"They're just vicious, giants... it's in their natures, they're like trolls... they just like killing, everyone knows that."

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You may have learned about giants in Defense Against the Dark Arts or perhaps even in Care of Magical Creatures. Despite being related to humans and classified as beings, giants are often mistakenly seen as unintelligent and destructive beasts. After reading this lesson, my hope is that you will learn that giants are so much more than this stereotype makes them out to be and that understanding the truth about them is crucial to your obtaining a holistic knowledge of wizarding history.

Giants are large humanoid beings that typically grow to be between twenty and twenty-five feet tall. They are native to Europe and North America and generally live together in tribes in which they practice their own language, culture, and societal structure. Giants have the ability to withstand magic to a greater degree than wizards; most spells have little to no effect on them. Their great strength, both physically and against magic, is what has made them powerful forces throughout history.

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These beings rose to prominence in the wizarding world in the 1920s in the United States. Before this time, giants remained fairly separated from wizardkind. Some notable giants who thrived during the Medieval Era include Bran the Bloodthirsty, Hengist of Upper Barnton, and Morholt.

Giants truly entered the wizarding spotlight during the First Wizarding War, when Voldemort recruited giants as his allies. During this time, giants were responsible for great numbers of muggle deaths, and, as a result, giants were targeted and killed by Aurors sent by the Ministry of Magic. Following the First Wizarding War, giants went into hiding in remote regions and a rift developed between giants and wizardkind.

The majority of giants in Europe lived in a colony located in a remote mountain region of Northern Europe. However, frequent conflicts between giants resulted in dwindling numbers of this species until their numbers reached as low as eighty in the 1990s.

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During the Second Wizarding War, giants were once again used as a powerful ally of Voldemort and, as in the first war, were responsible for many muggle deaths. It is unknown what happened to the remaining giant population after the Second Wizarding War came to an end. It is possible that the Ministry of Magic executed the giants who took part in the war, but it is also possible -- and perhaps more likely -- that the giants were left to return to their remote colonies.