98 Fun Facts About Fantastic Beasts

Who plays Newt Scamander?

Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, whose textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them later turns up on Harry's first-year Hogwarts supply list.

In the first Fantastic Beasts film, MACUSA is headquartered inside which real New York skyscraper?

The Woolworth Building hides MACUSA, and it is there that Newt and Tina are sentenced to death before Queenie helps them escape.

For which charity was the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book written in 2001?

Comic Relief received the proceeds of the textbook, credited to Newt Scamander himself, and its title went on to launch the Fantastic Beasts film series.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marked whose debut as a screenwriter?

J.K. Rowling took on the script because, she said, the idea of another writer bringing Newt Scamander to life was difficult.

What is the American wizarding word for a non-magical person?

No-Maj is the American word for a Muggle, and Rappaport's Law made even befriending one illegal, so Queenie's romance with Jacob breaks wizarding law.

Which creature escapes Newt's suitcase in the bank and starts all the trouble?

The Niffler, a mole-like creature obsessed with shiny things, escapes into the bank; chasing it, Newt collides with Jacob Kowalski and the two swap suitcases.

In The Secrets of Dumbledore, what does Newt give Jacob Kowalski?

A fake wand is what Jacob points at Grindelwald in Berlin, and he is mistaken for an assassin.

What does MACUSA stand for?

The Magical Congress of the United States of America arrests Newt, wrongly blaming a creature in his case for a senator's death.

What is Tina's full first name?

Tina's full name is Porpentina Goldstein; played by Katherine Waterston, she was demoted from Auror for attacking Mary Lou Barebone in defence of Credence.

What magical ability does Queenie Goldstein have?

She is a Legilimens, and Grindelwald, knowing it, lets her walk free while playing on her longing for Jacob until she joins his side.

What is an Obscurial?

An Obscurial is a magical child whose suppressed powers become a destructive parasite; most die before ten, but Credence survives to adulthood because his magic is so strong.

What is the name of the anti-witch group led by Mary Lou Barebone?

The New Salem Philanthropic Society, whose followers are called Second-Salemers, wants witches exposed and killed, yet its leader's adopted son Credence is secretly a wizard.

Which actor plays Percival Graves, the MACUSA official who turns out to be Grindelwald in disguise?

Colin Farrell plays Graves until Newt unmasks him, and Johnny Depp, glimpsed as the real Grindelwald, took over the role for the sequel.

Who plays Seraphina Picquery, the President of MACUSA?

Carmen Ejogo plays Seraphina Picquery, who leads her Aurors in the subway attack that seems to destroy Credence.

What is the name of the goblin gangster, voiced by Ron Perlman, who runs the speakeasy the Blind Pig?

Gnarlak's tip leads Newt to the last of his escaped beasts.

How is New York's memory wiped in the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Newt's Thunderbird spreads a potion as rain: diluted venom from the brain-eating Swooping Evil, which wipes the city's bad memories of magic.

Which Academy Award did Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them win?

Best Costume Design went to Colleen Atwood, who gave Newt a blue-green coat so he would echo his beasts while still blending in.

Five Fantastic Beasts films were announced in 2016; what had become of the last two by 2025?

They were shelved: after The Secrets of Dumbledore became the Wizarding World's lowest earner, its director said in 2023 the series was on hold.

Which Hogwarts house was Newt Scamander sorted into?

Hufflepuff was Newt's house, and when his friend Leta Lestrange's experiment endangered a student, he took the blame and faced expulsion despite Dumbledore's defence.

During the First World War, Newt worked on a secret Ministry programme involving what?

Ukrainian Ironbelly dragons ended the programme: it was cancelled because they would respond only to Newt and tried to eat everyone else.

Newt Scamander's grandson Rolf marries which Harry Potter character?

Luna Lovegood, mocked as Loony at Hogwarts, grows up to discover many new species of magical creatures and becomes famous for it.

In which city is most of The Crimes of Grindelwald set?

Paris is where most of it unfolds, ending at Grindelwald's Père Lachaise rally, where Leta Lestrange sacrifices herself so the others can escape.

