5 reasons why Hagrid is important in the Harry Potter saga
Today fans of the Harry Potter saga around the world are in mourning . We have just learned of the death of Robbie Coltrane at the age of 72 and Hagrid’s family says goodbye: JK Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint … His character, loved by any self-respecting potterhead , accompanies the main character to throughout the entire saga. And despite the fact that his appearance on screen is constant in the seven films, it is always for very brief moments in the background. So why is Hagrid so loved? These are the reasons.
1. He is one of the first characters
JK Rowling created Hagrid the first day she set about writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone . For this she was inspired by the Forest of Dean, in the county of Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom. He has the appearance of a big, bearded man who goes into the mountains, but his personality is friendly and compassionate.
2. Harry’s father figure
Hagrid is from the beginning at the side of the protagonist as a kind face to turn to when seeking advice. He is one of Harry Potter’s greatest confidants and it is not for less: already in the first film Hagrid is the one who takes him as a baby to the house of his Dursley uncles when Voldemort murders his parents. And then Robbie Coltrane was in charge of filling the character with tenderness on the big screen. In fact, Hagrid is Harry’s father figure: he takes care of him as if he were his own son: if he is even the one who gives him Hedwig! From now on it will be much harder to see the final scene of Harry Potter and the secret chamber in which Harry tells him: “Hogwarts is nothing without you”.
“”Hogwarts no es nada sin ti”pic.twitter.com/2s7Y609O5a“
— Lord Voldemort (@LordVoldemort_S) July 29, 2020
3. Robie Coltrane was the perfect person to be Hagrid.
Robbie Coltrane played Hagrid in all the film adaptations of the Harry Potter novels. And is that JK Rowling had the Scottish actor in mind for the role from the beginning . When the writer was asked who she wanted to bring the Hogwarts ranger to life, she was clear. For Coltrane, being a part of the wizarding world of Harry Potter was “a fantastic thing to be involved with.” Rowling said that he was perfect because like Hagrid, Robbie Coltrane was “lovable, quite likable and comical but also with a certain tenacity” . So much so that at the 20th anniversary reunion of the Harry Potter films, Robbie Coltrane tearfully assured: “The legacy of these films is that my children’s generation will play them for their children . They will still be seeing each other in 50 years, for sure. Although I will no longer be, unfortunately. But Hagrid does .”
“I’ll never know anyone remotely like Robbie again. He was an incredible talent, a complete one off, and I was beyond fortunate to know him, work with him and laugh my head off with him. I send my love and deepest condolences to his family, above all his children. pic.twitter.com/tzpln8hD9z“
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 14, 2022
JK Rowling has been the first to say goodbye to the actor through her social networks. On Twitter, the British writer has published a photograph where she appears with Robbie Coltrane and an emotional text: I will never know anyone remotely like Robbie again. He had an incredible talent, completely unique, and I was more than lucky to meet him, work with him and laugh out loud with him. I send my love and condolences to his family, especially his children.”
4. Hagrid’s peculiar pets
Hagrid is a lover of magical creatures . But as everyone knows, not the ones that are cute and you feel like squeezing. One of the characteristics of the character is his kindness, which is transmitted throughout the films also by how he cares for a multitude of pets . The first he had was Aragog , the acromantula for which he was expelled from Hogwarts and for which he failed to graduate as a wizard.
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , the hippogriff Buckbeak becomes a crucial plot point. It is in this same film that Hagrid is promoted from ranger to care of magical creatures teacher, albeit only for one course. In addition, it must be remembered that the three-headed dog that guards the Philosopher’s Stone, Fluffy , is another of Hagrid’s pets, as well as the Great Dane that accompanies him everywhere, Fang. Finally there is the dragon Norbert , which Hagrid acquired when he was still an egg and ends up being kept by Ron’s brother, Charlie Weasley, at the insistence of Harry, Ron and Hermione to save him trouble.
5. Hagrid: The sad story of a wizard
On top of all this, Hagrid has a sad story . The son of a human and a giantess named Fridwulfa, Rubeus Hagrid was raised by his father after she abandoned him. Later his little brother of his, Grawp, arrived . They were left alone when his father died while Hagrid was in his third year at Hogwarts , shortly before he was expelled for having Aragog. Always separated from the rest of the children, Dumbledore offered him a home and appointed him a ranger at Hogwarts , the school of witchcraft and wizardry that mourns the death of another wizard one year after the death of Helen McCrory , the silent heroine of the universe of Harry Potter.