The first Secrets of Dumbledore companion book has been released: Movie Magic by Jody Revenson
The cover confirms some plot points we theorised in the trailer breakdown, so let’s take a look:
First up is this Qilin banner which reads ‘The Walk of the Qilin’ at the bottom – similar to one seen in a Bhutanese street the trailer.
As per wikipedia:
The qilin is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the lin mythological family of one-horned beasts.
According to Taoist mythology, although they can look fearsome, qilin only punish the wicked; thus there exist accounts of court trials and judgments based on qilin divinely knowing whether a defendant is good or evil, guilty or innocent, in ancient lore and stories.
From this, along with the temple stairs illustration in the banner, we can assume that the Qilin plays a key role in the election of the Head of the International Confederation of Wizards, known as the Supreme Mugwump.
Next we have what appears to be our very first look at the Dumbledore family coat of arms. The open arms of a phoenix surround the letter D. Down below the head we see what looks like a keyhole, then underneath in the upper two quadrants we can see a bee (Dumbledore means bumblebee), a possible lowercase letter ‘a’, and three stars on either side.
It’s hard to tell what’s below, but it looks like a possible baby phoenix rising from the fire over the Dumbledore family motto.
Interestingly, the exact same phoenix is used in the Phoenix book logo [image 2], which we can assume means it was indeed Albus, or another Dumbledore family member, who started it
Next we have our first film graphic showing Albus and Gellert on either side of the blood pact:
Then we have our first proper look at two ICW election campaign posters – Santos and Grindelwald, which confirms our theories about Grindelwald running for Supreme Mugwump in an attempt to legally change wizarding law to align with his mission.
Then we have a train ticket for the Great Wizarding Express (as seen in the trailer) which departs from Platform 3 1/3 at London’s Kings Cross, travelling to Berlin’s Friedrichstraße station.
And finally for the paper inserts, we have a letter from Albus Dumbledore on Hogwarts stationary which reads:
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to gain permission for my associate Mr Newt Scamander to visit his brother Theseus Scamander at [] prison. Mr Newt Scamander wishes to check the well being of his brother after he was arrested at the ceremony at the Ministry of Magic in Berlin, and has been imprisoned at [] prison.
I hope you will review(?) my request as soon as possible,
Yours respectfully,
Albus Dumbledore
This letter confirms that when we see Theseus and Newt in the underground cavern in the trailer, that they are, in fact, in a prison with Newt having gone to rescue Theseus.
As well as a glimpse at some of the props, the cover also gives us a look at some of the promotional character shoots:
The Secrets of Dumbledore: Movie Magic will be released on April 14th and is available for pre-order now.
