Harry Potter: 15 Most Helpful Pets, Ranked

For fans of the Harry Potter series, thinking about all of the magical creatures that exist in the world can be really exciting. While there are many magical creatures that you wouldn’t want as a pet, unless you’re Hagrid, some of the most average seeming pets can actually be quite useful in the Harry Potter world.

From the exotic pets Hagrid has had to your average toad or owl, there have been some rather interesting and useful pets in the series.

Updated on June 5th, 2021 by Matthew Wilkinson: While the pets might not always be the focal point of the movies, they can often be found alongside their owners, and at times they play a big part in the story. Some of the pets are wonderfully useful, helping others out on a consistent basis, yet others end up causing more problems than help. However, the pets from the wizarding world are certainly able to stand out, even amongst some of the amazing magic that takes place. Some are heavily involved in the inner workings of the magical world, while others are purely muggle pets, but which is the most useful?

15 Norbert

Hagrid is someone who has a real love for magical creatures, no matter how big or scary they might be. One of those happens to be a dragon who Hagrid raises and helps look after from inside its egg. He names the dragon Norbert, and it’s clear that Hagrid loves it a lot.

Of course, when it comes to usefulness, having a baby dragon doesn’t offer much, although its fire breathing is still something to be careful of. However, Hagrid doesn’t get to keep Norbert, for obvious reasons, so this is one of his least memorable pets.

14 Trevor

Of all the pets in the Harry Potter universe, Neville’s toad, Trevor, is probably the most useless. While toads are listed as one of the three pets that Hogwarts students can keep, most people don’t keep toads as they are the least cool and least useful.

While an owl can deliver mail and a cat makes a good companion, a toad isn’t either of these things. While Trevor might have been rather useless, Neville did care about him. After all, many pets people have aren’t really useful, but we love them anyway.

13 Ripper

Ripper is a pet that isn’t showcased too much within the Harry Potter franchise and is a traditional muggle version of a pet. This British Bulldog belongs to Aunt Marge and the dog proves itself to be incredibly loyal to its owner, which showcases its usefulness.

The dog is soft and loving to its owner, but to everyone else, it can be quite aggressive, which is shown by its growling and barking inside the Dursley’s house. While it’s not nice to others, it is useful in being protective of its owner.

12 Pygmy Puff

Pygmy puffs aren’t really a useful pet, but they are definitely cute ones. These pets are a miniature version of a Puffskien. They are a round shape and covered in fur, and they don’t mind being held and cuddled. These pets were actually bred by Fred and George and sold at their shop in Diagon Alley.

While these small pets can’t really do anything that useful for their owners, they make a great lap-pet. You could easily carry them around with you wherever you go, and their cute appearance and cuddly nature makes them quite appealing as a companion.

11 Scabbers

Scabbers is not your average pet because he’s not really a pet at all. Instead, he was the animal form of Peter Pettigrew. Considering the fact that Scabbers was actually a human in disguise, you’d think he would be a little more useful than he was. He was quite a lazy pet, and Ron always complained that he didn’t do anything useful or have any magical powers.

While it’s said in the books that some magical rats can be quite flashy and intelligent, Scabbers was the most useful rat there was despite the fact he should have been the most intelligent.

10 Errol

Ron Weasley doesn’t have much luck when it comes to pets, as Errol proves to be fairly useless as well. Thankfully for Ron, this pet doesn’t turn out to be a human in disguise, but Errol is extremely old when he gets to use it, with this being another of the famous Weasley hand-me-downs.

This is a pet that has been in the family for a long time, and because of that Errol has clearly served its purpose and been incredibly useful. But when Ron has his turn with the owl, it’s clear that age is catching up, with Errol often dropping his letters in the wrong place, or completely crashing upon arrival, making a big scene.

9 Fluffy

While many of the people in the Harry Potter universe have more normal pets such as rats and cats, Hagrid is the king to have creatures that no one else would ever even consider. Fluffy, the three-headed dog, is quite a ferocious beast. Fluffy is used to guard the sorcerer’s stone and is quite vicious.

However, Hagrid doesn’t seem to be scared of him at all. He knows how to use music to calm him down. While Fluffy is too wild to be super useful, he definitely makes a good guard dog because of his large size and aggressive nature.

8 Aragog

Another scary creature that Hagrid has as a pet is Aragog, the giant spider which lives within the Dark Forest. This is a pet that scares the life out of both Ron and Harry when they meet it, but there’s no denying Hagrid’s love for the animal, which is showcased during its funeral later on in the series.

Aragog stays to himself away from others, mainly because he sees other humans as potential prey. However, he’s loyal to Hagrid, and because of that, he stays to himself, showing his loyalty, plus his venom after death proves to be massively beneficial.

7 Nagini

While Voldemort isn’t someone that you think would have a pet considering the fact he has such a disregard for life, Nagini is in many ways his pet. Of course, he mainly seems to keep her around because she’s so useful to him which is why she’s on this list.

While Nagini is a rather nefarious pet, she definitely has a lot of uses. Because Voldemort can speak to her using Parseltongue, he is able to have her do things for him like attack people. Plus, as gross as it may be, he did use her milk to keep himself alive.

6 Fang

While Hagrid tends to have a lot of dangerous pets that are more dangerous than useful, such as Aragog and Norbert, Fang is the most normal pet he keeps. Fang is just a regular dog who is said in the books to be a boarhound.

While he isn’t a magical animal by any means, dogs can be quite useful to have as pets. He can be used as a guard dog, and, even though Hagrid says he’s somewhat of a coward, he also seems to be quite loyal.

5 Crookshanks

Crookshanks is another animal that seems to just be a regular pet. As a cat, he has the regular uses of a common housecat such as being able to catch mice and being a good cuddly companion. However, Crookshanks is smarter than your average cat.

He knows what’s going on with Peter Pettigrew and becomes Sirius’ friend and helps him by doing things like stealing the passwords to the Gryffindor common room. Part of what makes Crookshanks so special is that he is part Kneazle.

4 Mrs. Norris

Speaking of cats within the Harry Potter franchise, the most useful of all is Mrs. Norris. When it comes to iconic animals, this is one of the most well-known with Filch’s pet being his absolute life. The caretaker does everything he can to look after Mrs. Norris, and she pays him back for that with her ultimate loyalty.

Mrs. Norris seemingly has the same personality as her owner, often patrolling the school looking for trouble makers, and she has no problem letting Filch know when she finds one. While it might not be useful for the students, she sure does help him.

3 Hedwig

Definitely, one of the most useful pets that anyone in the wizarding world can have is an owl. These magical owls can be used to carry messages back and forth which makes them extremely valuable.

Hedwig definitely seems to be one of the most perceptive and useful of any of the owls. She is always an expert at carrying Harry’s letters to the right person, even if they are on the run and hard to track down such as Sirius Black.

2 Buckbeak

While Hippogriffs aren’t your average pet, they are docile enough and able to keep as a sort of pet. You just have to respect them and have them like you. While Buckbeak starts out being in a herd, he becomes more of a pet after he’s sentenced to death.

He then is used by Sirius while he’s on the run, and he’s a great pet to have. Buckbeak is very useful because of the fact that he can fly. This makes him an ideal animal to have for getting around.

1 Fawkes

Fawkes is far from your typical pet even in the magical world. In many ways, he seems less like a pet and more like a companion. However, he does also function as a pet to Albus Dumbledore.

Fawkes is extremely useful because he’s a legendary phoenix. His tears can heal even grievous wounds, and he can carry immense weight. Plus, Fawkes is also extremely intelligent and can live forever, which gives him another advantage.

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