93

Fred and George gave the map to Harry because his needs were greater than theirs. When he was just closing the map (mischief managed), Newt Scamander's name was there.

According to the timelines, Newt was expelled from Hogwarts long before Harry was even born, wasn't he?

Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Name of Newt Scamander on the Marauder's Map in the third Harry Potter movie.

6
  • 14
    What a nice Easter Egg!
    – RichS
    Feb 11, 2017 at 7:29
  • 30
    I recommend drawing a red rectangle around his name so other readers can easily find it in the image.
    – RichS
    Feb 11, 2017 at 7:30
  • 9
    Grown-ups can visit schools too you know. Especially if they wrote one of the textbooks.
    – OrangeDog
    Feb 11, 2017 at 8:07
  • 22
    -1, Not enough Freehand circles (JK but no +1 either until you highlight the place so that people like be who can't spot it rn can do so as well)
    – Aegon
    Feb 11, 2017 at 9:46
  • 11
    Because the movies are nonsense?
    – ibid
    Feb 12, 2017 at 1:54

5 Answers 5

76

There are few theories for the visit and none of these are mine.

Theory 1: Visiting Dumbledore

The theory that makes the most sense is that Newt was visiting Dumbledore. People who have seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in theaters will know that Dumbledore was Newt's teacher at Hogwarts. When Newt was expelled from Hogwarts, Dumbledore strongly opposed and fought against the decision, suggesting that there's some sort of kinship between them. Dumbledore also writes the forward [sic] to Newt's book, so maybe Newt's visit was in regard to that.

Theory 2: Saving Buckbeak

Another theory only gets stronger once you consider one of the key events of Prisoner of Azkaban: the execution of Buckbeak the hippogriff. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to think that Newt would take a special interest in Buckbeak. Newt is a lover of all animals, and Buckbeak's unfair sentence to death would draw his attention. This only makes more sense considering that Newt's mother was a breeder of hippogriffs; Newt had an early love of magical creatures. He could have been there to try and stop the execution, but he was unsuccessful.

Theory 3: Just an Easter Egg (Most Probably True)

@RichS, Thanks for sharing this.

All these theories are mentioned in Cinemablend’s Was Newt Scamander Actually In The Harry Potter Movies?.

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  • 5
    I much simpler theory is that it was his son, with the same name.
    – Sulthan
    Feb 12, 2017 at 12:35
  • 14
    @Sulthan That's not simpler than "It was an Easter Egg". Feb 12, 2017 at 20:04
  • 1
    This video showing interactions between JK Rowling and the filmmakers supports the "Easter Egg" hypothesis - along with other hypotheses. youtube.com/watch?v=hiTSZa6wGTU
    – RichS
    Feb 13, 2017 at 7:45
  • 3
    Or a relative with the same name. We know from Fantastic Beasts that he has a family/brother. It's certainly not beyond the realms of reality that a nephew might be named after dear old, wealthy uncle Newton.
    – Valorum
    Feb 13, 2017 at 23:20
  • 6
    @Vishvesh your video link is broken my friend :/
    – Kyle Rone
    Jun 21, 2018 at 17:28
22

The latest we know of Newt Scamander's life is that he lived happily with his wife in retirement after seeing his textbook used and updated into many new editions. (From 'About the Author' at the back of the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book. It will be interesting to see if it remains in the new edition which is on its way!)

Given that wizards live longer and he was born in 1897, he could very possibly have visited Hogwarts in his retirement aged around 96 during PoA.

Also, given the details of the secret society of the wizarding world, people of note are likely to visit Hogwarts quite regularly. This is seen in the books and makes sense as Hogwarts is the only notable school in the UK. In reality, celebrities and other public figures visit schools fairly regularly, but there are thousands of them. I imagine Scamander would have visited Hogwarts many times over the years.

Of course, the real answer is as @RichS said: that it's a fun Easter Egg not designed to be studied too thoroughly - though it does make sense.

