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Newt Scamander is the famous author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. While fans of the Harry Potter Wizarding World know that the book is required reading at Hogwarts, Newt Scamander was also instrumental in capturing Grindelwald and eventually defeating him over a few decades. With his adorable social awkwardness and borderline autistic behavior, Newt is portrayed as a lovable genius who can connect better with animals than he can with people and has nothing in his heart but love and kindness.
His love of animals is likely a result of his complete lack of social skills, something that results in Newt being particularly dry and forthright. I love how he answers questions with implications as directly as possible. And while many might think he is dull or only has skills where animals are concerned, I know otherwise, for every time he is in trouble or trying to protect someone, he drops in an unexpected sarcastic comment with the same deadpan as always.
Newt Scamander Quick Facts
| Full Name | Newton Artemis Fido Scamander |
| Birth Date | February 24, 1897 |
| Birth Place | Great Britain |
| Nick Name | Newt |
| Death Date [if applicable] | |
| Age When Series Starts | Deceased (likely) |
| Zodiac Sign | Pisces |
| Siblings | Theseus |
| Children | 1 |
| Partner / Spouse | Porpentina Goldstein |
| Most Memorable Moment | Capturing Grindelwald |
| Magical Heritage | Pureblood |
| Hogwarts House | Hufflepuff |
| Wand | Unknown |
| Patronus | Kelpie |
| Actors Who Played | Eddie Redmayne |
| Last Updated | May 26, 2022 |
Newt Scamander Birthplace
Newt was born in England.
Newt Scamander Parents
Newt Scamander’s parents were pure blood. We know his mother bred hippogriffs, but nothing is known about his parents other than they were both wizards and witches.
Newt Scamander Physical Traits
Newt Scamander was a tall wizard with brown hair and hazel eyes looking slightly awkward despite his strength and musculature brought about by his many outdoor adventures. He usually wore a white shirt, dark brown pants, brown vest, bow tie, and blue coat. On occasion, he wore his Hufflepuff scarf. While I’ve yet to see a scene where he sleeps, I bet he wears a sleeping vest, trousers, and a sleeping bow tie.
Newt Scamander Early Life
Newt Scamander was born in 1897 in England. He had an older brother at the time. His mother was known for breeding hippogriffs, so he took an interest in magical creatures very early on. He would regularly dismember creatures in his bedroom when he was the age of 7 to learn more about them.
Newt Scamander Hogwarts Years
New attended Hogwarts in 1908, where he was sorted into Hufflepuff. He developed a strong friendship with Leta Lestrange, an outsider but for different reasons, and continued studying magical creatures. When Leta Lestrange was being bullied, she ran to hide in a closet where Newt Scamander had been nursing a raven chick. That started their very close friendship.
When he attended the lesson on Bogart’s taught by Professor Albus Dumbledore, his boggart took the form of an office desk because the thing he feared most was being stuck in a boring office job. He turned it into a mechanical Dragon to get rid of it.
His time spent with other creatures led to personal development with all of the bowtruckles that lived on the property. He was the only person from whom the bowtruckles wouldn’t hide, so he was able to study their social lives.
We don’t know if Newt Scamander graduated from Hogwarts. What we know is that Leta Lestrange engaged in an experiment that endangered another student and violated Wizarding laws. Newt took the blame for her and was expelled from Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore argued on his behalf, and Newt was able to keep his wand, although nothing is known about whether that expulsion was permanent or temporary. However, it created disharmony in his relationship with Leta from thereon.
Newt Scamander After Hogwarts Years
Ministry Employment
After Newt Scamander left school, he participated in the first world war serving on the Eastern Front. He was behind a program designed to use dragons in the war, but the program was canceled when the dragons tried to eat everyone but Newt.
After that, he joined the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures working for the Ministry of Magic. He spent time working for the Office of House-Elf Relocation before finally landing in the position of Beast Division. His extensive knowledge helped him move his career forward to the position of magizoologist, something his family didn’t quite appreciate.
Global Wizarding War
The Global Wizarding War took place during the years of World War I and World War II, indicative of a wizard war happening at the same time.
During this time frame, Newt Scamander was commissioned to write his first edition of the book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He was eager for the opportunity to earn more money because he wasn’t making a lot of money working for the Ministry, and it also meant he got to spend his summer traveling. During that time, he traveled across five continents to observe magical creatures, gain their trust, learn about their abilities, and occasionally beat them off if they got too dangerous. In 1925 he took a year-long trip to document the natural habitats of magical creatures. It was during this trip when, in Sudan, he met an obscure witch. He was able to contain her obscurus within his suitcase, and while he tried to save her life, he failed.
