Top 10 Pets in the 'Harry Potter' Universe

10. Fang

Fang is Rubeus Hagrid's over-sized Boarhound, similar to a Great Dane in the Muggle universe, and although Hagrid cares for a great range of creatures, he has formed a special bond with Fang. Boarhounds may look ferocious but this one certainly isn't! In fact, Fang has been known to be over-friendly and always greets guests to Hagrid's hut with welcoming barks and a lot of licking. Alas, Fang has a tendency to slobber when he's excited and has frequently soaked Harry Potter's Hogwarts robes whilst being affectionate!

9. Pygmy Puff

These are miniature versions of a Puffskien (spherical in shape and covered in soft fur, doesn't object to being cuddled or thrown as a ball) bred by Fred and George Weasley to be sold at their joke shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley. The Pygmy Puffs are one of the twins' more popular products, as they like to eat anything from leftovers to spiders so they make a very popular house pet!

8. Hedwig

Hedwig, the lovable snowy owl, was the best (and first!) birthday gift Harry Potter ever received! Although she's not very cute or cuddly, she's very smart and opinionated – always delivering Harry's post without fail. As one of the most recognisable owls at Hogwarts (except in the snow, of course!) Hedwig has inspired many Potter fans to kidnap pet and wild owls that looked similar to her in the Muggle world. Throughout all seven books this beautiful owl is always affectionate towards Harry, remember the summer she flew all the way to France from Surrey just to deliver Hermione Granger's birthday present?

7. Crookshanks

This big cat (or “small tiger”), ginger in fur and squashed in face, is owned by Hermione – who purchased him from Diagon Alley after the shop keeper had told her that “nobody wanted him”. However, Crookshanks isn't full cat – in fact he's half-Kneazle and not to be mistaken for your average mog! This pet is a highly intelligent, four-legged, furry detective! He knew that Scabbers wasn't Ron Weasley's family pet rat and was, in fact, the traitor (and Death Eater) known as Peter Pettigrew and worked with Sirius Black's animagus form (a black dog) to capture and revert Peter to his human form. Also, nothing beats the warm feeling of a sleeping cat curled up and purring in your lap – this must have kept Hermione's stress levels down whilst she was studying for her end of year exams!

6. Fluffy

The three-headed dog is very rare type of beast and this particular one is used to protect the philosopher's stone on the third floor corridor within Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (a pretty important job if you ask me!) due to Fluffy's ability to bite off three intruders' heads at once. This monster, taller than most houses, is terrifying but undeniably cute too – play this creature a little music and he drifts off into a deep sleep, aww!

5. Norbet

A breed of dragon known as the Norwegian Ridgeback which has almost black scales, yellow eyes and bronze horns – named for the ridges running down its spine. Norbet, originally owned by Hagrid but grew too big and powerful for him to keep so was sent to a dragon reserve in Romania, was only seen as a baby in the Harry Potter world. He had a simple diet, so was easy to feed, of a bucket of brandy mixed with chicken's blood given to him every half an hour – well, simple if you can get your hands on that amount of chicken's blood, let alone the brandy! These terrifying, but awe-inspiring, creatures are dangerous at best as they can breathe fire from their nostrils and have poisonous venom in their bite – cool, if you want to burn an enemy to a crisp!

4. Nagini

Voldemort's giant, green snake is obviously evil but still awesome. Snakes as pets usually don't need much space but not this one; Nagini is very large and follows The Dark Lord wherever he goes. This snake, as we saw in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is able to disguise herself in the body of a human – like she did with Bathilda Bagshot in Godrics Hollow. Also, Nagini is a great hiding place as Voldemort made her into a Horcrux and concealed a part of his own soul inside of her. Snakes are very cheap to feed – especially if you're feeding them with the flesh of your foes!

3. Aragog

A species of giant spider known in the wizarding world as a Acromantula are a wizard-bred species designed to guard dwellings or treasure – useful to have one if you have a mountain of gold you need to protect! Aragog is one such spider, owned by Hagrid and kept in The Forbidden Forest, this Acromantula has an eighteen-foot leg span! He is able to communicate with humans and has a taste for human flesh, so be careful if you're trying to harvest his high toxic venom to sell at 100 Galleons a pint!

2. Buckbeak

Buckbeak is a Hippogriff, the front end of an eagle and the back end of a lion, kept by Hagrid on Hogwarts grounds. Hippogriffs are very proud creatures – which is handy as they'll groom and take care of themselves! This is one such animal, Buckbeak (also known as Witherwings in the later books) plays a big part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. When his pride is hurt by none other than Draco Malfoy, Buckbeak slashes the boy's arm, wounding him – which isn't particularly a bad thing as nobody likes Malfoy, right? Buckbeak goes on to save Harry and Hermione from Professor Remus Lupin in Werewolf form by scaring the dog off, otherwise two of the main characters would be dead! He also then helps Sirius escape from Hogwarts and the Dementor's Kiss (which sucks out his soul – nasty!) and flies him to safety. Oh yeah, did I not mention that Hippogriffs can fly – imagine soaring through the air, the wind blowing in your face with not a care in the world? Awesome, am I right?

1. Fawkes

If you're looking for the ultimate Harry Potter pet then you need look no further than a Phoenix. A Phoenix's tears contain healing powers and they can even protect you from the Killing Curse! You won't ever be worried about outliving your pet as Phoenix's are reborn from their ashes, they have multiple lives. The feathers from this magnificent creature are used to make the core of wands and this particular Phoenix, Fawkes, is loyal to his owner Dumbledore – who when threatened by The Ministry Of Magic (they were going to put him in Azkaban Prison) called upon Fawkes and they escaped together with a flash of fire. Fawkes saves Harry too! In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Fawkes flies into the hidden chamber beneath the castle and blinds the Basilisk (giant snake, controlled by Tom Riddle a.k.a Voldemort) so it cannot petrify Harry – so who's the real hero?