Only Dumbledore Can Beat Him
When the Aurors came to visit Dumbledore at Hogwarts, they were there to demand that he join them to battle Grindelwald. It was clear there was no love lost between the Aurors and Dumbledore and when the wizard refused to help them, they reacted swiftly by binding his hands and then banning him from teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Binding his hands would also inform them of when he would cast spells.
The anger from the Ministry of Magic was due to the fact that Albus Dumbledore was the only wizard powerful enough to beat Grindelwald, and later in the movie, Newt tells Dumbledore the same thing as they walk in to discuss their options against the Dark Wizard and that pesky blood pact.
Newt Scamander And Fantastic Beasts
Dumbledore’s relationship with the famous magizoologist Newt Scamander rivals that of his future relationship with Harry Potter. With Newt, Dumbledore was his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, mentor and confidant, and they continued their relationship long after Newt left Hogwarts. It is during one of these Dumbledore-backed missions that we follow Newt in the “Fantastic Beasts” film series.
Newt became embroiled in the mission to capture Grindelwald when Dumbledore sent him to New York to return a Thunderbird to its rightful home in Arizona. In the second film, “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” Grindelwald escapes the ministry’s clutches and races to find Credence Barebone , who is an Obscurial after repressing his magical abilities. Dumbledore then sends Newt to Paris to rescue Credence, on his own quest to learn who he truly is.
Both Newt and Dumbledore are being watched by the Ministry of Magic, and Dumbledore is questioned at Hogwarts about his involvement with the search for Credence and Grindelwald. At the end of “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” Newt shows Dumbledore the vial containing Dumbledore’s and Grindelwald’s blood pact, which was stolen off of Grindelwald by his Niffler. Newt then asks Dumbledore if he can destroy it so that Dumbledore can finally move against the dark wizard.
Let’s Start With Some Context
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore picks up where the 2018 film The Crimes of Grindelwald left off.
The last film left us on a wild cliffhanger by revealing that Credence Barebone who is working with Grindelwald is actually Albus Dumbledore’s long lost brother Aurelius. Sure, this doesn’t fit the original Harry Potter storyline, but who cares? Not me.
This cliffhanger gives us a lot to work with for the third instalment. Either, Dumbledore always knew he had a secret brother, or perhaps his parents never told him and he’s as shocked as we are. OR Aurelius isn’t really his brother at all and this is some sort of trick .
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Like the other two instalments in the franchise, The Secrets of Dumbledore is written by controversial Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and directed by David Yates. The film was produced by David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram and Tim Lewis. Neil Blair, Danny Cohen, Josh Berger, Courtenay Valenti and Michael Sharp served as executive producers.
The synopsis from Warner Bros:
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New Photo Of Jude Law’s Dumbledore Has The Internet Very Confused
Albus Dumbledore was nowhere to be found in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as his evil counterpart, Gellert Grindelwald, wreaked havoc on New York City. It seems Dumbledore will take front and center, though, in the highly anticipated sequel, giving Harry Potter the experience of a much younger Dumbledore.
On Friday, Warner Bros. released a new set of photos for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. One of the photos features Jude Lawâs young Dumbledore, decked out in a fitted suit and leaning casually against a desk in what looks like a Hogwarts classroom. Fans have assumed it might be his classroom from when he was the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, long before he was headmaster.
For the most part, the response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, with fans falling over themselves and turning into human embodiments of the heart eyes emoji. But there was also some confusion. See, yung, hot Dumbledore is great. But does this mean weâre all suddenly supposed to be attracted to Dumbledore? Is Dumbledore hot now?
But it seems The Crimes of Grindelwald is going to end up aging Dumbledore quite a bit. Several fans online pointed out the stark contrast between 1926 and 1938 Dumbledore. Granted, Dumbledoreâs aging process is not totally realistic considering the character died at about 115 years old and, yâknow, is a wizard.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald premieres in theaters on November 16.
