Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing the main character of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, Newt Scamander, and the
school that we all know and love- Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
We’re first introduced to Newt Scamander in the new Fantastic Beasts films, where he’s
one of the main characters. Though much of Fantastic Beasts takes place in the US so
far, Newt is actually originally from the UK- and this of course means that he attended
Hogwarts. In his later life, Newt became a famed magizoologist and authored Fantastic
Beasts and Where to find them- a book which outlines the study of magical creatures.
"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 travelling kettle."
In the films, we see Newt interact with a much younger Albus Dumbledore, who at the
time is only a professor at Hogwarts, and not yet headmaster. When Newt visits the school,
he’s already a man, but it’s clear that he’s quite familiar with Hogwarts-we’re
even shown a flashback of him as a young boy attending the school. But one thing that’s
fairly unclear, is whether or not Newt actually properly graduated from the school- as we
know that he was subject to an expulsion at one point. In the school year of 1913, Newt’s
love interest, Leta Lestrange, had an experiment with a Jarvey go awry. Jarvey’s are magical
creatures resembling massively overgrown Ferrets, and it has been expressed that Leta’s experiment
put the life of another student in danger. Her little experiment also violated laws pertaining
to the possession of the creature- and the combination of the two penalties would have
resulted in her expulsion. However, Newt, who didn’t want to see her punished, took
the blame for what Leta had done-securing his expulsion from the school. What this should
tell us is that Newt never graduated from Hogwarts…
HOWEVER
In the about the author section of Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find them (Newt’s book)-
there is an excerpt which suggests that Newt did end up graduating:
“Upon graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Scamander joined
the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.”
So- what does this mean? This seems to suggest that he graduated, and it’s only further
complicated by a tweet from Rowling that sort of suggests the opposite once again:
“Dumbledore was a young teacher at the time Newt was expelled. He wasn't able to revoke
expulsions.”
So-did he graduate or not? This is all very confusing. Fortunately, there is a tie-in-book
which examines the events of Fantastic Beasts a little bit further. In The Case of Beasts:
Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them there is an article
directly addressing the details and outcome of Newt’s crimes:
NOTES: Proposed expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry due to the illegal
possession of a magical beast causing endangerment of human life and violation of animal welfare
laws 101/304.
Magical Beast: Jarvey, Level 3
Punishment: Expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
FURTHER NOTES:
-The expulsion was never enforced - Hogwarts Professor Albus Dumbledore defended Newton
resulting in his name being cleared.
-The Ministry of Magic Animal Welfare Department were also informed of the violation and required
to rehouse the magical creature.
So-what this means is that though Newt was ‘expelled’ it was never actually ‘enforced’-
I’m not sure that expulsion is expulsion without enforcement, but apparently that’s
what happened. It looks like Dumbledore stepped in to defend Newt, which is really no surprise
given that Dumbledore was a big Newt fan - he even gave Newt’s book rave reviews:
"Newt's masterpiece had been an approved textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
ever since its publication and must take a substantial amount of credit for our students'
consistently high results in Care of Magical Creatures examinations”
Based on all of this, I think that it’s a fair assumption to say that Newt did end
up graduating from the school, and was certainly ALLOWED to keep his wand.
What do you guys think? Did Newt Graduate? Is this all a bit messy to you as well? Let
me know down in the comment section below.
Until next time
It is the quality of one's convictions that determines success, not the number of followers.