During that time, Albus Dumbledore gave him a tip about an illegally imprisoned Thunderbird. He traveled to Egypt to save the Thunderbird, whom he later named Frank. Because of Frank, he ended his trip to the United States, hoping to release Frank back to his natural environment.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
New York
Sent by Albus Dumbledore, Newt Scamander went to New York in 1926 to return the Thunderbird. During this time, he came across a philanthropic society aimed at finding and alleviating witches and wizards within the Muggle Community. He also accidentally bumped shoulders with a muggle named Jacob Kowalski and a former Auror named Tina Goldstein.
In the confusion at the bank (directly behind the rally held by the philanthropic society), the niffler Newt Scamander had hidden in his suitcase got out and took full advantage of the location. Newt Scamander accidentally had a run-in with Kowalski once more and had to use magic in front of him to calm down some of the animals and avoid being arrested by bank security. Before being able to fully erase his memory, Kowalski got away.
This led to the introduction between Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein. Tina was certain that his suitcase of magical creatures would help her regain the position she had recently lost at work in the major investigation department of the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
Magical Congress of the United States of America
While being introduced to different leaders in the American version of the Ministry of magic, it becomes apparent that Newt Scamander has lost his magical suitcase, accidentally switching with Jacob Kowalski.
During this time, some of the creatures get out, and it becomes the job of Newt Scamander and Tina to travel throughout New York and rescue them. As part of this adventure unfolds, Newt Scamander and Jacob Kowalski meet Tina’s sister, with whom Jacob falls madly in love. Unfortunately, Wizarding laws in America stipulate that Wizards and witches can have no relationships of any kind with non-magical people.
The Obscurial
It becomes apparent that a creature is killing in the city, causing mayhem, and killing Senator Henry Shaw Jr. Even though Newt and his creatures were blamed, the group managed to escape what should have been imprisonment and subsequent death. Newt Scamander recognized the presence of an obscured in America and decided he would apply the skills he acquired in Sudan to try and help the poor child.
Newt Scamander followed the foster child named Credence. Credence had been taken in by the woman in charge of the philanthropic society aimed at alleviating all witches. Tina had been monitoring the group, which led to her getting fired from her position as an author. She had engaged with Credence in the past.
Unbeknownst to this group, Credence had been in regular contact with Graves, another Auror, who promised that he would help Credence and give him magical abilities if Credence did what was requested of him.
Unable to control his power anymore, Newt Scamander followed Credence into a subway station, approaching him as gently as he would have any other creature he found in the wild. Unfortunately, Graves didn’t want it getting out of what he had done, so he tried to kill Newt Scamander and Credence. Tina arrived and calmed Creedence down amid the chaotic kerfuffle. It wasn’t until other Aurors and President Picquery arrived that multiple spells were cast at Credence, who was assumed dead.
Newt watched shreds of Credences’ obscurus crawl out of the subway, all the while listening to a rant by Graves. It was Newt who recognized tt Graves was Grindelwald. Grindelwald was apprehended by Newt and given over to the Aurors.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Newt was able to leave New York, where he promised Tina that he would deliver his new book to her in person. Unfortunately, he was reprimanded by the Ministry of magic in London for his involvement and was unable to travel internationally.
His textbook was published the following year and became an approved textbook for Hogwarts. He became quite famous throughout the Wizarding World. Flourish and Blotts had a launch party for the book. His childhood friend Leta Lestrange and his older brother Theseus came to the event. A newspaper wrongly declared that Leta was engaged to Newt Scamander when in fact, Leta was engaged to his older brother Theseus.
This caused tension in the second movie when Tina, who had been under the impression they had some form of relationship, read the newspaper in question. Being hurt, she decided not to bring it up, and Newt, having no social skills, couldn’t figure out what was going on but didn’t ask. This awkward social interaction which could have easily been rectified with one line of dialogue created the foundation for the majority of tension found throughout the second film.
French Ministry of Magic
Gellert Grindelwald escaped as he was being transferred from America to Europe. Albus Dumbledore used magic to speak privately with Newt Scamander, discussing the rumor that Creedence may have been a member of the Lestrange family and that they would now need to come together to fight Grendel bold yet again. Newt was sent to Paris to find Credence even though he was still under a travel ban by the Ministry.
He was happy to find Queenie Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski visiting him. The swooping evil venom had caused to rain down over the city of New York but didn’t completely erase Jacob Kowalski’s memories because the venom only removed bad memories and all the memories Jacob had of the magical world were mostly happy.
During this visit, the aforementioned engagement mix-up became apparent. Newt was informed that Tina had started a relationship with another auror in direct response to seeing that Newt had “become engaged.” Ah, to be young and have poor love-timing.