Who Will Carry On The Lestrange Line
Le-stranger things have happened
One big focus in Crimes is the Lestrange family, known from Rowlings books because of Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange, two of Voldemorts most loyal Death Eaters. Crimes reveals that the Lestrange family has some extremely dark history to go along with their evil descendants, involving magical kidnapping, rape, multiple deaths during childbirth, and a selfish, fatal choice aboard a sinking ship that may or may not have been the Titanic. Crimes establishes a previous generation of the family, then promptly wipes it out. Between the deaths of the younger Corvus V and his half-sister Leta Lestrange, its not clear that there are actually any Lestranges left to carry on the name. The Lestrange family tree is complicated, but at the moment, the branches seem to have been pruned back pretty sharply.
Then again, its Harry Potter, and mysterious lost relatives are constantly turning up out of the blue. Le-stranger things have happened.
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Credence Is The Original ‘boy Who Lived’
Credences life closely mirrors that of Harry Potter’s, which may hint at him being the original “boy who lived.” According to a theory by Redditor /u/dualism__007:
Credence is the original Boy Who Lived. Lets compare his life to Harry Potters. Both were… treated like dirt by muggles. Harry, by the Dursleys who resented magic, and Credence by Mary Lou . Of course, Credences case is more severe. A prophecy told Grindelwald about a powerful Obscurial child and a prophecy told Voldemort about a child powerful enough to him.
Harry was a Horcrux. He and came back to life, no longer a Horcrux. Credence is an Obscurial. He also and came back to life. Harry is taken in by Hagrid, a magizoologist, and introduced to the English wizarding world. His first good experience after Voldemorts wrath. Credence is taken in by Newt Scamander, the original magizoologist, and introduced to the wizarding world properly after being by Grindelwald. They are both powerful wizards who should have, by all circumstances, young. Harry survived Voldemort and Credence survived to live beyond twice the age of any other known Obscurial in the history of the world.
The Death Of Ariana Dumbledore
Dumbledore’s youngest sibling was Ariana, who was six years old when she was attacked by a group of Muggle boys who saw her practicing magic. The attack left her so traumatized that she lost control of her abilities in a similar way that suppressing magic can lead to an uncontrollable, parasitic Obscurus. The Dumbledore patriarch, Percival, later attacked the Muggle boys in a fit of revenge and was imprisoned in Azkaban. Though the Dumbledore family hid Ariana away in Godric’s Hollow to protect her, at the age of 14 she suffered an explosion of out of control magic and emotion, which killed her mother and forced Dumbledore to return home.
Dumbledore explains to Harry in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” that he “resented” having to forfeit his grand plans to care for his “damaged sister” and “wayward brother” Aberforth. He said he felt “wasted and trapped” in Godric’s Hollow until Grindelwald came.
But when Aberforth confronted Dumbledore and Grindelwald about their horrifying plans for wizard dominance and their want to bring Ariana along with them, a three-way duel broke out between the young men. Ariana tried to stop the fight, but was unable to control her magic and was inadvertently killed by a stray curse. No one knew whose curse it was that killed Ariana. Dumbledore was haunted by the possibility that it was him who ended her life, so he pushed off facing Grindelwald for decades.
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The Timeline Is Bonkers
So how on earth could Credence possibly play into all of this? The timeline gets super tricky very fast. We know that Ariana died around 1899 at the age of 14, and Crimes of Grindelwald takes place in 1927. Leta and Newt were in the same Hogwarts year and are both around age 30 during the movies events. We dont know Credences exact age, but hes the same age Corvus would have been, and hes clearly older than most children who are overtaken by their Obscurus and die . Age-wise, it would make the most sense for Credence to be Albus or Aberforths son though that would be, ya know, hugely unexpected news.
