The remainder of the book is an A to Z guide of all the beasts in the wizarding world with descriptions and illustrations where available. Let's just say the Muggles were getting a little panicky…and when Muggles get panicky they tend to start burning people at the stake. But, in 1692, it became necessary for all magical beings and beasts to go underground. Some-like dragons, griffins, centaurs, and unicorns-they know about.

Scamander also gives us a brief overview of exactly what Muggles know about fantastic beasts. And centaurs and merpeople who were technically beings…but asked to be beasts because they didn't want to be bothered with all this magical nonsense. But basically, in 1811, what everyone ends up coming up with is that if a creature could understand the laws of the magical community and help create and uphold those laws, then they got to be classified as beings.

Centuries ago, wizards had to figure out which magical creatures could be called 'beings' and which could be called 'beasts.' If you were a being, you got to be part of the magical government and have legal rights. Scamander offers a little history of how creatures came to get labeled as beasts. Magical history, that is.īefore getting into the beasts themselves, Mr. The book is now in its 52nd edition, so the rest is pretty much history. In 1918, a publishing company offered him the chance to earn a few extra Galleons travelling the world compiling a compendium of magical creatures. He was interested in fantastic beasts as a boy and, after graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ( ever heard of it?), he went to work for the Ministry of Magic in the Care of Magical Creatures Department. The guide starts with a little bit of backstory on Newt Scamander. There are seventy-five, but more new species are being discovered every day. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the guide to every known creature in the wizarding world. He's studied them and documented his experiences with them and written it all down in this book. (Which, we know: 'parody' and 'encyclopedia' sound like they'd go together about as well as 'peanut butter' and 'Hawaiian pizza.' But remember: this is from the same author who made ' fluffy pink cardigans ' synonymous with ' totally evil.')īasically, the idea is that this guy-Newt Scamander-has travelled around the entire world hunting down all kinds of magical creatures. It's actually written in the style of a parody encyclopedia. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them SummaryĪs far as classic plots go, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them…doesn't really have one.

Fantastic beasts novel