A towering figure, but a softie at heart, notes ‘Variety’, Hagrid had a sweet spot for ferocious beasts. He cared for some of the ‘Harry Potter’ world’s most ferocious, and iconic, creatures.

Under his care was Buckbeak the hippogriff, Fang the boarhound, Fluffy the three-headed dog, Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, Aragog the massive talking spider, and the eerily majestic Thestrals.

In a heart-warming tribute to ‘Hagrid’ Robby Coltrane, Daniel Radcliffe said: “Robbie was one of the funniest people I’ve met and used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set. I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut.

“He was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up. I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”

Controversial ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling separately honored ‘Hagrid’ Robby Coltrane with a post on Twitter.