the Harry Potter universe are capable of interbreeding with humans – Rubeus Hagrid is half-giant, as is his love interest Olympe Maxime – but wizards as a population have engaged in an active campaign to hunt giants out of civilisation. The last giants in Britain were killed apparently by Ministry decree, but most deaths have been due to territorial aggression among themselves as wizards force them to live in ever more confined spaces. The last few giants remaining in the world (the total number is between 70 and 80) are collected together in an isolated region east of Belarus. Giants range in height from 20 to 25 feet, and have skin similar to rhinoceros hide, which grants them limited immunity to magical attacks. Their society is loosely governed by a chief called a Gurg, who spends most of his time demanding food from his underlings. Voldemort has employed giants in his attacks, after convincing them that he can offer them a better life; whereas Hagrid reveals in Order of the Phoenix that he and Madame Maxime went to try and persuade the Giants to take part in the war against Voldemort, but were thwarted when the Gurg Karkas was killed by Golgomath who succeeded him and sided with the Death Eaters. Presumably as a result, some giants took part in the Battle of Hogwarts at the end of the series, mostly fighting for Voldemort. These giants faced off against Hagrid's half-brother Grawp, Buckbeak, and some Thestrals. The portrayal of giants as a dying breed is consistent with much of European folklore, where they are frequently described as primaeval creatures who built ruins and created strange landforms long before humans arrived. Goblins Goblins are magical creatures chiefly involved with metalwork and the running of Gringotts bank. They are represented by the Goblin Liaison Office in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Goblins are anthropoid, described as having long, thin fingers and feet, black eyes, and domed heads much larger than human heads in proportion to the body. Goblins eat a diet of largely raw meat, roots, and fungi and converse in a language known as Gobbledegook. They consider the true owner of an object to be its maker – that its purchaser has only licensed its use, perhaps for a lifetime – and they consider the passage of goblin-made heirlooms through Wizarding families without further payment to