Thestrals

Thestals, those dark, evil looking horsies, which it turns out are quite gentle. They are one of the fascinating magical creatures introduced by J.K. Rowling. They feature unknowingly to us, already in The Chamber of Secrets when the horseless carriages take the students to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade station. It is not until the Order of the Phoenix we learn they are pulled by Thestrals, horselike creatures invisible to most. Let’s have a quick look at them in the LEGO Harry Potter universe.

Thestrals in LEGO

The third version of the Hogwarts castle released by LEGO in 2007 (set 5378) coincided with the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In addition to Professor Umbridge (as a key person in that book – see her office recreated in LEGO here), one of the highlights was that it came with two Thestrals, built from LEGO Skeleton horses – with black bat-type wings added.

As such, it fits quite well with the description in Pottermore, where Thestrals are described as black, skeletal, bat-winged horses.

2007 era Thestral

The 2007 version of the Thestral wasn’t bad in my view, with the designer doing a decent job with the LEGO elements available already.

In 2018, we saw a new version with a brand new mould created particular for the thestral and thus more accurate to the movie version (noting that the Thestral came with the Fantastic Beast set 75951, rather than a Harry Potter set).

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2018 era Thestral

Pulling carriages

In the early books and movies, we learnt that horseless carriages were taking the students from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts and most probably assumed that was through magic rather than thinking they were pulled by invisible creatures.

“Look, horseless carriages will be taking us to Hogwarts”

In the Order of the Phoenix, arriving at Hogsmeade for the start of his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter spots the Thestrals and points them out to Ron Weasley, and realises that Ron cannot see them.

Overhearing the conversation, and sensing his desperation, Luna Lovegood assures him what he sees is real, that she also can see them and that he is just as sane as she is. Given Luna’s odd habits and beliefs, this does not completely reassure Harry.

“You are just as sane as me, Harry”. “Uhm, thanks Luna” (I think)

Feeding Thestals

Later in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry meet Luna in the Forbidden Forest feeding the Thestrals and she tells him more about them.

Visiting Hogwarts’ herd of Thestrals

Luna: “They’re called Thestrals. They’re quite gentle, really… But people avoid them because they’re a bit…“

Harry: “Different. But why can’t the others see them?“

Luna: “They can only be seen by people who’ve seen death.“

In the photo above I’ve updated the wings to articulate better, allowing it to pose better as per photos below.

Modified wing mount (left) vs original wing mount (right)

Modified wing mount

Part usage for wing mount

Flying Thestrals

in 1996, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were flying on Thestrals from the Hogwarts’ herd all the way from Hogwarts in Scotland to the Ministry of Magic in London after Harry thought Sirius Black was in danger (see the post about the battle of the Ministry of Magic here). For Hermione, Ron and Ginny that must have been a weird experience being unable to see their mounts.

Thestrals were used to bring Harry and his friends to the Ministry of Magic

Thestrals was also used as mounts for two of the teams during the Battle of the Seven Potters.

Thestrals were used in the Battle of the Seven Potters

Later, during the Battle of Hogwarts, the hippogriff Buckbeak lead the herd of Thestrals attacking the giants in Voldemort’s army.

Fun fact: The magical core of the Elder Wand is a tail hair from a thestral, “a powerful and tricky substance that can be mastered only by a witch or wizard capable of facing death.”

Did you enjoy? More stories about other magical creatures can be found on this page.