Watch the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | Wizarding World (2024)

Well, we weren’t expecting that. So we’ll definitely be visiting Hogwarts in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. We already have so many questions…

Questions aside, it is amazing to be back in that familiar old castle, as well as seeing excited students looking through the tower windows, immersed in their own Hogwarts adventures.

Professor Dumbledore!

Jude Law in action as Professor Dumbledore – finally! Look at him! And with that twinkle in the eye that only Dumbledore could have. But before we get too excited about seeing him on screen again, he seems to be in a bit of a bind: confronted by several members of what we assume is the Ministry of Magic.

This makes sense considering Newt’s brother Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner) is in the scene (see the image below, above Dumbledore’s left shoulder), behind Travers (Derek Riddell). We don’t know much about Theseus yet, but we do know he’s Head of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic. Something serious must be afoot…

Recognise that classroom?

We do! As Dumbledore is not headmaster of Hogwarts at this stage, the Ministry of Magic appears to be visiting him in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. We’d recognise that staircase anywhere – we can almost picture Gilderoy Lockhart clutching his latest batch of fan mail on the steps.

Newt goes to Paris

The Ministry of Magic has come to Hogwarts to ask Dumbledore about an M.I.A. Newt Scamander, who is rumoured to be heading to Paris. Dumbledore fondly replies to the Ministry: ‘Well, if you ever had the pleasure to teach him, you’d know Newt is not a great follower of orders.’ That is such a Dumbledore answer.

Wait, is that a Put-Outer?

If the excitement of seeing Dumbledore and Hogwarts wasn’t enough, we also see a street lamp go off in the magical way that can only be achieved with a Put-Outer, aka a Deluminator: a nifty device that can both give and take away light. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore bequeathed his own contraption to Ron Weasley. Could this be the very same one? But who’s turning out the lights?

Newt and Dumbledore in London

He may be off to Paris, but we also see Newt in London, atop St Paul’s rooftop to secretly meet with Dumbledore. In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we learnt that Dumbledore made a strong case for Newt not to be expelled from Hogwarts – so we know the professor thought fondly of his former student. And on a completely unrelated note: we love Dumbledore’s pork pie hat.

Grindelwald is free

Well, it looks like Grindelwald didn’t stay arrested for very long. In this shot, we see the Dark wizard in front of a huge crowd. He is also accompanied by a well-dressed witch carrying what looks like an orb. We’ve seen magical orbs represented as prophecies before, so that might be worth thinking about…

As for the lady in question, we’ve seen her in previously released photos: this character looks like Vinda Rosier (Poppy Corby-Tuech). Harry Potter fans will recognise the last name Rosier – it was the name of one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Dark arts must run in the family.

Tina and Queenie in Paris

After an emotional goodbye between Newt and Tina at the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Tina is now seen in Paris. Has she joined him?

And it looks like Queenie (Alison Sudol) has followed suit. We’re thrilled to see the Goldstein sisters back in the throng, but they do look rather concerned. What’s going on, ladies?

Jacob’s back (yay!)

Beloved No-Maj New Yorker Jacob Kowalski is back too – once again being hilariously perplexed by Newt’s magical creatures – but loving every minute of it, obviously. Did Jacob get his memory back, or did Newt just reintroduce himself all over again? Whatever it is, the pair are off to have another adventure together, and Jacob seems over the moon about it. Too cute.

Credence is back – and so is the Obscurus

A mysterious black fog seems to be emerging from a character on a rooftop. On closer inspection, we see that it’s Credence and his Obscurus – a Dark magical phenomenon that is created by repressed wizards and witches.

Credence is accompanied by a female character we have only seen in photos, who is simply known as the Maledictus (Claudia Kim). Who is she? What is Credence up to? And how did he survive the finale of the last film?

A new French magical location

A glorious glass dome-shaped building is embossed with words such as ‘dragon’, ‘centaur’ and ‘Le Niffleur’. Now, we’re definitely not fluent in French, but we’re going to make a wild guess and say that the latter means ‘Niffler’. But what exactly is this building?

We meet Leta Lestrange

In a ballroom, many well-dressed individuals watch in wonder as a woman puts on an ethereal dancing performance. One of the spectators is Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz). Leta is only mentioned by name and seen in a photograph in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and we did get the feeling that something unfortunate had happened between her and Newt.

We were right. Leta is now engaged to Newt’s brother, Theseus, of all people, so we’re sure that’s not awkward in the slightest. And, on top of all this, her last name obviously rings several bells for us, so we’re rather interested to see what the family connection is.

A ride underwater

A fleeting shot of Newt riding a magical beast underwater has us mystified. The creature seems to be covered in seaweed or vines, and is murky green in colour. What underwater beast is this? If we had to take a wild guess, we’re voting for a Kelpie.

Working things out

A character gazes at a wall which is covered in light projections of words and pictures of mysterious masks. Clearly, they’re trying to piece together a puzzle of some sort, but what is that puzzle? Now we’re puzzled.

Let’s all join the wizarding circus

We’ve heard talk of a wizarding circus being involved in this film before, but this is our first shot of it in all its glory. We know that Claudia Kim’s character is set to be an attraction and that the actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson is set to play a character called Skender, the owner. And now we’re ready to see the big show. How does a wizarding circus work, exactly? We imagine they involve wizards and witches with extraordinary and unique powers. Even more so than usual.

This whole spectacle appears to take place in France, and one of the Moulin Rouge-esque signs seems to say ‘Le Circus Arcanus’ . The Latin for ‘Arcanus’ roughly means ‘secret’ so we imagine all sorts of strange things happen here.

Pickett is back, too!

Newt’s adorable companion makes a cheeky cameo in this trailer, and we couldn’t be more pleased to see his little twiggy face. Let Bowtruckle sass ensue.

The rage of Credence

After surviving his Obscurus in the first film, Credence is certainly back, and with a new haircut and everything. (RIP bowl cut, we barely knew ye.) He is clearly becoming more powerful, and understandably has been left angry from the events of the first film…

Horsin’ around

Back in New York, two men ride a carriage pulled by a troop of black, flying horses. It looks like these horses are the same Thestrals we’ve seen in Harry Potter – magical winged horses that can only be seen by wizards or witches who have witnessed death.

‘I can’t move against Grindelwald…’

We already know Grindelwald is set to make a ‘dramatic escape’, but here we see a shot of Grindelwald before that time, and judging by that beard, he clearly did spend a lot of time locked up. How on earth does he manage to evade MACUSA?

‘It has to be you’

Back in London, Dumbledore tells Newt that he can’t be the one to move against Grindelwald – it has to be Newt. We’re sure Dumbledore has his reasons for this, as he did for Harry being the only one who could take on Voldemort.

Newt and Theseus

Whatever’s going on with Leta, it seems that Newt will indeed be reunited with his brother, Theseus. The siblings appear together casting spells as the floor below them cracks open. We’re sure this isn’t the only rift the pair will be facing…

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is released on 16 November 2018. The film is written by J.K. Rowling and directed by David Yates.

Read our guide to everything we know about the second Fantastic Beasts film so far, or learn more about Grindelwald’s life story.