The Wizarding World of Harry Potter grew one chapter larger on Friday with the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. However, while the film isn’t as well received as its 2016 predecessor, there’s certainly no shortage of fun Easter eggs that both casual and hardcore Harry Potter fans can appreciate.
With that in mind, here are the eight best Harry Potter Easter eggs in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald:
Messy Mailroom
In the original Harry Potter films, while infiltrating the Ministry of Magic, Harry, Ron and Hermione learn that office mail is delivered via magic instead of owls because of the mess that the birds left behind. However, Fantastic Beasts 2’s 1920s setting appears to predate that sanitary upgrade, much to the chagrin of the House Elves that are forced to clean up the mess.
Thestrals
In the Wizarding World, the scariest creatures this side of Dementors are Thestrals. First introduced in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Thestrals were revealed as winged monsters that appear only to those who’ve witnessed death firsthand. In Fantastic Beasts 2, we see that the stagecoach Grindelwald is in before he escapes is drawn by Thestrals, much like the Hogwarts carriages.
The Boy Who… Didn’t Live
To say Fantastic Beasts 2 is darker than Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them would be an understatement. The proof? When Grindelwald arrives in Paris, he and his cohorts murder the occupants of a townhouse and soon discover the couple who lived there had a child. Grindelwald doesn’t kill the baby himself, but he does task his minions with doing so in a moment evocative of Harry Potter’s own traumatic childhood experience. Unfortunately, this child isn’t as lucky as the Boy Who Lived.
Nagini
The trailers certainly didn’t shy away from the fact that Claudia Kim’s character in Fantastic Beasts 2 was none other than Nagini, who fans know as the trusty serpent of Voldemort. Nevertheless, in the film, we learn more about Nagini, like the fact that the blood curse that allows her to transform into a snake would eventually become permanent, which explains why she’s never seen in human form in the original films/books.
Nicolas Flamel
Another character from the original Harry Potter books and films that’s reinvented for Fantastic Beasts 2 is Nicolas Flamel, who discovered the Sorcerer’s Stone. We first meet him when Newt travels to Paris in search of Credence Barebone, as Flamel is revealed to be the owner of the safe house Dumbledore sends him to.
The Mirror of Erised
Speaking of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Fantastic Beasts 2 also makes it a point to include the Mirror of Erised, which Harry used to see his heart’s greatest desire: his parents. In that story, when Dumbledore tells Harry what he sees in the mirror, he says socks. However, in this film, we learn what Dumbledore really sees in the mirror: himself with Grindelwald.
Fawkes?
At the end of the film, we learn that Credence Barebone is actually Aurelius Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore’s brother. What’s more, the baby bird Aurelius has been caring for is revealed to be a phoenix, which is practically synonymous with the Dumbledore family. That being said, are we to believe this bird is Fawkes, who we see with Albus in the original films?
Leta’s Voldemort Ties
In Fantastic Beasts 2, we learn that Leta Lestrange was born due to her father placing her mother under the Imperius Curse in order to continue the line of pureblood Lestranges. This, of course, mirrors Voldemort’s origin in some capacity because Tom Riddle was born to Tom Riddle Sr. and Merope Riddle by way of a suggestive love potion, meaning neither Voldemort or Leta were born out of true love.