Who plays the young Albus Dumbledore in the second and third films?

Jude Law plays Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts teacher who, it turns out, had quietly sent Newt to New York in the first place.

Who plays Newt's brother Theseus, an Auror engaged to Leta Lestrange?

Callum Turner plays Theseus Scamander, a First World War hero whose Ministry tries to recruit Newt to hunt Credence, and Newt refuses.

Which future Voldemort companion appears in The Crimes of Grindelwald as a cursed circus performer?

Nagini, played by Claudia Kim, is a Maledictus doomed to become a snake permanently; she flees the Circus Arcanus with Credence.

What binding magic ties Yusuf Kama to killing Corvus Lestrange V?

Yusuf Kama swore an Unbreakable Vow to his father to kill Corvus Lestrange V, avenging his mother Laurena, whom Corvus Lestrange IV abducted under the Imperius Curse.

How did Leta Lestrange unintentionally cause her half-brother Corvus's death?

She swapped him with another baby because his crying bothered her, and when their ship to America sank, Corvus drowned.

In The Crimes of Grindelwald, what does Newt's light-fingered creature steal from Grindelwald?

A vial containing their blood pact, made when they were young, stops Dumbledore and Grindelwald from duelling each other, so Dumbledore cannot fight him himself.

What name does Grindelwald tell Credence is his true identity at the end of The Crimes of Grindelwald?

Grindelwald tells Credence he is Aurelius Dumbledore, hands him a wand at Nurmengard and points to the phoenix that has come to him as proof of Dumbledore blood.

Which alchemist helps put out Grindelwald's blue fire?

Nicolas Flamel made the Philosopher's Stone, the same Stone that Harry keeps out of Voldemort's hands at Hogwarts decades later.

Which actor replaced Johnny Depp as Grindelwald for The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Mads Mikkelsen took over after Warner Bros. asked Johnny Depp to step down in November 2020, when Depp lost his libel case against News Group Newspapers.

Which future Hogwarts headmistress appears as a young teacher in The Crimes of Grindelwald?

Minerva McGonagall, played by Fiona Glascott, is already teaching in 1927, although her established backstory had her joining the Hogwarts staff decades later.

In which country is the wizarding election held at the climax of The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Bhutan hosts the vote, where Grindelwald wins with a dead qilin he secretly reanimated until Credence reveals the trick.

Who wins the ICW election at the end of The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Vicência Santos wins after the true qilin bows first to Dumbledore, who declines and tells it that another is equally worthy.

Who is Credence finally revealed to be in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Credence is Aberforth Dumbledore's illegitimate son, taken to America as a baby, so he is Albus's nephew, not the brother Grindelwald claimed.

Which school does Lally Hicks, played by Jessica Williams, teach Charms at?

Ilvermorny's Charms teacher Lally Hicks recruits Jacob for Dumbledore's team and whisks him off by Portkey to join Newt.

What is the name of the German wizarding prison where Theseus is held in Berlin?

Erkstag is where Theseus is locked up in Berlin, and Dumbledore sends Newt in to break him out.

How does The Secrets of Dumbledore end for Jacob and Queenie?

They get married, with Newt as best man, a film after Queenie crossed Grindelwald's blue fire to join him.

Who directed all three Fantastic Beasts films?

David Yates, who had directed the last four Harry Potter films, helmed all three Fantastic Beasts instalments, released in 2016, 2018 and 2022.

Who composed the score for all three Fantastic Beasts films?

James Newton Howard wove John Williams's 'Hedwig's Theme' from the Harry Potter films into his own main theme.

Which actor was reportedly in talks to play Jacob Kowalski before Dan Fogler was cast?

Michael Cera later said he declined partly out of a big fear that doing kids' movies would make him too famous.

In which Chinese city does Newt deliver a magical creature's twins in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

The film opens in Kweilin (Guilin), where Newt delivers qilin twins; Credence kills the mother and takes one newborn, while Newt saves the second.

