Wizarding fans have learned a little more about Newt Scamander, hero of the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, thanks to author J.K. Rowling and Scamander actor Eddie Redmayne.
“My heroes are always people who feel themselves to be set apart, stigmatized or othered,” Rowling said in a video released by Pottermore last week. “That’s at the heart of most of what I write, and it’s certainly at the heart of this movie.”
Newt doesn’t really understand the American wizarding world, the video goes on to explain, and finds some parts of it downright backward – prohibitions on befriending or marrying non-magical people, for instance. His adventure really begins when a No-Maj (that’s American for “Muggle”) named Jacob accidentally opens Newt’s suitcase full of magical creatures. The result, Rowling said, “has implications for the whole wizarding world.”
Fantastic Beasts premieres Nov. 18.
