Pigwidgeon

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured inHarry Potter: Magic Awakened. As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

Pigwidgeon

Pigwidgeon (fl.1994 -1997), also known asPig orPiggy,^[1] wasRon Weasley's first petowl. He was a miniaturescops owl. Pig was responsible for the handling of Ron's mail starting in 1994. He was a gift fromSirius Black after the loss of Ron'spet rat.^[2]

Biography[]

AfterScabbers, Ron's old pet rat, disappeared (having been found out to bePeter Pettigrew),Sirius Black, who felt partly responsible for Ron's loss of a pet, sent him Pigwidgeon (nicknamed "Pig"). Upon receiving the owl, Ron (to the surprise ofHarry andHermione) actually letCrookshanks sniff him to check if he really was an owl.^[2]

Pigwidgeon was named byGinny Weasley, because she thought the name was cute. Though Ron tried to change it, the owl would not answer to another name. Pigwidgeon was exceedingly hyper, loud, bothersome, very small, and had been known to be a show off for other people (this, however, annoyed other owls, forcing Ron to keep him in his room).^[3]

Pigwidgeon was described by Harry as resembling a "fluffysnitch". He was usually excited for a job to deliver letters, even though most of the time they were usually heavy for him. Harry borrowed Pigwidgeon during theTriwizard Tournament to communicate with Sirius who was in hiding at the time.^[4]Fred andGeorge Weasley also asked to borrow him in order to support their secretive business venture.^[5]

Pigwidgeon was occasionally known to hang around the stairways performing for students. This prompted Ron to call him a "stupid little feathery git" for his attempts to show off rather than promptly bringing Ron the letters.^[6] He also delivered food to Sirius when he was hiding in a cave inHogsmeade, though not without the help of Hogwarts owls, as the food was quite heavy.^[7]

Pigwidgeon travelled with Ron to and from Hogwarts during his years in school, although he stayed at The Burrow when Ron skipped his final year at Hogwarts to accompany Harry and Hermione on the hunt forhorcruxes.^[8]

During the2020s, Pigwidgeon appeared as aFoundable during theCalamity. Volunteer members of theStatute of Secrecy Task Force were able to return him to his original time.^[9]

Etymology[]

Pigwidgeon means "small" or "petty" and also can be spelledpigwidgin orpigwiggin. It combines "pig" with "widgeon", two species of duck found in North America and Europe, or "pigeon", another name for the rock dove. English author and poet Michael Drayton (1563-1631) had a male fairy named Pigwiggen in his comical poem "Nimphidia".

Behind the scenes[]

• J. K. Rowling has said on her website that Pigwidgeon is ascops owl. These owls are tiny grey owls with little tufts of feathers on their heads. This makes sense as Pigwidgeon is said to fit in a person's fist. Scops owls live in open country with isolated trees and lightly wooded areas containing clusters of trees. They may also be found in run-down buildings, caves, bush-lands, and park-like habitat.
• Pigwidgeon isn't actually featured in the films, but appears with Ron in a promotional still photo forHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and appears briefly in the background while Harry, Ron, and Hermione are talking at the Burrow inHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
• A small African white-faced owl called Mars plays Pigwidgeon in the promotional still forHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and in the filmHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault says that Pigwidgeon was a present from Ron's family, while he was actually a present from Sirius Black.

Appearances[]

The Harry Potter Wiki has 11 images related toPigwidgeon.

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(First identified as Pigwidgeon)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)(Promotional still)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)(Briefly)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened(Mentioned inHistory of Magic classes)
• The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac

Notes and references[]