What bursts from the decoy suitcases in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

The decoy cases unleash Quidditch balls, fanged books and pastries on Grindelwald's acolytes; the team carried identical cases so nobody could tell which held the surviving qilin.

Which everyday object does Newt give Theseus that later works as a portkey to Hogwarts?

A red and gold tie is the Portkey that carries Newt and Theseus from their Berlin prison break to the grounds of Hogwarts.

Which subject does Albus Dumbledore teach at Hogwarts in The Crimes of Grindelwald?

Defence Against the Dark Arts is his subject in 1927, although the Harry Potter books have him teaching Transfiguration before he becomes headmaster.

Who acquits Grindelwald of all charges, allowing him to run for head of the ICW?

Anton Vogel, the ICW's outgoing head, clears Grindelwald even though MACUSA had arrested him in New York after unmasking his disguise as Graves.

What does Newt secretly give Jacob to fund his business at the end of the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Occamy silver eggshells fund Jacob's shop, and when Queenie later walks in, he smiles, a sign that his memories of magic were never fully wiped.

Which actress plays Mary Lou Barebone, Credence's adoptive mother, in the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Samantha Morton plays Mary Lou Barebone, who blames Credence for a wand found under Modesty's bed and is killed before she can punish him.

What kind of creature is Pickett, the twig-like companion who lives in Newt Scamander's top pocket?

A Bowtruckle has long, sharp fingers that are ideal for picking locks, and Pickett's lock-picking gets Newt and his friends out of more than one tight spot.

Which rhino-like beast in the first Fantastic Beasts film has a horn full of exploding fluid?

An Erumpent's horn can pierce metal and blow up whatever it injects. Males so often explode one another in mating season that the species is rare.

What kind of shop does factory worker Jacob Kowalski dream of opening in Fantastic Beasts?

A bakery is the dream that sends Jacob to the bank, where he accidentally walks off with Newt's suitcase full of magical creatures.

In which Harry Potter book is Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts first named, on Harry's school supply list?

Philosopher's Stone, published as Sorcerer's Stone in the US, puts it on Harry's first book list. The real 2001 edition is styled as his own scribbled-in copy.

Which legendary object does Gellert Grindelwald wield, said to make its owner unbeatable?

The Elder Wand has a core of Thestral tail hair and is loyal only to whoever wins it from its last owner, which is why so many wizards have fought over it.

Which deer-like creature in The Secrets of Dumbledore picks a leader by bowing to the pure of heart?

A Qilin is part dragon, part horse and covered in golden bronze scales. It can look into a person's soul, which is why wizards trust its choice.

Which inn run by Albus Dumbledore's brother hosts secret meetings in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

The Hog's Head belongs to a landlord who still resents Albus over their sister's death, yet he lets the team plot there all the same.

Which ape-like Fantastic Beasts creature turns invisible and has hair woven into Invisibility Cloaks?

A Demiguise is doubly hard to catch because it can also see the future, so only wizards trained to outwit that foresight ever spot the peaceful East Asian beast.

Which Hollywood studio, home of Harry Potter, distributed all three Fantastic Beasts films?

Warner Bros. announced the series in 2013, two years after the last Harry Potter film, as its bid to grow the stories into a wider Wizarding World.

Which composer wrote Hedwig's Theme, the Harry Potter melody quoted in the first Fantastic Beasts score?

John Williams's Harry Potter themes kept returning: they were woven into the score of The Secrets of Dumbledore as well, two films later.

Which actress plays Tina Goldstein, the demoted Auror who arrests Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts?

Katherine Waterston's Tina barely appears in the third film: by then the character runs the American Auror office and takes no part in the mission.

Which actor plays Credence Barebone, the adopted son hiding a destructive power in Fantastic Beasts?

Ezra Miller's Credence is abused by his adoptive mother for years, and the magic he buries in response becomes a force that kills a senator and tears through New York.

Which actress plays Leta Lestrange, glimpsed only in a photograph in the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Zoë Kravitz appears in the first film as a picture and nothing more, a teaser that set up her full role as Newt's former love in the sequel.