We also know that baby Credence was on board the same America-bound ship as Leta Lestrange when she accidentally killed her brother Corvus. Leta, resentful of her favored baby brother and tired of his crying, switched him out for a quieter baby in a neighboring cabin. However, before she could switch them back, the ship began to sink and everyone evacuated on lifeboats. Leta watched from afar as her baby brothers lifeboat capsized and the woman who believed Corvus to be her own baby tried fruitlessly to save the sinking bundle. The baby who survived aboard Letas lifeboat was Credence.
Dumbledore Had A Secret Fear
There is more than one reason behind Dumbledore not wanting to fight Grindelwald. One reason is that the two men shared a relationship that was closer than brothers at one time when they were younger. Another reason is that the two had a blood pact that prevented it. But, there is one other reason that Dumbledore is hesitant to battle Grindelwald.
When Aberforth stood in the way of Dumbledore’s and Grindelwald’s attempts to take their younger sister with them, a duel broke out. Ariana lost her life when a curse accidentally struck her without anyone knowing who cast it. Dumbledore said that he did not want to face Grindelwald because he worried that his old friend knew who was responsible and Dumbledore believed it might have been him.
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Will Fantastic Beasts 3 Have A Sequel
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will not be the last story in the series, as there will be at least two more movies in the franchise. Rowling announced in 2016 that the Fantastic Beasts series would consist of five films so there’s definitely plenty more for fans to look forward to after this one. Of course, we don’t know what those movies will be about yet but rest assured that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Newt Scamander even after Fantastic Beasts 3.
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
In the fourth novel, Dumbledore introduces the Triwizard Tournament. He also serves as a judge during the entire event. When Harry’s name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore is not enraged, but remains calm simply asking Harry whether he had himself, or had asked an older student to submit his name ” rel=”nofollow”> film version he does get angry to the point of manhandling Harry). When Harry answers no, he believes him. By the end of the book, Dumbledore’s fears are realized when Harry returns from his encounter with Voldemort clutching the dead body of Cedric Diggory and when Mad-Eye Moody takes Harry away from Dumbledore and to his office inside the castle. Dumbledore immediately becomes suspicious and heads straight towards Moody’s office with Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape to save Harry and to interrogate Crouch. Afterwards, Dumbledore listens to Harry’s eyewitness account about Voldemort’s return. Harry though, only wakes up later to find Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in the hospital wing arguing with McGonagall and Dumbledore about the situation of Voldemort’s return and the consequences that would follow should Fudge remain in denial of this fact.
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The Truth Was Always There
When someone says the name J.K. Rowling, certain images always come to mind: a legendary writer, a woman who lived in poverty, a champion for feminism and prominent Trump Troller. She set up the Lumos Foundation to help children grow up in loving families. She is by all means, a wonderful person I speak from experience having met her on the Half-Blood Prince book launch night back in July 2005. From what I personally experienced with Jo and the way I saw her treat others in the crowd, I whole-heartedly confirm she is a gem. The beaming smile, the friendly chat shes so charismatic and treats everybody like an old friend who she hasnt seen for a long time. Above all, shes an inspirationbut lately she has found herself at the core of controversy.
Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone
In the opening chapter of the first novel of the series, Dumbledore arrives at number four, Privet Drive in , . When the evil wizard kills Harrys parents before being reduced to a lesser form, Dumbledore decides to place the now-orphaned Harry in the home of . He knows that Harry will be protected by the special magic caused by his mothers sacrifice. He reasons that they are the only family he has left with Petunia Evans Dursley being Harrys aunt, who accepting her nephew into their home. This old magic of binding love renders Voldemort incapable of touching Harry. Dumbledore leaves Harry upon the doorstep of the Dursley home with a letter explaining the situation. He departs with the final phrase, Good luck, Harry.
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Why Fans Thought Mcgonagall Was Born In 1935
I, along with most of the community, have been under the assumption that McGonagall was born in 1935. This birth year was calculated by using two quotes. The first quote is from Order of the Phoenix.
How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts? Professor Umbridge asked.Thirty-nine years this December, said Professor McGonagall brusquely, snapping her bag shut. OotP, Chapter 15
This scene takes place in 1995 so fans have assumed that McGonagall started her teaching career in 1956.
