Boggarts are a malicious type of supernatural creature from English folklore that are midway between a fairy and a ghost, though in many ways they are a type of goblin - or more specifically they are a member of the super-group of fay known as "bogeys" : like all bogeys they delight in mischief of a slightly more malicious nature than their "fair folk" cousins and are the creatures associated with early tales of what have since become known as poltergeist activities.
Once a fairy-kin that was becoming increasingly rare in the public eye the Boggarts have since made a dramatic come-back in popular culture, thanks in some part to their inclusion in fantasy media such as Harry Potter (which retained the malicious nature of Boggarts).
History
Boggarts are solitary fairies or ghosts, depending on the lore and region, sometimes they are even both (especially in areas where fairies are seen as spirits of the dead) - while Boggarts have unique personalities and goals in general they have been divided into two main groups : the "house Boggart" and the more "wild Boggart".
A house Boggart, as the name suggests, tends to haunt an unfortunate human's house and delights in poltergeist activities - some stories say that Brownies that are displeased or offended in some manner may become a house Boggart as a type of revenge on their former masters, though just as often a house Boggart is simply a creature that enters in its own will and stays until either removed by force or when the owner is forced to flee their home.
The wild Boggart is a different type of goblin that enjoys haunting country roads and will pursue travellers, who they harass in many varied ways - some Boggarts took to removing their heads and tossing them at travellers to terrify them, chasing them along the road with headless bodies : other times Boggarts took the form of animals to trick or frighten humans even more.
Boggarts of both variety also loved to spook horses, travellers feared this particular trait of Boggarts as frightened horses posed a danger to both animal and rider - the tendency for horses to become suddenly terrified in some areas led to the expression "to take Boggart" in some parts, which was used when a horse fled in fear at something unseen or unexpected.
Appearance
Boggarts are among the most ghostly of the fairy-folk and as such physical descriptions of them varied, to the extent they are considered shape-shifters and thus they could take any form they pleased : often animals they could also mimic humans and some Boggarts loved to take on gruesome forms at odds with nature or reason, in order to scare victims or generally cause panic.
Personality
Boggarts tend to be painted in a negative light, both those who live on the roads and those who reside in homes - they enjoy frightening humans and animals alike (especially horses), they also tended to pursue more cruel pranks and may even try to kill humans for no particular reason at all, in general though they preferred to simply terrorize and harass their victims in the night hours.
Boggarts were also believed to be cannibalistic in the fact they were said to feed on smaller fairies - a myth that came into existence due to owl pellets being mistaken as evidence of Boggarts having eaten small fairies (the "fairy" bones, of course, being those of mice and other small animals).
Abilities
Boggarts are supernatural creatures known for a wide array of magical abilities, though shape-shifting was their most favored and talented ability - they were ghostly in nature as well, meaning they were immortal and capable of going invisible or performing poltergeist-activities : they could cause horses to go into a panic and in general could perform any minor magic trick to accomplish their goals.
Trivia
- Boggarts are a type of bogey - other creatures related to this class of fairy include goblins, redcaps and pookas - in some lore these malicious fairy-folk banded together to form the Unseelie Court, which would attack and harass mortals for no reason - in contrast to the Seelie Court, who tended to leave mortals alone so long as mortals in turn left them in peace.