Category:Vampires

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Creature profile
Vampire
Appearance	humanoid figure, dark shadows under eyes
Known specimens	Sanguini, famous vampires
First appearance in canon	Diagon Alley (PS) (mention), The Unbreakable Vow (HBP) (appearance)

Vampires are Dark magical creatures. Their figure is humanoid, they have dark shadows under their eyes and waxy skin (HBP15, PA3). They are known to prey on humans and drink their blood (FW), although they seem to be able to eat normal food and coexist peacefully alongside them (HBP15). They can reproduce with humans; Lorcan d'Eath is a famous part vampire (WM).

The Ministry of Magic classifies vampires as beings. As such, they are considered intelligent and civilised enough to take part in the shaping of the laws of the magical community. The inclusion of creatures such as hags and vampires in the 'being' category is one of the reasons that the centaurs opted to be classified as beasts and manage their affairs on their own when the classification was introduced in 1811 (FBi). Rules of coexistence of wizards and vampires are laid out in the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans; paragraph twelve contains restrictions on vampire hunting (GF10).

Events involving vampires

When Harry Potter first meets Quirinus Quirrell in the Leaky Cauldron on July 31, 1991, Quirrell says that he needs to pick up a new book on vampires. Rubeus Hagrid tells Harry that there are rumours that Quirrell's constant anxiety was caused by a group of vampires he met in the Black Forest (PS5). At Hogwarts, the students claim that Quirrell's classroom smells of garlic because he wants to ward off a vampire he met in Romania. Fred and George Weasley maintain that Quirrell also stuffs his turban with garlic for constant protection. In fact, Quirrell uses both his turban and his act of nervousness to hide the fact that he is possessed by Voldemort and trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He probably never met any vampires (PS17).

Gilderoy Lockhart is the author of Voyages with Vampires, one of the books he assigns for his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes in 1992 (CS4). During lessons, Lockhart usually reads out passages from his books and makes Harry reenact them. Once, Harry has to play a vampire who has been unable to eat anything except lettuce since his encounter with Lockhart (CS10).

When Harry first sees a picture of Sirius Black in the Daily Prophet in the summer of 1993, he thinks that he looks like the pictures of vampires he has seen in Defence Against the Dark Arts (PA3).

At Honeydukes, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger wonder what kind of sweets to get for Harry. Hermione rejects the blood-flavoured lollipops, saying that they must be for vampires (PA10).

Before the next Hogsmeade visit in February, Remus Lupin assigns his third-year class an essay on vampires. Harry runs into Neville Longbottom while trying to sneak out of the school and tries to get rid of him by telling him that he wants to finish his vampire essay. Delightedly, Neville asks Harry for help about a vampire's reaction to garlic. Severus Snape discovers the boys and sends them to their common room, where Harry is finally able to shake Neville off by pretending that he forgot his vampire essay in the library. Later that day, when Snape accuses Harry of visiting Hogsmeade without permission, Lupin claims that he wants a word with Ron and Harry about the vampire essay to get them out of Snape's office (PA14).

At the end of the school year in 1994, the Gryffindor third-years mourn Lupin's resignation on account of his being a werewolf. Dean Thomas hopefully suggests that the next teacher might be a vampire (PA22).

In the night after the Quidditch World Cup, the Trio runs into three Veela standing in a clearing of the forest, surrounded by several male admirers who try to get their attention. One of the men claims to be a vampire hunter who has killed about ninety so far (GF9).

In a Daily Prophet article, Rita Skeeter complains that the Ministry employees waste time arguing over cauldron thickness when they should be "stamping out vampires". Percy Weasley angrily rejects the criticism and points out that paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans clearly forbids such a policy (GF10).

On their way to the last giant colony in the summer of 1995, Hagrid and Madame Maxime have a little trouble with a vampire in a pub in Minsk (OP20).

During his History of Magic OWL, Harry suspects that his answer to the question how the Statute of Secrecy was breached in 1749 and what measures were introduced to prevent a recurrence is incomplete. He thinks that vampires were involved, but cannot remember the details (OP31).

In 1996, Harry invites Luna Lovegood to Horace Slughorn's Christmas party. He tells her there will be a vampire among the guests and Luna asks if it is Rufus Scrimgeour. She tells Harry that her father published a long article in The Quibbler to prove that Scrimgeour is a vampire when he became Minister for Magic. Harry, who is used to the Lovegoods' absurd theories, does not comment. In fact, the party guests are Slughorn's former student Eldred Worple, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires, and his friend, the vampire Sanguini (HBP15).