About Fantastic Beasts: Everything we Know

So... Fantastic Beasts.  This is going to be interesting.

So let's list what we know

• Setting is 1920s NEW YORK CITY

New York City, 1920s. This is a massively great setting, and does open us to a lot of new possibilities. For one, American wizarding culture is bound to be different in quite a few ways. Their Magical Congress of the United States (MACUS) is in the Woolworth Building, a building shared by *surprise* Muggles.  

So essentially, expect a lot of Diagon Alley areas and underground bases I'd guess. Much of the city would have unplottable pockets or areas with special access only, like the Ministry through the toilets, or platform 9 3/4 in the subways. (I wouldn't be surprised if there was even an entire "hidden borough, but given other information, I'm guessing this is going to be very, VERY unlikely.)

• No-Maj is the american term for muggle

... And almost everyone seems upset about it or believes it's unpleasant.  So here's the thing. 1920s slang includes words like "flappers," "gams," "birds," "tomato," and "real McCoy." Among those, No-Maj does stand out in a bit of a sore way. There are a few ways we can go about explaining this (and now I'm justifying the existance of no-maj... wonderful). 

1) No-Maj is the Politically correct version of "muggle" "Maj" would then refer to a wizard/witch in a sort of neutral term, and "no-maj" would refer to someone who was simply, not a maj. This and it's 1920s in the US. Given we know wizard bigotry is a thing, especially due to witchhunts promoting the whole idea, there are probably nastier terms for muggles that are far more popular the Jo is not subjecting us to yet. 

2) No-Maj is simply older slang. There, now are you happy it doesn't sound as good when you think about it being said by a 1920s radio announcer? 

3) We just aren't used to "American" words in our potter outside of sorcerer. 

4) No Majes. This is probably the one reason this doesn't seem right to people.  But I don't quite think this would be the plural. I mean, goodness I'm an american and it sounds soooo wrong (like gams) but maybe it's said differently in the plural, or used differently. Like "Look at all the no-maj" rather than "look at all the no-majes."

• Newt's briefcase is bigger on the inside

No, he's not a timelord that travels through the universe in a briefcase.  He uses it to store creatures and habitats for study on the go. So essentially Newt's briefcase is a rather fancy pokeball, or a more extensive version of Hermione's Purse/Moody's trunk. We do know that the use of those bigger on the inside spells is regulated by the Ministry, so this is a guess that the Ministry provided the briefcase, or at least sanctioned it as part of Newt's studies. So... this leads to something I'm going to ask later here... 

• But before that, it looks like it breaks setting off a bunch of madness

So now we know why Newt likely stayed longer than he intended. We know something goes wrong with his suitcase. So yah, his suitcase breaks, and every creature he has goes with it. So with a muggle-filled city, and magical creatures from all over, no idea how much havoc will occur. Oddly enough we'll probably start off with a few harmless creatures and a few harmful ones.

• Best guess on the creatures inside? 

Since we know that the S symbol in Fantastic Beasts is symbolic of one of the creatures featured, so we can guess it's either: a) a dragon; b) a basilisk or; c) an unknown creature. If I had to guess, I'll say it's a basilisk that Newt was trying to breed for study and kept in his case. This would certainly add a familiar "big bad" to the series and a solid link to the Potter series, but there's also the chance that it is a rather different creature all together.  There aren't many solid links to what a serpentine creature could be in that logo, especially if we were to account for size. It could be an ashwinder (so small you'd have to wonder why it's in the logo), a stylized dragon (no legs or wings to be seen though.... ), a basilisk (it certainly does have a crest... and looks similar to one), a sea serpent (not too likely unless we spend a considerable amount of time in the sewers... which we might), or something new entirely that is being made for the movie... in which case we'll need a better copy of Fantastic Beasts at some point. Aside from that, I will assume Nifflers will be featured, because of course they will, they're cute fuzzballs that can cause damage, as well as the Demiguise or Golden Snidget (because let's face it, if you were a magizooligist, observing an endangered species or trying to promote breeding or better understanding might be on your priority list. 

• there's calls for a second salem

The "Salemers" are the people, the no-maj, that seem to be very anti-witch/wizard.  So, let's take a few things into consideration for a second.  There's an international statute of secrecy. So HOW do these people know about magic? Unless they don't.

My proposal, this is related to the morality movements that have been going through the US since the 1800s and leading up to prohibition.  These are likely mothers and such that want to stop the corrupting influence of "black magic" on the youth with their short skirts and hard liquor. This has happened pretty often, and it wouldn't be too surprising if these muggles were to be unhappy about it for whatever reason, perhaps due to the activities of a magical creature that are prompting some tension.

• and an obvious twist

The head of the "Salemers" has a son that doesn't quite fit in. >.> So he's a wizard. Wouldn't even be surprised if this explains how the Salemers start. Perhaps her poor son just doesn't know how to control the magic and it instead happened randomly through his youth.  This is all assuming that wizards and witches in the US don't inform people that don't have wizarding relatives. Thus, the muggle-born are likely passed over and ignored like squibs, and this explains why her son (older than 10) may not be a ready ally for Newt, or even known about. 

• The wizard US gov't seems to mimic the muggle one.

There's a Magical Congress of the United States and a Wizard/Witch president. Presumably there's also a Supreme Wizmagot but who knows. :P It is kind of interesting to see how the mimicry happens there.

• We have a Muggle Main Character

The character Jacob is a Muggle... it's unknown exactly how he gets into this whole mess, but it is interesting that he's getting involved.  Odds are he's an occult-enthusiast and perhaps opposed to the second salemers because of either a wizard relative somewhere in his family, or perhaps he's the first "victim" of one of Newt's creatures and offers to help.

• One of our main characters is a legilemens

One of the sisters is a legilemens. So I'd have to guess, she's a fortune teller using a... slightly less fair version of cold reading and making her living off of muggles. I wouldn't be surprised if her other sister (the one working in the MACUS) stood up for her resulting in her demotion. 

• We still don't know exactly why Newt Came to NYC?

So, why did he come? 

1) He's there to collect and capture a creature. Perhaps one that was causing some difficulty with the Second Salemers. 

2) To talk on a diplomatic mission to the MACUS. Though it seems kinda wierd seeing him to take care of business with diplomacy. 

3) To study the creatures of the US and asking for permission first. This one makes a bit more sense, and means that Newt will spend the ENTIRE trillogy in the US, traveling across the country (and hopefully finishing in California-Helloooooo new themepark idea).

So, what are your theories as to Fantastic Beasts? Post and share below!