I swear I have a terrible memory. Why was Newt Scarmander in New York?
Do they ever explain how he makes money?
Spoilers are probably a good idea.
He was on his way to return the thunderbird, Frank, to Arizona. I think he’s a wizard version of Steve Irwin, so he may be hired to clear out “troublesome” creatures.
That’s the cover story at least, the second movie makes it seem like he was on some sort of secret mission from Dumbledore.
The second movie was so bad, I can’t remember almost any of it.
He’s a wizard. I imagine he makes it like this: waves wand
I wasn’t expecting to love it, but it was so bad. So bad. My normally cheerful kid was just screaming at the tv (we redboxed it, THANKFULLY!) about the inconsistencies and terrible plot points.
I thought the first one was pretty good and leaving aside Depp remaining in 2, there were hardly any Fantastic Beasts. I’m not a giant fan of how Newt is portrayed, but I’d rather have watched him tilt his head and avoid eye contact while chasing magical creatures than… whatever CoG was.
Maybe Jo will tell us on Pottermore in 20 years that the Scamanaders were very independently wealthy because they invented chocolate cockroach clusters or something (the Potter family money was disclosed as being from the Sleek-EZ hair crap Hermioned used for the Yule Ball, iirc).
Well, once Hogwarts started using his books for their required class, I imagine the money just poured in.
Do wizards even need money?
IIRC, the Weasleys did.
The Weasleys illustrate pretty well that, apparently, wizards can’t just wave their wands and get anything they want. Some things have to be purchased, and those things cost money. They include things like schoolbooks, but also clothes (Ron wears hand-me-down robes to school) and pets. We also know that certain brooms are better than others, and the better ones cost more. The Nimbus 2001 is an upgrade from the Nimbus 2000, and the Firebolt is better than any of the Nimbuses (Nimbi?), and terribly expensive as a result. And evidently you have to work to obtain money (or inherit it, as Harry did), just like the Muggle world.
There’s a clear contrast presented between the Weasleys, who have lots of kids and have to scrimp and save, and the Malfoys, who seem to be very wealthy and are willing to lavish that money on Draco, their only child.
I didn’t know that bit about Harry’s family money. When did JK Rowling announce that?
There are canonically 5 exceptions to Gamps Law of Elemental Transfiguration, though “food” is the only one that’s explicitly mentioned. But based on the evidence, it’s logical to assume that “money” is one of the others. The Magical society is quite clearly not a Culture-esque post-scarcity society.
I wasn’t suggesting Newt conjured up money, I meant doing magic *was *his job. More specifically, he works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic.