The centaur has a human head, torso, and arms joint to a horse's body which could be any several colors. Being Intelligent and capable of speech, it should not strictly speaking be termed a beast, but by its own request it has been classified as such by the ministry of magic. The centaur is forest-dwelling. Centaurs are believed to have originated in Greece, though there are now Centaur communities and many parts of Europe. Wizarding authorities in each of the countries where centaurs are found have allocated areas where their centaurs are not troubled by Muggles, however centaurs stand in little need of wizard protection having their own means of hiding from humans.