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spoken villain Grindelwald, who uses tea and sympathy to recruit the weak-minded and vulnerable, while exploiting the prejudice of powerful fullblood wizards to further his own supremacist ambitions and enslave non-magic humans.

Meanwhile, Jude Law’s youngish wizard Dumbledore is at odds with the forces of law and order at the Ministry of Magic, where oppressive practices are driving wizards headlong towards the forces of darkness.

Unlike Harry Potter, Newt’s name isn’t part of his franchise’s title, and Rowling’s script shuffles a lot of characters as she expands her mythology in all directions and takes us on new flights of fancy via the US, England and France. Along the way we see a jailbreak, a circus, a trip to Hogwarts school of Magic, and everywhere there are cute critters and unpredictable predators lurking. Rowling recognises her audience has matured and pitches her story at teens and young adults, and though it’s riven with bullying, exploitation and murder, there’s also compassion, kindness and a complexity of character. Subterfuge and betrayal culminate in a magic-based battle, and the cliff-hanging finale sees an epic secret revealed.

It’s a fantastic experience to visit a world as vividly realised as this, one I entered with uncommitted hope, and left thrilled with excitement for the next chapter.