Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Author	Newton Scamander
Published	1927
Publisher	Obscurus Books
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Last appearance	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

"An A-Z of fantastic beasts."

— Newt Scamander

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a best-selling book in the wizarding world written by Newton Scamander. It appears throughout the Harry Potter book series. J. K. Rowling also wrote a book of the same name for the charity Comic Relief in 2001.

The book is about Magizoology and the animals in the wizarding world. It is one of the set books every student has to bring to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Production

In 1918, Newton Scamander was working for the Ministry of Magic when Augustus Worme from Obscurus Books asked him to write a compendium on magical creatures. He agreed and spent years travelling the world. The book was published in 1927. In 2001 and 2017, the book was republished. The 2017 edition features new information about Newt and six new beasts.

Overview

The book covers the subject of Magizoology and the many magical animals that live in the wizarding world. The book also includes their Ministry of Magic classification, information on how to approach them and what to do in defence if an encounter goes wrong. There is a chapter on what Muggles know about these animals and the efforts that are taken to prevent them finding out about their existence. It is one of the set books every student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has to bring every school year for their studies.

2017 edition

In 2017, the book was republished. The new edition has new information about six animals native to North America. These are the Hidebehind, Hodag, Horned Serpent, Snallygaster, Thunderbird and Wampus Cat. Newton Scamander has also written a new foreword to replace the original by Albus Dumbledore where he vaguely speaks for the first time about the part he played in the defeat of Gellert Grindelwald. The foreword has a note attached to it saying that it is "To appear only in 'For Wizard's' version".

Chapters

• About the Author
• Foreword by Albus Dumbledore (original edition) or the Author (2017 edition)
• Introduction
  • About This Book
  • What is a Beast?
  • A Brief History of Muggle Awareness of Fantastic Beasts
  • Magical Beasts in Hiding
  • Why Magizoology Matters
• Ministry of Magic Classifications
• An A-Z of Fantastic Beasts

Beasts mentioned

Acromantula Ashwinder Augurey Basilisk Billywig Bowtruckle Bundimun Centaur Chimaera Chizpurfle Clabbert Crup Demiguise Diricawl Doxy Dragon Antipodean Opaleye Chinese Fireball Common Welsh Green Hebridean Black Hungarian Horntail Norwegian Ridgeback Peruvian Vipertooth Romanian Longhorn Swedish Short-Snout Ukrainian Ironbelly Dugbog Erkling Erumpent Fairy Fire Crab Flobberworm

Fwooper Ghoul Glumbumble Gnome Graphorn Griffin Grindylow Hidebehind (2017 edition only) Hippocampus Hippogriff Hodag (2017 edition only) Horklump Horned Serpent (2017 edition only) Imp Jarvey Jobberknoll Kappa Kelpie Knarl Kneazle Leprechaun Lethifold Lobalug Mackled Malaclaw Manticore Merpeople Moke Mooncalf Murtlap Niffler Nogtail Nundu

Occamy Phoenix Pixie Plimpy Pogrebin Porlock Puffskein Quintaped Ramora Red Cap Re'em Runespoor Salamander Sea serpent Shrake Snallygaster (2017 edition only) Snidget Sphinx Streeler Tebo Thunderbird (2017 edition only) Troll Unicorn Wampus Cat (2017 edition only) Werewolf Winged horse Yeti

History

Harry Potter purchased a copy of the book from Flourish and Blotts for his first year at Hogwarts.

Trivia

• In 2001, J. K. Rowling published Harry Potter's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for charity, with drawings and writings supposedly made by Harry and Ron Weasley inside it.