Fantastic Beasts 2’s Trailer Is Full Of Harry Potter References
Warner Bros. released the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer and we break down all the Harry Potter references and connections. The now expansive Harry Potter multimedia franchise first kicked off with a novel by J.K. Rowling published in 1997. Over the last two decades, the seven-book series inspired an eight-movie film franchise that has since continued with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – itself the first installment of a five-movie series. Now, this second film series set in the world of Harry Potter will continue later in 2018 with the debut of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Continuing the stories of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogel), Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), and Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), the film will also introduce a younger version of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) as they fight against Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). Though the first Fantastic Beasts movie didn’t feature too many direct connections to the original Harry Potter franchise, the teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is full of references to the story of the Boy Who Lived. Now, we list all the connections between The Crimes of Grindelwald and Harry Potter – in case you missed any.
The most major reference to the Harry Potter series is, of course, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where young Harry studied for six of his books/movies. The school didn’t appear in Fantastic Beasts, so it’s a major return for the franchise to head into Hogwarts. The scenes in Hogwarts also feature our first look at young Dumbledore – though, peculiarly, he’s in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom despite the character being a Transfiguration professor – as well as certain members of the Ministry of Magic. Later in the trailer, we see Newt traveling in London, a major setting in the Harry Potter series, as well as inside the Ministry. Particularly, we see Grindelwald standing in front of the Wizengamot, the high court of law and parliament for wizards.
Further, we also see a brief shot of some Thestrals, which are the creatures that pull the carriages bringing students from the train to Hogwarts at the start of term. As revealed in the Harry Potter series, they’re only able to be seen by those who have witnessed death and are considered very dangerous magical creatures. Plus, we see someone shrouded in darkness using the Deluminator, though since it’s presumably in the possession of Dumbledore, he’s likely the one using it. Dumbledore later uses it in the very first scene of the very first Harry Potter book, then gifts it to Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That brings us to the final Harry Potter connection: the Deathly Hallows symbol in the Crimes of Grindelwald trailer.
As fans will remember, the Deathly Hallows are made up of three key artifacts that together would make the person who wields them the “Master of Death:” the Invisibility Cloak, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand. When Dumbledore and Grindelwald were friends in their youth, they researched and were focused on tracking down the Deathly Hallows, and it’s likely we’ll see Grindelwald continue that search in the upcoming film. Of course, the Hallows were also a key part of the final Harry Potter book and movie, as Voldemort also became consumed by finding them.
So, although Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them mostly kept itself separate from the main Harry Potter series, it seems The Crimes of Grindelwald will play up its connections to the original story. Whether there are many more references in the Fantastic Beasts sequel itself remains to be seen, but this first trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald certainly makes it seem there will be more connection between the two series than previously thought.
