Newt Scamander Predictions: Hippogriffs and Dragons

There is one thing I am REALLY looking forward to in the Newt Scamander movies, and that is a pitched battle of Newt and his hippogriff vs. a dragon.

Those who own a Hippogriff, for example, are bound by law to enchant the beast with a Disillusionment Charm to distort the vision of any Muggle who may see it. Disillusionment charms should be performed daily, as their effects are apt to wear off.” – Newt Scamander xix, Fantastic Beasts

Newt’s mother was a hippogriff breeder, so Newt would have been very familiar with how to handle hippogriffs and Disillusionment Charms before he even started at Hogwarts. He quite possibly would’ve had his own hippogriff (I would kill for a flashback scene with a young Newt and his very own hippogriff foal…. but I’m getting ahead of myself.)

Image courtesy of Margaret Dengate

I think it isn’t a stretch to imagine that Newt’s hippogriff would fly him across the Atlantic for the beginning of the new movie. After all, how else did Newt so easily explore the world if not on the back of a hippogriff?

 Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours.”

Newt worked at the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau from ages 30-68, having just finished writing Fantastic Beasts in his late 20s. It is likely that while subduing dragons through his work, he used his skills as a hippogriff handler. A sentient flying creature would be a great asset in such work since you wouldn’t have to be worrying about where to fly and how to dodge fire breathing attacks – with a hippogriff, a wizard’s energy could be entirely concentrated on hexing a dragon into submission.

Basically, I will be extremely disappointed if the Newt Scamander movies don’t have a battle between an occasionally invisible Newt astride a hippogriff and a Peruvian Vipertooth, or at the very least a few angry Welsh Greens.

What do you want to see in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Do you have any interesting predictions?