Category:Trolls

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Creature profile
Troll
Ministry of Magic Classification	XXXX
Appearance	twelve feet tall; weighs over a tonne;
Origin	originated in Scandinavia, can now be found in Britain, Ireland, northern Europe
Known specimens	mountain troll, forest troll, river troll
First appearance in canon	Hallowe'en (PS)
Notes made on Harry's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them	next to a drawing of an ugly troll is written "My name is Gregory Goyle and I smell"

Trolls are dumb, brutish magical creatures originating from Scandinavia. Nowadays, they can also be found in Britain, Ireland, and other regions in northern Europe. There are three different breeds: mountain trolls, river trolls and forest trolls. All are humanoid in appearance and walk upright. They are up to twelve feet tall and weigh over a tonne. They feed on the raw flesh of all kinds of animals and humans. Their strength matches their stupidity, which makes them unpredictable and dangerous. Those Trolls whose intelligence is above average have sometimes been trained as guardians by humans (FBAZ). Apart from their unnatural strength, trolls have no magical powers (FBi). However, their toughness gives them a natural resilience to Stunners (OP31). Their smell is revolting (PS16, DH19).

Trolls speak a crude language called Troll that consists of grunts and points (FBAZ, GF7). Some are able to understand or even pronounce a few simple human words, but their intelligence is not sufficient to hold up a meaningful conversation. Trolls have therefore been denied 'being' status (FBi).

Trolls in the series

Quirinus Quirrell has a particular gift with trolls. His contribution to the protection for the Philosopher's Stone is a huge troll (PS16, PS17). On Hallowe'en 1991, he lets a mountain troll into Hogwarts to distract the teachers and students while he tries to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry and Ron disobey the order to go to their common room to warn Hermione Granger of the troll. By accident, they lock the troll into the bathroom she hides in. Realising their mistake, they open the door again and fight the creature. By luck, they are able to beat it with its own club. When the teachers arrive, Hermione lies and takes all the blame for herself. This incident is the foundation of the Trio's friendship (PS10). At the end of the schoolyear, Quirrell makes another attempt to steal the Stone. He knocks out his own troll easily. When Harry and Hermione reach it, it is still unconscious (PS16, PS17).

On Hallowe'en 1993, Sirius Black attacks the portrait of the Fat Lady. When she returns from renovations in February 1994, several security trolls are hired for her protection. They spend their time strolling the corridor and comparing the size of their clubs. Neville Longbottom, who is not allowed to know the passwords to Gryffindor Tower, has to wait outside until somebody lets him in while the trolls leer at him (PA14). The trolls stay until the end of the school year in June (PA15, PA16).

Rubeus Hagrid and Madame Maxime get into a fight with a couple of trolls on their journey to the last giant colony in the summer of 1995 (OP20).

Trolls as stereotypes

In the wizarding world, trolls are infamous for their stupidity, their ugliness and their violent nature.

• The lowest mark one can receive on the OWLs or NEWTs is a T, which stands for Troll (OP15).
• One member of the Trio, presumably Ron Weasley, decorates Harry Potter's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with a picture that shows Gregory Goyle as a troll (FBAZ).
• When Ron and Harry are looking for partners for the Yule Ball, Ron tells Harry that they should ask somebody soon before they end up going with a pair of "trolls" like Eloise Midgen. Hermione is miffed at the comment (GF22).
• Learning that Hagrid is a half-giant, Ron compares giants to trolls and claims that "they just like killing, everyone knows that" (GF23).
• Angry that Pansy Parkinson was made a prefect, Hermione says that she is "thicker than a concussed troll" (OP10).
• The Room of Requirement is located opposite a tapestry that shows Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet and being clubbed in return (OP18).
• After Dolores Umbridge inspects Hagrid's lesson, Hermione complains that she wants to depict him as a "dimwitted troll" (OP21).
• Harry threatens to kill Cormac McLaggen after Gryffindor loses a Quidditch match because of him; Ron warns him that McLaggen is the size of a troll (HBP19).
• Ron comments that the Snatchers he ran into were rather stupid, he suspects that one of them was half troll on account of his smell (DH19).

Trivia

• Fred Weasley tells his brother Ron that he has to wrestle a troll to be accepted into one of the Hogwarts houses. When Ron finds out that this is a lie, he vows to kill Fred (PS7).

• One of Gilderoy Lockhart's bestsellers is entitled Travels with Trolls. It is a required textbook for all Hogwarts students while Lockhart teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts from 1992 to 1993 (CS4).

• Tom Marvolo Riddle claims that Hagrid used to sneak off into the Forbidden Forest to wrestle with trolls while he was a student at Hogwarts (CS17).

• When Albus Dumbledore announces the Triwizard Tournament, Fred Weasley cries that he must be joking. Dumbledore digresses and starts telling a joke about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun meeting in a bar until McGonagall stops him (GF12).

• The umbrella stand at number twelve, Grimmauld Place looks like it was made from a severed troll's leg (OP4).

• One of the career leaflets Hermione studies is entitled "Have You Got What It Takes To Train Security Trolls?" (OP29).

• There are rumours that Umbridge hired a security troll to guard Harry's Firebolt after Fred and George Weasley retrieved their broomsticks with a Summoning Charm (OP30).

• The appointment of the first Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Pierre Bonaccord, was contested by Liechtenstein because Bonaccord wanted to stop troll hunting and give more rights to trolls. Liechtenstein objected because it had trouble with mountain trolls at that time (OP31).

• The Room of Hidden Things contains an enormous stuffed troll, among other items (HBP24).