J. K. Rowling has outdone herself again. The plot for Cursed Child was a total disaster, but based on personal experience writing group essays at university, choosing to write with two other people was already a mistake from the outset.
Anyway, the movie was spectacular and absolutely spell-binding. First of all, Newt Scamander, the awkward protagonist, is so adorable. Just like Hagrid, he was expelled from Hogwarts because of some magical beast (and also Leta Lestrange, a witch Newt fell in love with. Obviously a recipe for disaster, considering how evil Bellatrix was). AND just like Hagrid, he was given a second chance by Professor Dumbledore, who probably knew that it was not Newt/Hagrid's fault. (I mean, why did they even believe Tom Riddle! Aragog can't possibly petrify people. You'd think they'd know better after reading Newt Scamander's book.)
Then there are the cute creatures that all Harry Potter fans would have read about in his textbook. Some were more familiar that others -- I was so excited to see the cute little niffler escape from Newt's case to steal all the shiny objects at the bank. I'm sure we had all imagined how nifflers look like when we "attended" one of Hagrid's best lessons while reading Goblet of Fire. And the Erumpent was also mentioned when Hermione repeatedly told Xenophilius Lovegood in Deathly Hallows that what he had was an Erumpent horn, not that of a Crumple-Horned Snorkcack. This time we actually see an Erumpent, and who knew they could be so scary and endearing at the same time? It was so funny to watch Newt as he tried his best to attract the female Erumpent (that was in heat).
Speaking of the Lovegoods, Luna eventually married Newt's grandson, Rolf Scamander. Luna's love for magical creatures made her do proper research and she admitted that the Crumple-Horned Snorkack didn't exist. Aw, that's too bad. Since Rowling mentioned that there would be exactly 5 films, I hope that they eventually at least mention Luna at some point. She's one of my favourite characters from Harry Potter because she's not afraid to speak her mind, she's not afraid to be herself and best of all, she stays calm in the face of adversity. (Okay, so the films are set from 1926 to 1945. But maybe they can give us a clue as to why the Lovegoods thought that the Crumple-Horned Snorkcack existed?)
The most troubling unanswered question is this: Was Ariana Dumbledore an obscurial? Immediately after leaving the theatre, I googled this question but there was no definite answer. But there are so many similarities. Both Credence Barebone and Ariana had powers that they have no control over. Both of them had been bullied in some way or another. Credence was always whipped with a belt by his "mother" and after Ariana was bullied by some Muggles, she wasn't right again. Both were mistaken for squibs -- Grindelwald thought Credence was a squib too, while the rumour around town was that Ariana was locked away because she was a squib. Both had to be calmed down -- Newt was trying to calm Credence down (and almost succeeded, if it weren't for Grindelwald and MACUSA) while Aberforth had mentioned that he was always able to calm his sister down. Both of them lived past the age of 10 -- many believed that obscurials don't survive for long but they were exceptions. Ariana died when she was 14 and I'm not sure how old Credence was, but he's obviously not 10 anymore. It also explains why Grindelwald thought he was a squib and was stunned to discover that the obscurial was Credence the whole time.
The only difference is that Credence could control his powers transform into an obscurus when he became angry. He would then seek revenge on those who wronged him. After Senator Shaw insulted him and called him a freak, he was killed. When Mary Lou wanted to whip Credence again, she was killed. After Grindelwald (who was disguised as Graves. Should've known -- he passed Credence a necklace with the sign of the Deathly Hallows) called him a squib and told him that he could not be taught to learn magic, he went berserk. Ariana, on the other hand, could not control her powers. She accidentally killed her own mother and eventually died in a three-way duel between her brothers and Grindelwald.
Wait, Grindelwald! Both of them (Ariana and Credence) knew Grindelwald. Everything makes sense now. Initially I thought that perhaps Newt could help Ariana, but that's because I got the timeline all messed up. It was 1926 and Ariana had died decades ago. BUT Grindelwald knew her and he would have known about the destructive powers that obscurials possess. This is why the newspaper clippings at the start of the film showed that he disappeared. His goal was to travel to New York to track down the obscurial there.