Which legendary set of objects did young Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore hope to find together?

The Deathly Hallows were the pair's shared obsession: they debated how to use them to reform the wizarding world until a tragic accident destroyed the friendship.

Which wizarding school expelled Fantastic Beasts villain Gellert Grindelwald before he met Albus Dumbledore?

Durmstrang threw him out over his experiments, and it was only afterwards that he formed the close friendship at the heart of the films.

Which winged Fantastic Beasts creature has venom that, properly diluted, erases bad memories?

A Swooping Evil is a bat-like beast with bright colouring and spiky wings, and its other habit is far less helpful: sucking out brains.

Which elephant-sized cat does Newt Scamander lure into his case with a toy in The Crimes of Grindelwald?

A Zouwu can cover 1,000 miles in a day, yet Newt tempts the one that escaped a cruel circus to safety with nothing more than a little bird on a stick.

Which plump, flightless bird among Newt Scamander's fantastic beasts is known to Muggles as the dodo?

A Diricawl can vanish in a puff of feathers and reappear elsewhere, so Muggles who never saw the trick believe they hunted the bird to extinction.

Jacob Kowalski lives in New York in the Fantastic Beasts films, but in which European country was he born?

Poland is his birthplace; the Polish-born New Yorker has no magic at all, yet even a memory-altering spell can't make him let go of the wizarding world.

What sentence does Percival Graves pass on Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein for supposedly aiding Grindelwald?

Execution is ordered for both, but Queenie gets wind of it, rescues Jacob and helps Newt and Tina escape with the suitcase before it can be carried out.

Which British water demon, often a horse with a mane of bulrushes, lives in Newt Scamander's menagerie?

A Kelpie tricks victims onto its back and drags them underwater, but it can be controlled by slipping a bridle over its head with a Placement Charm.

Which three-eyed, crab-like beast lurks in the prison that Newt enters in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

A Manticore devours any prisoner whose light goes out, and its hundreds of babies are best survived, as Newt shows, with a well-practised hip swivel.

Which Japanese water demon, seen caged in The Crimes of Grindelwald, can be bought off with a cucumber?

A Kappa looks like a monkey covered in fish scales and feeds on human blood, but it will spare anyone who tosses it a cucumber carved with their name.

What is the title of the wizarding world leader elected at the end of The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Supreme Mugwump is a post Albus Dumbledore turns down in the film, even though he is the first choice, and one he does go on to hold later in life.

What was the name of Albus Dumbledore's younger sister, whose death haunts The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Ariana died in a three-way duel between Albus, his brother and Grindelwald, which is why the two brothers are still on bad terms in the film.

Which assistant of Newt Scamander secretly guards the real suitcase in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Bunty Broadacre turns up disguised in green robes to hand Newt the real case, just after the one everyone thought was his appeared to burst into flames.

What is the name of Gellert Grindelwald's Alpine castle, his base in the Fantastic Beasts films?

Nurmengard was built as a prison for Grindelwald's opponents, and after his downfall he was locked up there himself until his death.

Which dark spell does Grindelwald use on Jacob Kowalski after his election win in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

The Cruciatus Curse, which tortures its victim, follows at once: the newly elected Grindelwald declares war on all Muggles and makes an example of Jacob.

On which magical Hogwarts object does Newt Scamander's name appear in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban?

The Marauder's Map shows his name, meaning he visited Hogwarts in Harry's third year, though he never appears in the main Harry Potter book series.

Which actress plays Queenie Goldstein, Tina's free-spirited younger sister, in the Fantastic Beasts films?

Alison Sudol plays Queenie across all three films, including the stretch in which the character shocks her friends by siding with Grindelwald.

Newt Scamander's fame later earns him a place on the collectible cards sold with which wizarding sweet?

Chocolate Frogs come with a card of a famous wizard, and Newt earns one in a career that also brings him the Order of Merlin, Second Class.

What does Percival Graves scornfully call Credence Barebone when he decides the young man has no magic?

