Recently released, Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets could well mark the end of the adventures of Newt Scamander, if this third opus does not meet the expected success. If in our citric we pointed out that this is arguably the best of the three movies Fantastic Beaststhe fact remains that it has its share of inconsistencies with the universe of Harry Potter.
1# Albus Dumbledore is not pure in heart
In Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets, we learn that to elect their Supreme Manitou, use a Qili, a sacred animal for Sorcerers, able to see their soul, and thus determine who are those who have the capacities required to lead them. That’s not all ! During a conversation, Newt and Professor Hicks teach Jacob Kowalski that the Qilin bow to those who are pure in heart..
However, towards the end of the film, Newt’s Qilin bows to Albus Dumbledore, who refuses power. This element surprises us somewhat: indeed, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling went out of her way to explain to us that Albus Dumbledore is a much more complex and nuanced character than it seems. When his mother died, he saw his brother Aberlforth and his sister Ariana as burdens preventing him from fulfilling his destiny. Following his meeting with Gellert Grindelwald, they work on the creation of a New Order of Witchcraft. His ambition and his blindness will result in the death of Ariana Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore therefore does not have a pure heart, strictly speaking; he is only fighting against his guilt and his demons.
2# The relationship between Albus and Abelforth `
In Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s SecretsAlbus and Abelforth seem to have a sibling relationship, if not classic, after all as cordial as possible. If the younger Dumbledore is gruff, he eats regularly with his illustrious brother; Albus, meanwhile, helps Abelforth find his son.. The closeness between the two brothers is surprising, when we read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Abelforth describes Albus Dumbledore there as a manipulator, who would have lies in his blood. Moreover, if in Fantastic BeastsAlbus is quick enough to introduce his brother to his allies, this is not the case in the cycle Harry Potter. Besides, the movie The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 seems to drive the point a little more, when Abelforth asks Harry:
Can you trust him? And believe everything he told you? All the time you were around him, did he say my name?
3# Ariana Dumbledore’s death is not the same as in Harry Potter
As everyone knows, the death of Ariana Dumbledore, Albus’ little sister, is the greatest tragedy that the famous Headmaster of Hogwarts has known. In Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s SecretsAlbus confides in Newt Scamander the circumstances that led to Ariana’s death. According to him, during an argument, Abelforth pulled out his wand and pointed it at Albus, who countered by drawing his own. Albus Dumbledore insists on one point: at this stage of the confrontation between the two brothers, Gellert Grindelwald didn’t pull out his, and just laughed.
However, it is a completely different story that is given to us in the chapter The Missing Mirror in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Abelforth tries to discourage Harry from going to Hogwarts. To open his eyes to the true nature of his brother, he details the events that led to the death of Ariana Dumbledore.
[Grindelwald] got angry. He told me that I was a little fool trying to get in the way of him and my brother who was so brilliant… Didn’t I understand then that my poor sister would no longer need to remain hidden when they would have changed the world, brought wizards out of hiding and taught muggles to stay in their place? There was an argument… I pulled out my wand, he pulled out his, and the cruciate spell was cast on me by my brother’s best friend.…Albus was trying to stop him, and the three of us clashed.
4# The Avada Kedavra spell
At the start of the film, Newt Scamander takes care of a female Qilin, who has just given birth to twins. But followers of Grindelwald, including Credence, arrive, and one of them casts the Avada Kedavra spell on the female Qilin. Surprisingly, while the spell instantly kills anyone hit by it, it will take two Avada Kedavras hit hard for the Qilin to die… after a long agony.
Nevertheless, this “inconsistency“deserves to be nuanced. In fact, in the novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireProfessor Mad-Eye Moody (actually Barty Crouch Jr.) explains to Fourth Year students during a lesson on Unforgivable Curses:
Avada Kedavra is a curse that requires great magical power. If you all pull out your wands right now and point them at me as you say the spell, I don’t even know if you’ll be able to make my nose bleed.
In other words, the fact that the Qilin died several minutes after being subjected to the Death Curse twice can be explained: the person who cast the spell on her did not have enough magic power to kill her on the first try. However, this subtlety will only appear to readers of the novels, and not to those who have only seen the films. The scenario should have more explicitly evoked the magical power of the Qilin.
If you liked this article, nWe recommend that you read our file on these inconsistencies in the novels Harry Potter.