Now in Paris, he found himself kidnapped, right alongside Tina. After escaping, the pair had to infiltrate the French Ministry of magic to figure out who Credence was. Newt Scamander took on the appearance of his brother Theseus using Polyjuice Potion. They later discovered that Creedence was not the half-brother related to the Lestrange family.
Paris Rally
Unexpectedly they found themselves at a rally held by Grindelwald in a mausoleum. This rally resulted in a stupendous fight between Grindelwald and the “good guys,” including the two Scamander brothers. Leta Lestrange died trying to protect the group, leaving both brothers devastated. Nicholas Flamel arrived at the cemetery to help combat the magical power of Grindelwald, but during this time, Grindelwald delivered a rousing speech that brought Queenie and Credence, among other followers, to his side. The goal was to strike out against Hogwarts and then the whole world.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Secrets of Dumbledore
The recently-released third film (a filler movie if ever I’ve seen one–seriously, what a waste of time) picks up a few years later in the 1930s with Albus Dumbledore and lists many of the same characters from the second film to help him fight against Gerald Grindelwald who is still building his alliance and his power.
China
Newt Scamander was helping a female Qilin give birth to her calf in China. Grindelwald intervened, sending some of his acolytes to attack the female and steal the calf. The reason behind this was that he wanted the calf to be able to trick the wizarding community into believing that he was pure of heart, so they would have left him in the upcoming election. Unfortunately, he used dark magic, killing the baby calf and then reincarnating it so that the zombie version of the calf would recognize him and no one else.
Berlin
In what is The Wizarding equivalent of the build-up to the Second World War, the group heads to Berlin after agreeing to work with Dumbledore to infiltrate Gerald Grindelwald and stop him.
The film’s best part is Jacob Kowalski being taken to Hogwarts, where he gets a fake wand and is tricked into eating cockroach clusters by the Slytherins.
Other than that, the remainder of the film is, as I say, complete filler. What’s more, the actor portraying Grindelwald, formerly Johnny Depp, was replaced based on false accusations. While I love the actor who replaced him, I certainly don’t love him in this role. Once it was revealed that the accusations against Johnny Depp were false, he should have been reinstated.
Erkstag Prison
Using the same tropes as the previous films, Newt has to infiltrate the prison where his brother is being held after their time in Berlin went awry. They both have to do funny dances to imitate animals to avoid being killed, the same thing that Newt did in the first film in Central Park.
Bhutan
The group heads to Bhutan with Newt’s famous suitcase replicas, not knowing who has the real one. Bhutan is where the official elections are taking place, and the qilin will choose the next leader for the Wizarding community. Unfortunately, Newt Scamander’s character is subject to nothing, but Harry Potter references intended to keep true fans interested in what is; I can’t stress this enough, a complete waste and filler movie.
The group can thwart Grindelwald and prevent him from killing Credence or taking complete power, but then magically, Grindelwald just, effectively, floats away, and no one thinks to try and stop him, setting up for what will no doubt be yet another filler film.
Newt Scamander is there to look after everyone, save his creatures, and later attend the wedding of Jacob and Queenie.
Later Recognition
He worked extensively around the world to continue to collect new information on animals like dragons and edit new editions of his book, which would later be required reading for students at Hogwarts. After all of these expeditions, he was responsible for creating the werewolf registry and creating the ban on experimental breeding in the sixties. Because of his services, he was awarded the Order of Merlin, second class, and given a chocolate frog card.
He and Tina retired to Dorset, where they lived with pet kneazles and studied fire slugs in his spare time. He offered another book for younger readers, a children’s anthology of monsters.
In his later life, he was finally able to share the fact that he had been actively involved in defeating Grindelwald for over two decades and that he was the first wizard ever to capture him back in 1926. He wasn’t free to talk about his role in this capture for most of his life because of classified information.
Newt Scamander Family
Even though fans of the film are still left in wonder as to what will transpire for Newt Scamander’s personal life, JK Rowling revealed that eventually, he does marry Tina Goldstein, and together, they have at least one child. That child produces at least one grandchild who married Luna Lovegood later. From them, he received two great-grandchildren.
Newt Scamander Magical Abilities and Special Skills
Newt Scamander possessed an impressive range of magical abilities and special skills. Care of magical creatures was his most prominent interest, leading to his successful career as a magizoologist. Working for the Ministry of Magic, he received multiple awards and honors for this particular ability to communicate and bond with creatures whom others viewed as dangerous.
Of course, he was highly talented when it came to his versatility and ability to handle dangerous situations. This was something he proved time and time again despite how awkward his character was. He was accomplished at charms work, repairing Jacob Kowalski’s apartment in a matter of seconds, using a shield charm to protect against Grindelwald, and of course, applying the undetectable extension charm to his suitcase, which created multiple levels and habitats.
