USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Fantastic’ answers and where to find them
We fill you in. You know, in case you didn’t go to Hogwarts
We all should have gone to Hogwarts with Harry Potter.
With Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them ( in theaters Friday) bringing us back to J. K. Rowling’s wizarding world, even devoted Potter fans may have some questions about how this new story fits into the world we already know.
If you’re confused about Newt Scamander ( Eddie Redmayne) and his fantastic beasts, fear not: We have answers to your most pressing questions. 1. HOW IS J. K. ROWLING INVOLVED? Rowling wrote the screenplay. Unlike with the Potter movies and the recent play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Rowling didn’t just come up with the story; she supplied all the dialogue and action of Fantastic Beasts. Which is almost like getting another book. 2. OK, SO IS IT A PREQUEL TO HARRY POTTER? Sort of. Fantastic Beasts isn’t a direct prequel to the story of the Boy Who Lived. It takes place 70 years in the past on a different continent. You’ll hear some names you heard in the books and movies, but this isn’t about Harry, Hermione and Ron. Your new heroes are Newt, sisters Porpentina “Tina” ( Katherine Waterston) and Queenie Goldstein ( Alison Sudol), and Jacob Kowalski ( Dan Fogler).
3. IT’S BASED ON AN EXISTING BOOK, RIGHT? Again, sort of. The original Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find
Them was published in 2001 as a gift book, along with Quidditch
Through the Ages. Both were short ( Fantastic Beasts clocks in at 42 pages) and are framed as actual textbooks from Harry’s library, with authors listed as “Newt Scamander” and “Kennil-worthy Whisp,” respectively.
Of course, both books were by Rowling, and proceeds went to British charity Comic Relief. 4. SO, WHAT’S THE NEW VERSION OF ‘ FANTASTIC BEASTS’ THAT’S BEING PUBLISHED? It’s a copy of the screenplay Rowling wrote. The script to Cursed
Child was likewise published this year, although since many fans couldn’t get tickets to the limited London run of the play, that was the only way they were able to experience the story. The Fantastic
Beasts script- book is exactly what you see on screen. 5. I HEARD THE NAME ‘ DUMBLEDORE’ IN THE TRAILER, DIDN’T I? Yes, you did. Dumbledore will come up in the Fantastic Beasts series, as will another wizard you heard about in the Potter books: Gellert Grindelwald, a dark wiz- ard in the vein of Lord Voldemort. Before he turned to the dark arts, he was friends with Dumbledore, who defeated him in a duel in 1945. But at the time Fantastic
Beasts takes place, Grindelwald is terrorizing the wizarding world. 6. WHAT IF I’M STILL CONFUSED? Rowling would like to help you. The author has published dozens of stories and essays on her Pottermore website designed to expand your basic knowledge of the wizarding world. You can read about the Magical Congress of the United States of America ( MACUSA), the history of how magic evolved in North America up until the 1920s and more.