A Squib, he sneers, breaking his promise to teach Credence magic; moments later Credence reveals that he is the powerful force Graves has been hunting.

In The Crimes of Grindelwald, Newt Scamander compares Tina Goldstein's eyes to those of which creature?

A salamander is his idea of a compliment, and the clumsy remark works: it helps win Tina round after she had wrongly believed he was engaged.

Which late-night host played an airport security agent in the sketch Fantastic Beasts of the TSA?

James Corden played an overzealous agent on The Late Late Show, where Newt, stranded in modern times, tries to get his suitcase of creatures through security.

Where does Newt Scamander find Credence hiding at the climax of the first Fantastic Beasts film?

In a subway tunnel beneath New York, Newt tries to talk Credence round, and Tina, who once tried to shield him from his mother, joins in to calm him.

Which creatures did Newt Scamander's mother breed, sparking his childhood interest in magical beasts?

Hippogriffs, proud beasts that expect a bow before anyone approaches, were bred by Newt's mother, and growing up around them set him on his path.

Which shy, bulging-eyed creature in Newt Scamander's case is known for dancing on its hind legs at night?

A Mooncalf leaves its burrow only at the full moon, and its silvery dung makes magical herbs and plants grow much faster.

The 2001 Fantastic Beasts book is styled as Harry Potter's copy, shared with which friend whose own fell apart?

Ron Weasley adds doodles and comments of his own to the shared copy, and they seem to date from around the time of Goblet of Fire.

What has the Ministry of Magic imposed on Newt Scamander as The Crimes of Grindelwald begins?

A travel ban stops Newt leaving the country, and the Ministry will lift it only if he agrees to help track down Credence, an offer he refuses.

Which veteran Hollywood actor plays newspaper owner Henry Shaw Senior in the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Jon Voight plays the press baron whose older son, a US senator, is killed during a speech at a fundraising dinner by the dark force loose in New York.

Under which adopted sister's bed does Credence Barebone find a wand in the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Modesty, the youngest of the adopted children, hides the wand, which leads Graves to wrongly assume that she is the source of the destruction.

Which Harry Potter screenwriter returned to co-write the script of The Secrets of Dumbledore?

Steve Kloves had served as a producer on the first two Fantastic Beasts films, and was brought back as a writer to rework parts of the third.

Which actor reprises a Harry Potter film role as the young Grindelwald in The Crimes of Grindelwald?

Jamie Campbell Bower is one of four actors to play Grindelwald in the series, alongside the three stars who take the adult role across the films.

Which actor considered for Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts is the son of the first screen Dumbledore?

Jared Harris is the son of Richard Harris, who played the headmaster in the first two Harry Potter films; the part went to a different younger actor.

Which actress briefly appears as Madam Ya Zhou, a Chinese ambassador, in the first Fantastic Beasts film?

Gemma Chan plays the witch who serves as China's envoy to MACUSA, the wizarding authority that arrests Newt in New York.

Which cat-like guardians of a Ministry of Magic multiply when provoked in The Crimes of Grindelwald?

Matagots look like tame housecats until threatened, when they turn into huge wildcats with glowing eyes and quickly surround an intruder.

Which creature puffs up like a balloon to fly the injured Newt to safety in The Secrets of Dumbledore?

A Wyvern looks flightless at first, with short stubby wings, but once airborne its wings and tail grow so much that it can carry a whole Magizoologist.

Which giant leopard-like beast in Newt Scamander's case has breath toxic enough to wipe out a village?

A Nundu moves silently, and it is said to take at least a hundred witches and wizards working together to bring one down.

In which lowly MACUSA department does Queenie Goldstein work, alongside her demoted sister Tina?

The Wand Permit Office is where Tina lands after being demoted for standing up to Credence's mother, a long way down from her old job as an Auror.

Which British actor and writer presented the BBC documentary Fantastic Beasts: A Natural History?

Stephen Fry fronted the 2022 BBC One film, which traced the mythical creatures of the Wizarding World back to the real animals connected with them.