He was an exceptional student, one of Albus Dumbledore’s favorites, when it came to defense against the dark arts. He was very skillful at being able to defend against the dark arts, something that he and his brother used during the war.
All of his skills he was able to do non-verbally, indicative of Highly Advanced magical skill. He was fairly competent at things like Apparition, Herbology, and Transfiguration. When Jacob Kowalski suffered ill effects from one of his animals, Newt Scamander was able to whip up a magical treatment immediately. Many of the treatments he knew about, which came from magical flora and fauna or magical creatures, weren’t yet used by the Ministry or considered commonplace until he made them so.
He was quite accomplished when it came to potions, healing magic, the history of Magic, the Muggle world, and of course, dueling.
Newt Scamander Wand
Newt Scamander picked up his wand at Ollivanders before he started at Hogwarts. It is the same one he had throughout his time at Hogwarts, and it was not taken from him when he was expelled. Other than that, we don’t know anything about the material used for the wand.
Newt Scamander Trivial and Fun Facts
Even though he was expelled, something talked about in the films; there’s no information on whether that expulsion was enforced and whether it was temporary or permanent. Most school districts have policies where you have to attend a school in another district if you get expelled from one school. In theory, Newt could have easily attended another magical institution if he wanted to complete his education.
There is a portrait of Newt Scamander hanging in the headmaster’s office in the Harry Potter film franchise, implying that at some point, he had been a Headmaster and that he died before the film’s beginning, although this isn’t confirmed.
In the first film, when he was asked if he was a seeker of Truth, Newt Scamander said that he was more of a chaser, implying that he played quidditch when he was in school and that he was the chaser, or at the very least that he enjoyed a game or two with friends.
Newt was very loyal to Dumbledore and a critical player in the 20-year attempt to capture Grindelwald, and yet he didn’t participate in the first or second Wizarding Wars and wasn’t in the original Order of the Phoenix. There’s no information as to what he was doing and why he wasn’t there.
JK Rowling wrote one legitimate book adaptation of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for a UK charity event. It was written from the perspective of Newt Scamander in 2001, but it is not available to readers.
Newt Scamander Appearances in Books
Newt Scamander “writes” books but does not directly appear in any of the original Harry Potter canons. He is featured as the author of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them guide.
Newt Scamander Appearances in Films
Newt Scamander appears in the following films:
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Newt Scamander Quotes
Foreword to his book:
“I have visited lairs, burrows, and nests across five continents observed the curious habits of magical beasts in a hundred countries, witnessed their powers, gained their trust, and, on occasion, beaten them off with my traveling kettle.”
Newt, fearful for his creatures in New York:
“They’re currently in alien terrain surrounded by millions of the most vicious creatures on the planet, humans.”
Newt in New York, offering his sage wisdom:
“Imperfect understanding is often more dangerous than ignorance.”
“My philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice.”
Newt and Jacob working to catch Newt’s lost animals:
Jacob Kowalski: “But why would I have to wear something like this?”
Newt Scamander: “Because your skull is susceptible to breakage under immense force.”
Newt demonstrates his knack for honesty and his lack of social skills or appreciation for implications:
Torquil Travers: “Hearing commences. You want an end to the ban on you from traveling internationally. Why?”
Newt Scamander: “Because I’d like to travel internationally.”
FAQs
Answer: The two are not related. The Fantastic Beasts series takes place decades before Harry Potter is born, but Newt’s line and Harry’s do not cross.
Answer: No. It is a guidebook. It is designed like a guidebook to explain all the different Fantastic Beasts that Newt Scamander has come across. However, he does write the forward, and it’s still a beautifully written piece, but it’s not a storybook. Don’t expect it to be the book version of the film adaptation. It contains information for each, like their Ministry of Magic Classifications (something used in the Magical Beasts board game).
Answer: Yes, he is. Luna Lovegood marries Newt Scamander’s grandson, so he is her grandfather by marriage.
Answer: Yes. We know he is pure blood because Leta Lestrange attended the purebloods ball with Newt’s older brother. This is where they met Yaxley. The ball was only for pure-blooded wizards. Even though Newt Scamander was a pureblood, he was technically a blood traitor.
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Research Citations
A Guide to the Graphic Arts Department: Posters, Prints, and Publications from the Harry Potter Films. 2012, part of the Harry Potter Limited Edition set of books. https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Page-Screen-Filmmaking/dp/1612185916
IMDB. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Full Cast. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183660/
J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript. 2007. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript/
Rowling, J. K. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. New York, N.Y.: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2017.
Rowling, J. K. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. 2016. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123430/
Rowling, J. K. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 2018 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123430/
Rowling, J. K. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them: The Secrets of Dumbledore. 2022. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123432/
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