The Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore teaser trailer WB surprise dropped has given us our very first glimpse of the new film, and quite a few glimpses at that. So let’s break it down:
We begin with a beautiful shot of Hogwarts that takes us through a window and into a corridor where Jacob, Lally Hicks (who you might remember from the Phoenix Book in CoG), Newt and Theseus are walking
Next we see Albus Dumbledore in the Room of Requirement standing next to a large decorated cylinder. Looking closer at the writing on the cylinder we can make out that it says ‘magesterial chamber of ancient wizardry’ (if you turn the image upside-down you can make out the end).
The cylinder itself is reminiscent of a Bhutanese prayer wheel which is where we’re headed in this film – Bhutan. You’ll also notice a single ‘beast’ engraved in different poses, which we’ll come back to later.
In the next shot we see Newt, Theseus, Lally and Bunty inside the Room of Requirement standing around 4 seemingly identical cases before Newt takes his and goes through what we now know the cylinder to be – a portkey.
Albus and Jacob are missing at this point so we can only assume they’ve already gone through the portkey to Bhutan.
Next we arrive in Bhutan where there are a number of things happening in this short clip. Firstly, these are likely the temple stairs Oliver Masucci, who plays the Head of the ICW, previously referenced. Next, we have three different coloured fireworks going off – yellow, red, and Grindelwald’s green which bursts into his emblem. Grindelwald can also be seen in the large moving banners at either side of the stairs.
We can also see that there are four people standing at the bottom of the stairs, seemingly facing forward toward the camera, so possibly guarding it? Looking closely both of each of their hands appear to be glowing, which means they might be using more than just wands to guard. Then we have two people half way up, one being Newt, and a large group facing down at the very top. We can see a number of the people at the top wearing red garments, which we’ll see later is likely Tao’s colour.
For anyone who doesn’t follow me over on Twitter, Tao is someone who appears in the Phoenix Book so is an ally of Dumbledore, who we know from an extra’s role has ‘supporters’, meaning he may be one of those in the running for Massuci’s current job of Head of the International Confederation of Wizards. (Note: a lot of this is conjecture from figuring things out, this is not officially announced).
In the next scene we see a smiling Grindelwald being carried by his jubilant followers in green in the center of the frame. Going back to the colours earlier, if you look to the left you’ll see a rival group holding a yellow banner with an image of a woman – this is likely Maria Fernanda Cândido who is heavily rumoured to be playing Santos, the Brazilian Minister of Magic. To the right of the image you’ll also see a divide where the garments change to red – these are likely Tao’s supporters. Now, looking deeper into the image we’ll notice the two snow capped pillars which create the dividers for the three groups looks just like the pathway from the set photos we’ve seen previously. Could this be the entrance to the ICW where the three contenders meet for an election? Or perhaps they’re on their way to the Ministry dinner party we see a clip of later?
Switching it up, the next image is of Vinda Rosier casting a spell into the night. There’s not much else to note here except for the background – judging by the terrain of the set pictures, is this China, perhaps?
If it is China, then she is possibly tied to this next scene of Newt running through what looks to be a bamboo forest while under attack. It’s not just Newt, though – in the second slide you’ll see he’s carrying a baby beast which looks rather like the portkey engravings we saw earlier. Now, slight spoiler but we’ve known for a very long time that Grindelwald’s acolytes are sent to China in the opening of the film to retrieve a baby creature. Could this be the baby beast in question?
Quick change of location and we’re back to Hogwarts where we see a Gryffindor seeker (wearing the number 7 Quidditch attire) follow another Quidditch player over the Great Lake.
Back to the action and we see the stinger of what could potentially be a Manticore shooting flames in a large cavern.
In the next scene we see its target – Theseus, who dodges the attacks.
Another quick switch to what appears to be the Ministry’s dinner party scene we also knew about from an extras’ role, only Jacob is here and he seems to be being attacked. Looking closely, he’s also holding a wand! Did he grab it from somewhere & that’s why he’s being attacked? Or perhaps it’s a fake to grant him, a Muggle, access to the wizarding party? Hopefully the next trailer will tell us more!
Back to Bhutan now and here we see Dumbledore receive a golden snitch. I imagine this might be a similar situation to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where the snitch Dumbledore gifted to Harry not only contained something inside of it, but also a secret message that could only be read by the right person. Perhaps we’re seeing how Dumbledore became so sure of these methods in Harry Potter? Also, is this snitch tied to the seeker we saw earlier?
Next up we get a glimpse at a rather epic looking battle between Credence and Albus. Here we see a very angry looking Credence in a snowy Berlin running with his Obscurus towards Albus who is standing, waiting for the attack.
The scene does seem to be flipped, which is strange, but it’s possibly for cohesion with the previous angle in this teaser
We then see Albus redirect Credence’s Obscurus attack with just his hands – wandless magic – in a shockingly powerful one second display.
Also, in the first image, is it just me or is there a faint outline of a phoenix in Albus’ spell?
Finally, we’re shown the scene where the voiceover is coming from – Albus speaking to Theseus with Newt in the background in what appears to be the Hogs Head pub (hopefully this means we’ll get a glimpse of Aberforth in the full trailer Monday).
The voiceover:
Albus Dumbledore
“The world as we know it is coming undone. Things that seem unimaginable today will seem inevitable tomorrow. Should you agree to do what I ask, you’ll have to trust me; even when every instinct tells you not to.”
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And there we have it, our first Secrets of Dumbledore trailer breakdown! What do you think? Did you spot anything else in the teaser? Have some theories on what’s going on? Come join in the discussion over on twitter or in our discord!
