Goblins (Harry Potter)

In the Harry Potter universe, goblins are
small creatures that run Gringotts bank. Very little is known about goblins in
general, but they are described as having clever faces and long
fingers and feet. Goblins seem to be very greedy, and Hagrid commented
that with goblins running Gringotts, you would be mad to try to rob
them.

However, it also seems that goblins are being oppressed by the
Ministry of Magic. They are reputed to be
very violent creatures, and have staged numerous uprisings in their
history of relations with wizards. Many goblin rebellions took
place in the seventeenth century, and it was
commented in Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix that if Lord
Voldemort offered goblins the freedoms they had been denied for
centuries, he would get them on his side. Their running of
Gringotts seems to be part of the Ministry's philosophy of putting
potentially dangerous creatures to work where they work best.
Another example of this is the Dementors used
at Azkaban.

The language of goblins is Gobbledegook, which is one of
the many languages known by Barty
Crouch. Ludo Bagman had trouble paying off debts to
goblins in Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire, especially since the only word he knows of
Gobbledegook is "bladvak" or "pickaxe." The goblins he was having
troubles with were very insistent on getting their money.

There are only two modern goblins to be named in the series so
far. One of them is Griphook, who took Hagrid and
Harry to their vaults in Harry Potter and
the Philosopher's Stone. Griphook is fluent in English and was played by Verne
Troyer in the film version. Bill
Weasley also mentions a goblin called Ragnok who is said to be
raging about the Ministry covering up for Ludo Bagman.

Historical goblins include:

• Elfric the Eager


• Eargit the Ugly


• Alguff the Awful


• Ug the Unreliable


• Urg the Unclean


• Gringott

According to a question answered on her website
[www.jkrowling.com/en], Professor Filius Flitwick has distant goblin ancestry,
which likely accounts for his small size (though he otherwise
appears to be entirely human).