In 2016, Pottermore published a short ebook with stories by J.K. Rowling titled Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies . An excerpt from this eBook provides us with the final piece of information needed to calculate McGonagalls birth year.
Finally, after two years at the Ministry, she was offered a prestigious promotion, yet found herself turning it down. She sent an owl to Hogwarts, asking whether she might be considered for a teaching post. The owl returned within hours, offering her a job in the Transfiguration department, under Head of Department, Albus Dumbledore SSfH
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From these quotes, it would be fair to say that McGonagall was born in 1935, enrolled at Hogwarts in 1947, graduated in 1954, worked at the Ministry for two years, and then returned to Hogwarts as a teacher in 1956.
Grindelwald Is Using Credence To Battle Against Dumbledore
Gellert Grindelwald’s reveal to Credence about his origins and relationship with Albus Dumbledore is simply a way for Grindelwald to fight back and gain a new tool to use against him. According to Redditor /u/NinjaInPlainSight:
Here’s my reasoning: 1) Grindelwald was there when Ariana and knows how that affected Albus. 2. I still think that Grindelwald is interested in , and the potential of Credence being the oldest and most powerful one ever. This whole movie was about manipulating Credence and getting him to think that Grindelwald has information no one else does, which we also saw him do in the first one as Graves. This gets Credence on his side, and if he can give Credence a name and reason for his power that he doesn’t hate himself for, he will value himself and that relationship. And now Grindelwald has a legit magical cannon at his disposal.
This is going to mess with Albus so hard. If Grindelwald succeeds, Dumbledore is already known as a great wizard, so this will validate the character. Until, of course, it is revealed that Grindelwald has been lying. This will … the stage for the final battle of Dumbledore v Grindelwald.
Grindelwald here makes sense for the characters and the plot it sets the stage for Dumbledore to open up about Ariana to Newt and strengthen the desire to defeat Grindelwald on a personal level and gets people talking about the movie for a little while. Hopefully, this turns out to be true. Let me know what you think.
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How Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald Changes The Harry Potter Backstory
JK Rowlings latest film includes new plot details that change the events of the original seven books. Warning: contains spoilers.
VERY HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD.
As the second film in JK Rowlings Fantastic Beasts franchise is released, we are given more and more backstories that change our understanding of the events referred to in the original Harry Potter books. Heres a rundown of how the twists and turns from The Crimes of Grindelwald affect the Harry Potter stories we know and love. Be warned: very intense spoilers are coming.
Why Mcgonagall Is Older Than We Thought
There are several reasons to believe that McGonagall was born much earlier than the 1930s. For starters, witches and wizards are known to have a much longer life expectancy than muggles. This can be seen by the age of several characters such as Albus Dumbledore, Aberforth Dumbledore, Bathilda Bagshot, Rons Aunt Muriel, Elphias Doge. This list goes on and on.
A 60 year old witch would not be considered old when you have characters like Aberforth running around at age 110. In the Harry Potter series, both Hermione and Madam Pomfrey seem to consider Professor McGonagall as old and frail potentially making her well over 100.
Itll be his giant blood, said Hermione shakily. Its very hard to Stun a giant, theyre like trolls, really tough but poor Professor McGonagall four Stunners straight in the chest and shes not exactly young, is she? Hermione, OotP, Chapter 31
She was transferred to St Mungos this morning. Four Stunning Spells straight to the chest at her age? Its a wonder they didnt kill her. Madam Pomfrey, OotP, Chapter 32
If Professor McGonagall was truly born in 1935, she would have been 60 years old at the time of these events. 60 is practically middle aged for a witch.
Whats more, McGonagall seems to have been close with Albus Dumbledore before he confronted Grindelwald in 1945.
If you need conclusive proof, consider this quote which strongly suggests McGonagall was friends with Dumbledore before 1945.
And one more interesting note from SSfH:
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