Rat

Rat
Species information
Eye colour	Black
Hair colour	Black Brown White
Related to	Mouse
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Small rodents Regarded as verminous pests Kept as pets
Status	Extant

"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can’t be expected to live longer than three years or so. Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these —"

— A saleswoman in the Magical Menagerie, trying to sell a black rat to Ron Weasley

Rats are small mammals of the order Rodentia, distinguishable from mice by their larger size.

Description

They were commonly found in houses and barns. Rats could also serve as pets for wizards and witches, although they typically only lived for two or three years, and were not as popular as owls or cats.

Body parts from rats, such as the tail and spleen, were used as ingredients in potions, such as the Shrinking Solution. According to Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit, dead rats should be fed to dragons as a reward for good behaviour. Despite this, after just a couple of weeks of growth, Rubeus Hagrid was feeding the young dragon Norberta (known at the time as "Norbert") dead rats by the crate.

There existed transfiguration spells that could turn a teacup into a rat and another to turn a small child into a rat.

A rat was one possible corporeal form of the Patronus Charm.

History

By 1926, the Magical Congress of the United States of America used Memorandum Rodentium, known as "rat memos", which were enchanted pieces of paper that would fold themselves into paper rats and scurry through a series of tubes to send the memo to the correct office, sometimes tearing each other to pieces in the process.

During the 1989–1990 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Sybill Trelawney taught sixth-year Divination students about Myomancy, the branch of divination involving rats and mice.

Caged rats in the Magical Menagerie

The Weasley family kept a pet rat named "Scabbers" for twelve years, owned first by Percy Weasley and later by his younger brother Ron. The fact that Scabbers managed to live for over twelve years greatly surpassed the life expectancy of an average rat, making people think that he was special. However, it was revealed in 1994 that Scabbers was actually an unregistered Animagus named Peter Pettigrew, also known as "Wormtail", who had gone into hiding after Lord Voldemort's disappearance in 1981.

The Chamber of Secrets contained the skeletons of many dead rats that had been eaten by the Serpent of Slytherin, a Basilisk.

After fleeing Britain following his exposure, Pettigrew made his way to Albania, where he heard from the rats living in the area of Voldemort's presence in the forest.

The Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley sells sleek black rats that can use their tails as skipping ropes. These may have had a longer lifespan than ordinary rats, as the clerk suggested them to Ron as "something a bit more hard-wearing" than a common garden rat.

While hiding in a cave near Hogsmeade during the 1994–1995 school year, Sirius Black lived off of rats while keeping watch over his godson, Harry Potter, during the events of the Triwizard Tournament.

Sirius regularly fed the Hippogriff Buckbeak dead rats while keeping him at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Known types

• Albino Rat (including giant variety)
• Black Rat
• Black and White Rat
• Brown Rat
• Giant Rat
• Grey Rat
• Phantom Rat (including giant variety)
• Plague Rat (including giant variety)

Known rat Animagi

• Peter Pettigrew - he learned it along with Sirius Black (dog) and James Potter (stag), in order to companion his friend Remus Lupin, when taking Werewolf form.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay (Appear as rat memos)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (Appear as rat memos)
• The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Appear as rat memos)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Mentioned only)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• The Road to Hogwarts Sweepstakes
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Creator: Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Harry Potter
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Wonderbook: Book of Potions
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy