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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Sphinx

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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Magic
Sphinx
Type Magical creature
Features Human head, feline body
First Appearance Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Overview

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Prevalent enough that it has made it into Muggle folklore as well as being a Magical creature, the Sphinx is a creature with a human head on a feline body. In Muggle literature, it first appeared in ancient Egypt. It is intelligent and is very fond of puzzles.

Extended Description

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Beginner warning: Details follow which you may not wish to read at your current level.

The only appearance of a Sphinx so far in the series is as one of the creatures guarding the Triwizard Cup in the maze that forms the Third Challenge in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Sphinx poses a question that Harry must answer before he can proceed.

The same sphinx is mentioned again in passing in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In discussion with the Muggle Prime Minister, Cornelius Fudge mentions that they had informed the Muggle government two years before when they had imported dangerous magical creatures into England for a Wizarding competition: three dragons and a Sphinx.

Analysis

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The Sphinx, though intelligent, is a disinterested party; one gets the idea that it is all the same to her whether the wizard gets by or not, but she has been given the job of setting a puzzle at that passageway, and she will carry out that job. This is identical to the way the Sphinx has behaved in Muggle mythology.

Questions

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Study questions are meant to be left for each student to answer; please don't answer them here.

Greater Picture

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Intermediate warning: Details follow which you may not wish to read at your current level.