Pixie

Pixie
Species information
Skin colour	Electric Blue
Native to	Cornwall, England (Mostly)
Height of average adult	Eight inches
Ministry of Magic Classification	XXX
Status	Beast

"The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing"

— Description of Cornish Pixies

A Pixie is a small, bright blue mischief-maker, and loves tricks and practical jokes. It is able to fly, and enjoys lifting people up by their ears and depositing them on the tops of trees and buildings, showing incredible strength for creatures of their size. Pixies can only communicate with other pixies; their voices are described as "so shrill it was like listening to a lot of arguing budgies". They bear live young.

History

Ms. Dymphna Furmage and a pixie.

In Cornwall in the 17th century, Dymphna Furmage, a witch on holiday, was abducted by pixies. This led to a lifelong fear of them, which drove her to request that the British Ministry of Magic humanely eradicate the pixie species. Her request was declined, and she died in 1692.

Pixies attacking Neville

In 1992, Gilderoy Lockhart brought a group of "freshly caught" Cornish pixies to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during his tenure as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Claiming that they were devilishly tricky creatures, he thought they would be perfect for a practical lecture on Defence. He lost control of them, and attempted to round them up using the incantation Peskipiksi Pesternomi. This however did not work, as Lockhart most likely made it up on the spot. The Pixies picked up Neville Longbottom by the ears and attacked other classmates who were trying to whack them with their books, hanging Neville on the ceiling. Lockhart hurried out of the room, asking Harry, Ron, and Hermione to "nip the rest of them back into their cage". Hermione Granger ended the riot using a Freezing Charm. Due to this, Ron Weasley proclaimed that the only thing he learned from Lockhart was "not to let pixies loose".

Behind the scenes

Cornish Pixies making havoc.

• In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Pixie is said to be able to fly despite being wingless, however in the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets they are clearly shown with wings.This was most likely the result of a design preference of the producers of the film.
• In Harry Potter's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them he wrote that the classification was XXXXXXX if you were Lockhart.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 there is a nest of Pixies in the Room of Hidden Things. They are presumably killed by Goyle's Fiendfyre.
• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, you have to hit them twice with the freezing charm, the first time freezes them in a bubble, the second hit destroys them.
• In Harry Potter: The Creature Vault, Jody Revenson speculates that J. K. Rowling may have made pixies blue as a reference to the Picts, an ancient Cornish tribe that painted their skin blue, or as a nod to the various other blue things associated with Cornwall, like the Cornish Blue rooster and Cornish Blue cheese.

Appearances

Pixies in a cage.

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Mentioned on comic book) (Appears in flashback in Disc 2)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Mentioned on comic book)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (Mentioned on comic book)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (DS version)
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Pottermore