Top 10 Things You Missed in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
#10: The Ceiling at the French Ministry of Magic
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Part of the movie is set inside the French Ministry of Magic, and if you were paying very close attention during a particular scene, you may have noticed some hidden easter eggs. You may have to pause it to really take in the details though! The beautiful domed ceiling features a variety of magical creatures, and also gives the French names for them below their images, like “Hippocampe”, “Grapcorne” and “L’oiseau-tonnerre”. There’s also an interesting Lovegood connection here, because two creatures associated with Luna and Xenophilius, the Plimpy and the Erumpent can be seen here.
#9: Nigellus Carving
In one scene in the film, Leta goes back to Hogwarts and sees a desk that her and Newt’s initials are carved into. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed another name carved there: “Nigellus." If you read the original book series, you’ll know that Phineas Nigellus Black was a former headmaster of Hogwarts and an ancestor of Sirius Black’s. His portrait hangs both in the room that Harry stays in at Grimmauld Place as well as in Dumbledore’s office and is able to give the current headmaster information this way. The symbol of the deathly hallows is also visible on the desk!
#8: Thestrals Return
In the original Harry Potter series, magical creatures called thestrals pull the carriages that transport the students to the school at the beginning of each year. The interesting thing about them though is that you can only see them if you’ve seen someone die. They’re prominent in the fifth book and movie when Harry and company use them to get to the Ministry of Magic. These eerie beings appear in the new film, and have a role pulling Grindelwald’s carriage when long distance travel via apparition isn’t possible.
#7: New Spells
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There are countless spells uttered by the characters in the original Harry Potter books and movies, but “The Crimes of Grindelwald” introduces us to a collection of new ones that had previously never been seen. “Surgito” is a spell that lifts enchantments, “Ventus” can be used when duelling, and “Appare Vestigium” tracks recent use of magic. We also learned that "" can be used to create fog in a pinch and "Osclausi" is used by Leta to literally make someone shut up. That would definitely come in handy!
#6: The Philosopher's Stone
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In the first Harry Potter book and movie, Nicholas Flamel manages to play a pivotal role without ever appearing on the page or the screen. He is, of course, the creator of the Philosopher’s Stone, which is the item that leads the action of Harry’s first adventure at Hogwarts. In “The Crimes of Grindelwald” however, we actually get to see Flamel, and it gives us some insight into his role in wizarding history. The creators of the film do a good job of making him look just as old as we imagined him to be! We also get to see the stone itself, when Flamel’s safe is opened.
#5: Name Drops
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Potter fans won’t soon forget the ill-fated duelling club that was formed by Lockhart in “Chamber of Secrets”, and it turns out that Dumbledore had actually organized a similar extracurricular activity decades earlier. In this scene in “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” he mentions a student named McLaggen, who we have a feeling must be an ancestor of the insufferable Cormac. At other points in the movie, names like Lestrange, Travers, Rosier and Carrow are dropped, all of whom appear in the Harry Potter series at various times and some of whom are members of the “Sacred 28” at this point in the story.
#4: The Appearance of Kelpies
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Many of the creatures that appear in the “Fantastic Beasts” movies are Rowling originals, created just for these stories, but lots are also derived from real world mythology. Kelpies, for example, which are part of Scottish lore, are mentioned a couple of times in the original Harry Potter books, but have a bigger role in this movie when Newt keeps one in his apartment. Traditionally, kelpies are known as shapeshifters who often assume the form of a horse. The most famous kelpie is, of course, none other than the Loch Ness Monster!
#3: What Did Dumbledore Teach?
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Fans of the books may be perplexed by a scene in the movie that shows Albus Dumbledore teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, doing a lesson on boggarts. Of course this subject seems like a natural fit for the man who would go on to become the only wizard feared by Voldemort, but in Potter canon, it has always been stated that Dumbledore was actually the professor of Transfiguration. This begs the question of why his career path changed at some point during his time as a teacher. Hopefully we’ll find out in movies to come!
#2: The Whomping Willow
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If you’ve done a close reading of the Harry Potter books, you’ll know that the Whomping Willow was planted at Hogwarts the year that Remus Lupin arrived there, in order to help him make his way to the Shrieking Shack where he could go during his werewolf transformations each month. So why then, did the Willow appear in a scene in “Crimes of Grindelwald”, many years before it should have existed? Is this a simple continuity error, or is there something else at play here? We may never know! Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Owls at the Ministry The Circus Arcanus' Captive Kappa The WWII Parallels Fawkes’ Appearance
#1: How Old Is Professor McGonagall?
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One of the things that caused a major uproar in the Potter community is just a very brief moment in the film, when Dumbledore refers to a fellow teacher as “McGonagall”. The problem is, this movie is set in 1927, and based on previously established timelines, Minerva McGonagall was only born between 1935-37. Have the film’s creators decided to disrupt the canon in order to let McGonagall be a character in the films? Or was Dumbledore referring to a different McGonagall altogether? Minerva’s father was a muggle and her mother wouldn’t have shared her surname, so this is a complicated and tangled issue that we’re not sure how to sort out.