7
  • If you consider the Hasbro chocolate frog cards to be canon, then that isn't the latest we know of him.
    – ibid
    Feb 12, 2017 at 1:56
  • @ibid - What do they say? Though I'm not sure they are canon.
    – ThruGog
    Feb 12, 2017 at 8:14
  • 3
    "He is currently studying fire slugs in the Brazilian rainforest.". (Although we know that some of the other Chocolate frog cards were written by Rowling, I think it's safe to assume that she didn't write the Hasbro ones.)
    – ibid
    Feb 12, 2017 at 8:21
  • 1
    @Ibid - As the 'About the Author' says he is in retirement, I'm pretty sure that chronologically it would be later than the Chocolate Frog card.
    – ThruGog
    Feb 12, 2017 at 9:07
  • 1
    But that comes from the fifty-second edition which was published sometime prior to 1991. The Hasbro Cards were released in the early 2000's.
    – ibid
    Feb 12, 2017 at 9:10
14

There is another reason why Newt Scamander was visiting Hogwarts.

Applying for a teaching position.

Newt was being considered for the teaching position of "Care of Magical Creatures". Lucius Malfoy wanted to get rid of Hagrid, whom he considered inept, and would have used the Buckbeak incident against Draco as the perfect opportunity. If Hagrid was gone, who would teach the class on Care of Magical Creatures? A good candidate would be Newt Scamander, the author of widely used textbook on magical creatures.

Just between us and the rest of the internet, I don't think Malfoy would want Newt teaching at Hogwarts either. Newt just didn't have the mindset that Malfoy liked.

There is a YouTube video that mentions this theory. It also mentions the other theories that it was an Easter Egg requested by J K Rowling herself, and that he was at Hogwarts to save Buckbeak.


Note: I am not a believer of this hypothesis. Just presenting it as a possible motive so the answers are more complete.

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  • 4
    Dumbledore never had any intention of sacking Hagrid... Feb 11, 2017 at 23:13
  • @TheDarkLord - That doesn't mean Lucy or one of the other governors could not have posted a job under Dumbledore's nose. Feb 12, 2017 at 15:48
  • 7
    @Xavon_Wrentaile They couldn't have done it under Voldemort's nose though.
    – Rand al'Thor
    Feb 12, 2017 at 18:02
  • Plausible but where does it leave Professor Grubly Plank then?
    – Aegon
    Feb 13, 2017 at 7:28
  • 2
    The YouTube link is dead.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Nov 20, 2018 at 12:00
1

I'm pretty sure there's no canonical explanation as to why Scamander was there at that precise time.

There is a semi-canonical explanation for not being particularly surprised at his presence though. The foreword to Fantastic Beasts (or at least the first UK edition in 2001, I don't know if there were variants) explains that Dumbledore got Scamander's permission to make an edition available to muggles with the proceeds going to Comic Relief, hence tying the fiction of the text and the reality of the book in one's hand together.

As such Dumbledore must have been in communication with Scamander shortly before 2001. And if he could persuade Scamander on this point, quite likely had been for some time. Indeed it's a lot more plausible that Dumbledore could persuade him on this point if they knew each other than if they merely knew each other by reputation after Scamander had stopped studying in Hogwarts.

For that reason we would expect Scamander and Dumbledore to meet each other on occasion around the time of PoA, and so his being in Hogwarts at the time to meet Dumbledore is perfectly reasonable. There's no particular reason why he would be there at that time (that is pure easter egg) but no reason why he wouldn't either (so the easter egg isn't a stretch).

0

Newt Scamander had a grandson in Hogwarts at the same time. He might have been visiting his grandson. On Pottermore it says that Newt had a grandson at school at the same time as Harry Potter was.

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  • 4
    Please can you edit this answer to provide some support for your statement that NS had a grandson in Hogwarts?
    – Rand al'Thor
    Feb 16, 2017 at 22:55

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