J.K. Rowling's first-ever screenplay is an adaptation of her book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," a fictional textbook assigned to Hogwarts' students in "Harry Potter." The author of the textbook, Newt Scamander, is a magizoologist whose life work was finding and documenting magical creatures around the world.
So, obviously, the movie version of Newt's adventures is sure to include said magical creatures. But what kinds? The "Harry Potter" films have already brought house elves, giants, and dragons to the big screen. But "Fantastic Beasts" will likely have more portable critters.
The newest trailer revealed at least two of the beasts. First up, a niffler. Look at this little fella!
Nifflers were first introduced in Rowling's fourth novel, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Hagrid teaches about them in his Care of Magical Creatures class, and tells students they are "quite cuddly." But they have one distinctive personality trait: They love shiny and valuable objects. Clearly the niffler from the trailer is trying to break into a small purse, probably in the hopes of finding coins.
And the second beast we had a peek at was this strange, bird-like creature:
According to a Pottermore announcement, this creature is called a Swooping Evil. "We don’t know much about the Swooping Evil so far, except from what we see of it in the trailer," the Pottermore article says. "Newt throws a mysterious ball into the air and an immaculate, blue bird-like creature emerges from it, like a butterfly from a cocoon."
But what its powers are, and why Newt is throwing it into the air, are totally unclear. We'll just have to wait until "Fantastic Beasts" comes to theaters November 18. In the meantime, read up on other creatures we hope to see in the film.
