The final entry in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first entry in a series of seven novels. Harry Potter and the Wizarding World became a cultural phenomenon, making way for a movie saga, plays, theme-park attractions, and supplementary material to expand on this peculiar universe.
Beginning in 2001, Rowling began to expand the Harry Potter universe with short books, and the proceedings of these benefited different charities. First came Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a guidebook written by fictitious author Newt Scamander about the magical creatures found in the Wizarding World and which was one of the books Harry purchased for his first year at Hogwarts. After Fantastic Beasts came more short books like Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but none had the impact that Fantastic Beasts had, and so it was picked for a big-screen adaptation. Directed by David Yates, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2016 and introduced the audience to Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his eccentric personality, as well as to two important characters in this series: Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) and Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp).
The second movie, The Secrets of Dumbledore being the closing chapter. As the title suggests, the story will shift its focus to the Dumbledore family, and so far, there are three Dumbledores who can appear in Fantastic Beasts 3.
Aurelius Dumbledore
Credence Barebone’s history can be quite confusing. When he was a baby, he was taken by his aunt on a ship heading to America, and on board the ship was also a young Leta Lestrange, who tired of her half-brother Corvus’ cries, switched him for Credence. The ship later sank and Corvus and Credence’s aunt drowned, while Credence survived and was later put up for adoption in America. Credence was adopted by an American Muggle (or No-Maj) woman who led an anti-witchcraft group called New Salem Philanthropic Society. Credence was physically and mentally abused by his adoptive mother as she wanted to suppress his magical abilities, and all this abuse led to him becoming an Obscurial (a wizard or witch who develops a dark, parasitical magical force when their magic is suppressed through abuse).
Credence eventually lost control of his Obscurus and created chaos in New York, which in turn caught the attention of Gellert Grindelwald. Credence was supposedly killed at the end of Fantastic Beasts, but an Obscurial can’t be killed while in their Obscurus state, and so he survived the attack by the Aurors. Credence then embarked on a journey to find his real identity, leading him to the Circus Arcanus, where he befriended Nagini. He ended up reuniting with Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 2, where he proved his loyalty to the dark wizard, trusting that he would tell him all about his true identity. At the end of Fantastic Beasts 2, Grindelwald revealed to Credence that he’s Aurelius Dumbledore and that the baby bird he had been caring for was a phoenix, which according to legend, appears to those of the Dumbledore Family in dire need. Fantastic Beasts 3, then, will surely continue exploring Credence’s backstory and will confirm once and for all if he’s truly a Dumbledore (something that fans of Harry Potter aren’t on board with) or if it was a lie by Grindelwald to get him to do what he wants: kill Albus Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore
Albus Dumbledore has gone from one of the most beloved characters in the Wizarding World to one of the most mysterious, as there are many details about his backstory that either remain a secret or have been in constant change (as Rowling keeps changing the Harry Potter canon). Albus Dumbledore was a half-blood wizard, the son of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, the latter a muggle-born witch. Albus was the elder brother of Aberforth and Ariana, and his backstory (what’s known of it) is marked by tragedy. Percival died in Azkaban when Albus was young, and the event that triggered everything was an attack on Ariana. One day, she was attacked by a group of Muggle boys who were frightened after seeing her perform magic, which left her mentally and emotionally scarred, and her powers severely altered, manifesting randomly or in destructive ways. Looking for justice, Percival attacked the Muggle boys and was sent to Azkaban. Years later, Kendra was killed by one of Ariana’s outbursts of uncontrollable magic.
Albus then met Gellert Grindelwald, who moved in with his great-aunt Bathilda Bagshot, a neighbor of the Dumbledores. The two wizards bonded quickly and their relationship became romantic, and Albus even agreed with fight Grindelwald and defeat him for good, while also learning more about his family background with the possibility of Credence being his brother and facing the truth about who Ariana’s killer really was.
Aberforth Dumbledore
Aberforth Dumbledore is Albus’ younger brother and Ariana’s older brother. Aberforth lived under his brother’s shadow during his time at Hogwarts, and while he preferred dueling rather than dialogue and was a great duelist, this skill was still incomparable to Albus’. An argument with Albus over his and Grindelwald’s dangerous ideas and his neglect of Ariana led to Grindelwald using the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth, which in turn made way for the duel that ended with Ariana’s accidental death. Aberforth attacked Albus at Ariana’s funeral and broke his nose, blaming him for the death of their sister, and so their relationship was fractured for years. Aberforth later became the barman of the Hog’s Head Inn in Hogsmeade, which had a ageway into the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts, which was of great help years later.
Aberforth ed the Order of the Phoenix and fought in the First Wizarding War, and after Albus’ death in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he helped the students at Hogwarts by bringing food and water through the aforementioned ageway and kept an eye on Harry through a fragment of a two-way mirror. Aberforth ed the fight in the Battle of Hogwarts and survived the Second Wizarding War, after which he returned to his life at the pub. Now, Aberforth hasn’t appeared in Fantastic Beasts yet, but if the movie goes into Albus’ family background, he will have to show up, and in the process, his relationship with his brother can also be explored, along with what truly happened in the duel that killed Ariana.
