Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Vampire

Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Magic
Vampire
Type	Magical creature
Features	Apparent appetite for blood
First Appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Overview

Vampires are apparently the same for the Wizarding world as for Muggles: nocturnal human-like creatures, with self-awareness, and with an appetite for blood, especially from young female humans.

Extended Description

We first see mention of vampires when Hagrid is talking about Professor Quirrell; Hagrid suggests that he may now be so frightened because he ran into one. Later, a strange odour is noticed, apparently coming from Quirrell's turban; Fred and George suggest that it may be that Quirrell has stuffed his turban full of garlic in order to ward off vampires.

We next see mention of vampires in Lockhart's book, of which we only see the title: Voyages with Vampires. Given Lockhart's apparent ability to create achievements out of whole cloth, we are left wondering whether vampires exist in the Wizarding world any more than they do in the Muggle world.

It turns out that they do exist; in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Professor Slughorn says that he has invited an actual vampire, plus the writer who wrote the book about him, to his Christmas Slug Club party. Harry, who cannot arrange to escape the party, invites Luna Lovegood. On hearing that there will be a vampire present, Luna immediately guesses that Slughorn has invited Rufus Scrimgeour. Apparently, The Quibbler was planning to publish an article stating that Scrimgeour was a vampire, but that it had had to be spiked under pressure from the Ministry of Magic.

While the vampire, who turns out to be named Sanguini, and his friend are present, the vampire, who has to be restrained from stalking some of the female students there present, does not say much at all.

Analysis

Very little is said to us about characteristics of vampires. We learn that they exist, but whether they are injured by sunlight, whether they are able to cross running water, and whether they are able to withstand silver, garlic, and Christian religious symbols is never addressed.

From the comparatively casual way Professor Slughorn invites one to his party, it seems vampires do not carry the sort of intense social stigma in the Wizarding world that werewolves do.