Harry Potter: Centaurs, Explained

Highlights

Centaurs in the Harry Potter series have a less significant role compared to other magical creatures, often choosing to remain on the sidelines.
Centaurs are their own individual species, living in herds and possessing skills in archery, healing magic, and divination.
Centaurs have a strained relationship with wizardkind and can become violent if their clan is threatened, but they proved themselves by fighting against Death Eaters during the Battle of Hogwarts.

From house-elves and goblins to Hippogriffs and Basilisks, there are several magical creatures running rampant in the world of Harry Potter. While most of them serve an important role in the story, the centaurs surprisingly have a less consequential part to play, especially in the films.

Described as having the head and torso of a human with the lower body of a horse (similar to how they are in traditional Greek mythology), centaurs are introduced in the first installment of the Harry Potter series. They seem to be quite aloof and forlorn, with their rhetorical questions and ominous repetitions of “Mars is bright tonight.” The mystical creatures make few appearances from then onwards — but it may be that they choose to remain on the sidelines, as they know much more than they let on.

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What Are Centaurs?

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Centaurs are not actually half-breeds, but their own individual species. They live in herds of ten to fifty individuals, usually in areas that have been permitted for their use by the Ministry of Magic (such as the Forbidden Forest). They may differ in color — for example, while Ronan (the first centaur Harry meets) has red hair and a chestnut body, Firenze has white-blonde hair and a palomino body. Centaurs are known to be excellent archers, and are highly skilled in healing magic, astronomy, and divination, without requiring the use of wands.

The latter is demonstrated in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Ronan states how “always the innocent are the first victims,” alluding to how unicorns are being slain for their blood. Firenze, meanwhile, is the first to suggest to Harry that Voldemort is looking for the Sorcerer’s Stone. Later, he comments on how the wizarding world is only going through “a brief calm between two wars.” When Firenze replaces Trelawney as the Professor of Divination, he explains the centaurs’ gift to his class, while declaring the fortune-telling by humans “self-flattering nonsense”:

I, however, am here to explain the wisdom of centaurs, which is impersonal and impartial. We watch the skies for the great tides of evil or change that are sometimes marked there.

The Relationship Between Centaurs and Wizardkind

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According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, centaurs were offered the status of a ‘being’ in 1811, denoting “any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws.” However, they declined, as they did not want to be associated with the dark creatures in that category, such as vampires and hags. As such, they were classified as ‘beasts’ instead. This never earned them any respect from the wizarding community though; the Ministry still believes them to be creatures of “near-human intelligence,” and the Centaur Liaison Office only exists as a formality. Being sent to “the centaur office” is just a way of joking that the employee in question is about to be fired.

As a result, centaurs are distrustful of humans, and can even get violent if anyone threatens their clan. They attack Umbridge when she calls them “filthy half-breeds,” and also get angry with Hermione when she reveals that she purposefully led Umbridge to the forest so that they could help “drive her off.” When Firenze agrees to work for Dumbledore, the centaurs banish him from the herd as they believe it is beneath them to do a wizard’s bidding. When Firenze also lets Harry ride on his back so that he can get him to safety in the forest, he is chastised by the other centaurs:

Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?

During the Battle of Hogwarts, when Hagrid carries Harry’s ‘dead’ body to the castle, he accuses the centaurs of not participating in the war (“yeh cowardly bunch o’ nags”). However, they redeem themselves just moments later by fighting valiantly against the army of Death Eaters.

Do the Centaurs Predict Harry’s Death?

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As centaurs are adept at foretelling events, there is a popular fan theory that they knew about the outcome of the second wizarding war all along. This seems to be implied when Firenze saves Harry from Voldemort in his first year, when the latter is drinking unicorn’s blood in the Forbidden Forest. He states that the forest is especially not safe for Harry. The centaur named Bane, however, gets frustrated with him for interfering with “what has been foretold,” and even asks if Firenze has shared anything with Harry.

This implies that they are aware at that point of Voldemort’s return and Harry’s inevitable death in the same place they are now standing. It is even possible that they know that only Harry’s sacrifice can lead to Voldemort’s downfall, which is why Bane is against Firenze for helping Harry in any way whatsoever. Firenze’s parting words also seem to confirm that the centaurs knew about Harry’s death after all:

Good luck, Harry Potter. The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times.