Magical creatures haven't always had the best time of it in the world of Harry Potter. If you spend any time paying attention to their classes – or their history – you'll immediately get a sense of this.
Hermione Granger was probably the most vocal character in regards to protections – for some of the creatures of this world. Newt Scamander was also a champion for those without a voice. But the truth remains that the wizarding world has a long way to go, when it comes to how they take care of the magical creatures that live around them.
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This is perhaps the most obvious concern, while also being the most prevalent. Look at all of the potion ingredients, or the materials used in a magical item. You're going to find a lot of ingredients that come from magical creatures. And we're betting that these ingredients aren't always sourced ethically. After all, we've yet to see any regulation hinting towards that sort of thing. And since this is a world in which House Elves are basically slaves...it seems like a valid assumption.
The potion ingredients are obvious, but then there are things such as dragonhide gloves, dragon heartstrings in the core of wands, and so much more
Transfiguration Class
Another common practice you might have spotted in the wizarding world; the use of animals in transfiguration class. Almost every time we see or hear about our main characters spending time in their transfiguration class, they're trying to transfigure a critter into something inanimate.
Now, we don't actually know if this would hurt the animal. At least, not if done correctly. But these are students we're talking about here. So the odds are good that the spells won't be done correctly. At least, not for the average student. Hermione is the exception. Perhaps that is why she never commented on this practice.
Snape's Attempted Poisoning of Trevor the Toad
One of the most horrific things that Snape threatened to do to Neville never actually made it into the movies. We can all agree that Neville is pretty bad at potions, right? We can also probably agree that Neville wouldn't be so awful if Snape wasn't the one lurking over his shoulders.
Well, one day Neville was having a particularly hard time, and as a 'motivation' (read: punishment) Snape informed Neville that he would be giving the potion to Trevor (Neville's toad) at the end of the lesson. This would either work as intended or poison Trevor. That's actually a pretty awful thing to threaten when you think about it. Thankfully, Trevor was fine. But only because Hermione helped Neville out.
The Triwizard Tournament's Use of Mother Dragons & Their Eggs
The Triwizard Tournament was undoubtedly a dangerous series of tasks. There's no argument there. But most people probably didn't stop to think about the risk made to the creatures involved. Though our biggest concern is focused on the dragons.
No, not the adult dragons. We're talking about their babies. You see, they intentionally imported in four mother dragons, with their eggs. Part of the requirement for the challenge was to avoid harming the eggs, but Krum proved that it was still something that can be done. We're shocked that Hagrid didn't have something to say about this.
Execution Orders
Hippogriffs may not be everyone's opinion of an amazing or interesting pet...but we're still slightly horrified by how easily Lucious Malfoy was able to get a death sentence for one. We're talking about the famous scenario that occurred during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Here, there was a large number of people willing to pretend that Buckbeak was the aggressor in the situation – and thus willing to kill him for it. We know that Malfoy blackmailed and bribed people into agreeing with him...but this whole situation just doesn't sit right with us. Probably because it's indicative of the general outlook of the relationship between wizards and magical creatures.
Gringott's Security
Deep down in the bowels of Gringott's Bank, there is a dragon. Or rather, there was a dragon. But we'll get to that in a second. This dragon hadn't seen the light of day in who knows how long. Worse, they had been trained to expect pain at a certain sound. You see, the Goblins were abusing the dragon whenever that sound was triggered, to teach them to fear it.
In the wizarding world, this sort of treatment was one hundred percent legal. And completely horrifying. Thankfully, Hermione (along with Ron and Harry) freed the poor dragon. Not that we have any idea what happened to the dragon after this.
House Elves
We probably don't need to explain why the House Elves made it onto this list, or how poorly many of them are treated. Sure, there are probably wizard families out there that would treat a House Elf kindly (we have no doubt that the Weasley's would have done right by theirs, should they ever have gotten one), but that doesn't change the fact that most House Elves are considered property first, and creatures second.
There has been a lot of debate about House Elves over the course of the Harry Potter series, so we don't really need to rehash it all here. But we will point out that what we're seeing in modern times is much kinder than what happened to House Elves in the past.
Obscurials
Obscurials are a complicated and slightly disturbing creature. They're also highly rare, which is a good thing. Obscurials are formed when a young witch or wizard suppresses and hates their magic. It turns inward and creates this weird and destructive symbiotic relationship between the two.
Some people would possibly classify them as people, and not creatures...but since Newt Scamander felt qualified to care for them, we're going to put them here as well. Plus there really are two sides to their nature, as evidenced in the latest round of movies.
Obscurials are created through horrifying means. But they're also feared. Many wizards prefer to believe that Obscurials don't exist, and as such, there is no program out there to help them. Or to try and help their prevention. And we already know that the wizarding societies would be willing to hunt one down, if they were posing a threat to their security and secrecy.
The Debate of Beings, Creatures, and Has-Beens
There has been a major debate for years now, on the classification of magical creatures. Where is the line, between magical creature and sentient being? The Ministry of Magic has had a hard time tackling this subject – a fact that has been hindered by the number of witches and wizards that oppose rights for anything other than human. These people have successfully made laws that prevent wands from going to anybody other than a witch or wizard, for example. And have paved the way for many other atrocities.
There are three major classifications, within the magical creature world. The Beings – sentient creatures (at one point described as walking on two legs) that includes Goblins, Pixies, Fwoopers, and Diricrawls. Creatures apply to all magical creatures that don't fit into the first category, but that are also corporeal. So, Centaurs (who demanded this status, as opposed to Beings), Hippogriffs, Dragons, and everything else. And finally, Has-Beens is the term for all ghosts, poltergeists, and the like.
This classification has lead to a lot of prejudice, naturally. It's also been the justification for horrible acts. Just look at how Umbridge behaves around Hagrid or the Centaurs, and you'll have a good idea of what we mean by that.
The Snidget
The final item on our list talks about the history of the Snidget. Did you know that the Snitch is designed after a bird? And yes, the names are intentionally similar. You see, once upon a time the bird was actually used in Quidditch – where the game wouldn't end until the Snitch had been caught...and killed.
The popularity of the game quickly resulted in the near-extinction of the Snidget, and thus a solution had to be made. One wizard created the Snitch as a replacement; the golden ball we all know and recognize today. And the Snidget was put under heavy protections.