Pixie
Pixies, from
folklore around
Cornwall, England, are mischievous little winged folk who live in moors and forests.
Origins
\nOne myth states that pixies were a race of people who were not good enough for heaven or bad enough for hell so they was forced to stay on earth forever. Another legend claims that they were Druids who resisted Christianity so God smote them by making them grow smaller until they accepted Christianity.
More recently a theory has developed that they are named after the race of Picts that inhabited Scotland before the Celts. It is thought that other magical folk, such as leprechauns, are based on these people.
Activities
\nPixies would often play tricks on people by stealing things or throwing things at them. At night, they would steal horses and bring them back before dawn, leaving only tangled manes to show they were there.
Pixies are also a fantasy race in role-playing games.
Harry Potter
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart brings a cage of Cornish Pixies to class and releases them, with the intention of teaching students how to deal with them. It is a disaster, as he can't control them himself. He gets Harry, Ron and Hermione to "nip the rest of them back not their cage."
