric and savage personality: enjoying the idea of pain in lesser creatures and being eager to harm wizards.

Behind the scenes

  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Griphook is played by Verne Troyer, famous for playing Dr. Evil's "Mini-Me" in the Austin Powers films. However, Griphook was voiced by Warwick Davis, who plays Professor Flitwick, as well as the first Gringotts goblin. Because the producers wanted a completely British cast, Verne Troyer was replaced by Warwick Davis to portray the role of Griphook in part two of the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[4]
    Greephook1234

    Griphook

  • In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Griphook is an unlockable and playable character. Out of 167 characters, he is the only goblin in the game. Therefore, he is the only one who can open up Goblin Chests, revealing special items like Studs or Character Tokens. He is also required to play the bonus levels in the lower vaults of Gringotts. He is unlocked in the first level," The Magic Begins", by using Reducto on the chest near the first vault in the Gringott's Basement. The player can then turn into Griphook whenever they want, using Polyjuice Potion or in Free Play mode. He is wearing a blue suit though his lego figure has a red suit.
  • Also in LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4, Griphook accidentally opens Vault 712 instead of Vault 713, revealing a goblin dance party.
  • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Griphook takes Hufflepuff's cup and uses it as a bargaining chip for the Sword of Gryffindor when Harry and his friends are trapped by the Gemino Cursed goblets in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. Later he is killed by Voldemort after the Dark Lord learns of the break-in at Gringotts. He is last seen dead at Malfoy Manor with the Sword of Gryffindor; as the camera lingers on his body, the Sword vanishes from under his hand.

Appearances

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Notes and references

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