So was Ariana an obscurial? I'll be waiting for J. K. Rowling to uncover this mystery. But obscurial or not, the message is clear -- we should be ourselves. This is not something new -- in Frozen, Elsa tried to conceal her powers before finally learning how to control them and she eventually becomes the new ice queen, creating ice rinks for everybody. In X-men, mutants are shunned until they realise they can be enrolled in Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and learn to control their powers too.
Well, in Fantastic Beasts, Credence was looking for acceptance. He wanted to truly fit in somewhere and he wanted to learn to control his powers as well. His witch-hating mother would never accept him, and sadly the magical community (despite Newt and Tina's efforts) did not as well. And in the larger scheme of things, Newt is fighting for magical creatures to be accepted and understood. Eventually he was awarded Order of Merlin, Second Class for his contributions to Magizoology, and was also honoured on chocolate frog cards. However, it was probably a hard-fought battle -- in the film, MACUSA immediately pins the blame on Newt and his animals and even sentenced him and Tina to die. Extremely harsh, don't you think? And your life literally flashes before you as you die -- the MACUSA official extracts memories from Porpentina to get her to relax (and supposedly get swallowed up by some creepy-looking black liquid. Honestly, Avada Kedavra seems like a better way to die.)
There are so many misunderstood magical beasts and beings (There is a difference! Refer to Newt Scamander's textbook for a hilarious introduction to the definition of magical beasts and beings) that pop up in the Harry Potter series. For instance, Ron thought that Crookshanks wanted to eat his rat but Crookshanks was a really smart Kneazle that could tell true animals from animagi.
Buckbeak is the prime example. Everytime I read Prisoner of Azkaban, I get so pissed with Draco. I would always be thinking: Come on, Draco. Why did you insult that majestic Hippogriff? Why did you have to get your father involved try to get Buckbeak executed, when it was clearly your fault? But let's face it. In the real world, this always happens. Humans are somehow stupid enough to provoke animals (even when these animals are much larger than us humans) yet the animals are blamed for their actions.
This reminds me of my own experience with Mailbox Cat. She was an ordinary community cat who lived downstairs. She made lots of friends who regularly feed her, and she would always meow at me, jump on my lap and knead me. But one day some idiotic human provoked her by letting his/her dog bark at her. Probably on purpose. The human was attacked and Mailbox Cat was exiled. Seriously? I mean, come on, just walk your dog and leave the stray cats alone! Jeez.
Also, HARAMBE. Okay rant over. Just watch the movie so that we can geek out about Harry Potter together.
Other super adorable creatures include the overly attached Bowtruckle, which helps Newt escape his death sentence by picking the lock (Muggles don't really notice them because they blend in with the trees. Harry was bitten by one in Order of the Phoenix, during Professor Grubbly-Plank's class), and also the gorgeous Occamy, which Newt eventually re-captures by getting his friends to throw a cockroach into a teapot since these creatures have the ability to shrink their bodies to fit into any space. The furry invisible creature known as a Demiguise was taking care of the Occamy (Aww!) with stolen candy. Apparently, according to the textbook, its fur can be used for invisibility cloaks. The Murtlap looks gross, but this creature has been mentioned before in Order of the Phoenix -- Hermione used Murtlap essence to heal Harry's cuts because Umbridge was torturing him during detention by making him write "I must not tell lies" in his own blood. Who could forget that nasty evil witch? Can't believe she's a cat lover, ugh.
And there's the Thunderbird -- the reason why Newt travelled to America was to release this Thunderbird and let it go back to Arizona where it truly belongs. I'm so glad that I was sorted into Thunderbird house. Perhaps we'd get a glimpse of Ilvermorny in the sequels.
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