You'll never hear the last of the Potterheads, my friends. Just like the Death eaters waiting for Voldemort to rise back to power, we desperately waited for our childhood world to return to us. We still had Universal Studios and Pottermore, but we're greedy. We always want more. And by writing the screenplay, J.K. Rowling delivered. And boy did she deliver. And now we are back in power, and better than ever.
So, what's so great about Fantastic Beasts? One of the greatest things about Fantastic Beasts is that yes, it's in the Harry Potter world-but it's wildly different. The story sets way before Harry was born, and it takes place in the good old United States of America, specifically New York. And unlike Harry Potter and his friends, the main characters are adults. So you don't get teenage angst or teenage drama in this movie. And you see unfortunate things happen to people who know how to correctly operate in the wizarding world, unlike Harry. Harry's experience in the wizarding world is unique, to say the least. He received several free passes from Dumbledore that other students did not have the benefit of receiving. Newt Scamander is one of them.
Newt Scamander was kicked out of Hogwarts for bringing beasts into the school. Dumbledore did try to prevent him from being expelled, but to no avail. He got kicked out, and eventually winds up in New York. And when he arrives, his niffler escapes.
AWWWWWWWW. Oops, sorry. Anyway. Nifflers will make a ruckus in order to get their paws on anything shiny. And a ruckus is exactly what he creates. He tries to rob a bank before Newt catches up with him. While looking for him, Newt runs into a muggle, Jacob Kowalski, and he accidentally takes Newt's briefcase... a briefcase that happens to have many magical beasts in it. And two witches, Queenie and Tina, tag along to help him.
Like the Harry Potter series, each character is extremely talented in their own way. Tina is an Auror, and Queenie is a legilimens (mind reader), Newt knows anything and everything about fantastic beasts, and Jacob ends up opening his own bakery at the end of the movie. Unlike Harry and his friends, they all happened to run into each other by complete coincidence. They all met, and got sucked into the task of putting every magical creature back into Newt's suitcase, and helping the MACUSA (The Magical Congress of the United States of America) capture the creature that has been tearing New York apart. Four people who meet by pure coincidence, end up saving New York from total destruction, even though MACUSA was extremely distasteful of their presence.
"I do know a few things, actually. I know you have a rather backwards laws about relations with non-magic people. That you're not meant to befriend them, that you can't marry them, which seems mildly absurd to me." -Newt Scamander
A change of culture makes Fantastic Beasts all the more enthralling. MACUSA operates completely different than the Ministry of Magic does. American wizards aren't allowed to talk to, marry, or even interact with No-majs.(muggles). MACUSA also didn't allow magical creatures anywhere in New York. In comparison to the Ministry of Magic, their laws seem extreme. Charlie Weasley worked with dragons, and Hagrid had a pet hippogriff that lived on Hogwarts grounds with him. And a good majority of the students at Hogwarts happened to have one muggle parent. In some cases, some witches or wizards could have born from a non-wizarding family. It seems ridiculous that they would prevent wizards from interacting with muggles, especially in New York, where they likely see them everyday. There's also a new wizarding school introduced, and it is called llvermony. This school also has four houses: Horned Serpent, Wampus, Pukwudgie, and Thunderbird. And instead of a sorting hat, they have a statue for each of the four houses, and one house statue chooses you. If it so happens that more than one of the statues chooses you, you get to decide which house you belong in. Welcome to America.
Another incredible development in Fantastic Beasts was that the adorable, talented, and kind Newt Scamander happens to be a Hufflepuff! In the movies and the books, Hufflepuff isn't acknowledged enough. (I happen to be a Hufflepuff, just in case you were wondering.) Cedric Diggory and Nymphadora Tonks are Hufflepuffs, and they were both extremely talented wizards. And yet, everyone seemed to ignore them because they weren't in Slytherin or Gryffindor. Even Ravenclaw happened to have more of representation in Harry Potter-because Harry dated Cho Chang, and asked Luna Lovegood to one of Slughorn's parties. Luna also fought with Harry in the Battle of Hogwarts. For the first time, Hufflepuff gets the recognition it deserves. It is evident why he was placed in Hufflepuff: Hufflepuffs value loyalty, patience, hard work, and fair play. Newt made it his life's mission to take care of the magical creatures, and he rescued quite a few of them from horrible situations.
And of course there wouldn't be a movie with out the magical creatures. Not only do they possess extraordinary abilities, Newt also rescued quite a few of them from dangerous situations. You've already seen the niffler. But he also has an incredible creature called the thunderbird. It's typical habitat is in North America. Newt actually rescued his thunderbird from traffickers in Egypt. The thunderbird happens to be an incredible creature. It can sense danger, and it can create storms when it flies. Hence the name, thunderbird. Pottermore describes it as a "bird like". Who would of thought? The entire reason Newt was even in America was to release the thunderbird to it's natural habitat-Arizona.
Another fantastic beast is a bowtruckle. Pottermore says that they are shy and peaceful, and it lives in trees. Bowtruckles are only aggressive when their habitat is threatened.They have natural camoflauge due to it's appearance. It typically lives in certain Scandavian forests, West England, and Southern Germany.
According to Pottermore, Occamys is a plumed, two legged-winged creature with a serpentine body. It can grow in vast lengths, and it makes silver eggs. It's typically aggressive, and it's powerful enough to drag off monkeys, rats, and birds. Antagonizing this creature would be a horrible life choice.
Pottermore describes the Demiguise is a peaceful, ape like herbivore. They also have silver, silky hair, and are usually found far east. They can turn invisible when they're threatened.
Those are just some of the magical creatures that Newt has as companions. You'll have to see the movie to meet the rest of them.
And the last thing that I thought was so incredible about Fantastic Beasts was the plot twists. When Newt first arrives to New York, he discovers that his creatures aren't the only thing running loose in New York. MACUSA asks his opinion on what he thinks the creature is, and he tells them it's an obscurus. An obscurus is someone who repressed their magical powers, and instead of the person controlling their powers, their powers control them. They do not believe him, because they claim that an obscurus hasn't been seen in years, but they are proven wrong. The obscurus happens to be a boy named Credence. His mother was abusive to him, and he never had any training on how to control his magical powers. Unfortunately, Newt and Tina end up trying to calm him down, to no avail. Percival Graves, a member of MACUSA, ends up fighting against him. The rest of MACUSA comes in, and kills Credence. Percival Graves ends up turning against MACUSA in a rage, and Newt discovers something and breaks his disguise. And who is under that MACUSA disguise? No other than Gellert Grindelwald, the Voldemort of that time period. He is actually what influenced Voldemort to do the things he did. Talk about mind boggling.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is it's own unique and incredible wizarding story.
