Potterheads everywhere got a surprise this morning almost as good as an owl-delivered letter from Hogwarts.
J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. announced the author will be adapting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – a Hogwartsian textbook of magical creatures documented by Magizoologist Newt Scamander – for the first in a series of films based on the wizarding world we all not-so-secretly wished we lived in.
That being said, don’t expect Harry and friends to be a central part of the cinematic adventure.
“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 years, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series,” said Rowling in a statement.
Instead, the movie will focus on a new protagonist – Scamander – and his story. And while Fantastic Beasts is not technically part of the original Harry Potter series, Scamander is most definitely a very established character in the fantastical Potterverse, meaning there’s a lot we already know about him.
A former Hufflepuff and respected magical zoologist, Scamander was commissioned to curate Fantastic Beasts in 1918. He went on to become Headmaster of Hogwarts, married Porpentina, and his grandson Rolf married kooky Luna Lovegood.
And, though Scamander passed away by the time Harry Potter headed off for his first year of witchcraft and wizardry, his name did appear on the Marauder’s Map in Prisoner of Azkaban, leading everyone to believe he decided to stick around Hogwarts as a ghost. As one does.
So consider the whole thing an extension of the wizarding world – but in another time and place.
"The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry’s gets underway," Rowling also said.
Cue the Cheering Charm for a writer with the most amazing imagination ever, because Rowling will be writing the screenplay too. Because she can.
Sigh.
I think she just became my Patronus.
Photo credits: Scholastic Inc. (cover image), (J.K. Rowling) Wikipedia
