New ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Creature Could Answer A Huge Question About Dumbledore
*This post contains spoilers for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
Oh. My. Grindelwald.
Last night, the premiere screenings of JK Rowling's latest installment, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," enchanted audiences around the world.
The new movie tells the story of magical zoologist Newt Scamander and his quest to capture his magical creatures after they escape into New York City.
Fans of the "Harry Potter" series are familiar with Newt because Harry is required to buy his book, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," during his first year at Hogwarts.
Today, fan theories run amok (that is a direct reference to the anagram tweet JKR used to announce this movie in 2014 because of course it is.)
Specifically, one fan analyzed the future direction of the series -- pointing out it seems it will definitely stray from the story of Newt Scamander and his beasts and focus on the origin story of notorious Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
The video suggests an Obscurus, introduced to audiences in this film as a force of dark magic that is created when a child is forced to suppress their magic, was something that tormented Ariana Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore's sister, before she died.
"Fantastic Beasts" takes place in 1926, a few years after Ariana's death.
This means, based on Grindelwald and Dumbledore's past, the Dark Wizard was well aware of the power and destructive abilities of an Obscurus and seemingly wanted to use it to expose the wizarding world.
This explains why Grindelwald transformed into Percival Graves, to attempt to find the Obscurus that lived inside Credence Barebone.
As fans of the “Harry Potter” series know, Grindelwald is considered one of the most dangerous Dark Wizards of all time.
As a young boy, he and Albus Dumbledore were very close and found likeness in their drive for magic and power. Ultimately, a three-way duel including Aberforth, Albus' brother, resulted in the death of Albus' sister, Ariana, and the friendship was over.
We know Grindelwald rose to power in an effort to have the magical race dominate non-magic people, sparking the First Wizarding War. In the end, Dumbledore defeated the Dark Wizard, whom he once called a best friend.
(JKR told fans the "Fantastic Beasts" series will span 19 years and will culminate in the final battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.)
In "Deathly Hallows," Aberforth Dumbledore explains his sister was tormented by Muggle boys when she was young and was never able to perform magic again. He says,
It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again. She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous.
This description is identical to the Obscurus we meet in the movie that lives inside Credence. Credence, who also suffered from a need to hide his magic abilities, is assumed to be a Squib, as was Ariana.
Because Jo is a true wizard among mortals, we also have confirmation Obscurus is not a new thought.
The "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" book was released in 2001. The book was written to benefit the charity Comic Relief and has a jaw-dropping detail included on the title page.
Obscurus. Books. These chill-inducing elements of the "Harry Potter" series are the reason it is what it is.
Clearly, the Obscurus is not a new introduction and fans can expect more hidden Easter eggs throughout what is hopefully a decade-worth of movies.
Luckily, fans have four more "Fantastic Beast" movies to look forward to, which means more years of full-grown adults dressing up in cloaks to go to the movies and cry and wave their wands and experience the magic, again and again.
