You have to look closely for these 7 Harry Potter references

Just over three months after its theatrical release, Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore is also available in home theaters on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K today, July 14, 2022. As the Harry Potter backstory rushes by on screen, home viewing the disc has the advantage that you can also rewind, pause, and dig deeper into details. That’s why we have you 7 references to the Harry Potter series picked out, of which you can now check whether you can find them all.

Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts 3 now on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K

First things first: In order to go on an Easter Egg hunt yourself, you need the film, of course. You can find Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore here different variants buy for home:

Let the trailer put you in the mood for Fantastic Beasts 3 at the start of the home cinema

If you’ve seen Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore then dive with us now into the Harry Potter references hiding in Part 3. We’ll start with the most obvious ones and then work our way down to the more hidden ones. This means of course: Warning, spoilers for Fantastic Beasts 3 follow from here.

1. Harry Potter references in Fantastic Beasts 3: The Hogwarts Sweepstakes

Fantastic Beasts unmistakably returns to Hogwarts, which is to say lock– Boarding school that has long been a home to Harry Potter. When visiting the venerable halls, we are nostalgically offered the full program: the Big hallwhizzing by Quidditch players, the castle grounds and even the convertible ones room of desires. (Only where, in Harry’s time, the Mirror of Erised stands, Dumbledore’s army secretly trains and Harry hides his potions book, now the Bhutanese Prayer Wheel invites you to travel around the world.)

That Dumbledore is responsible for Newt’s knowledge of geography”Points for Hufflepuff” distributed, is also a funny reminder of the annual battle between the four school houses for the house cup. In addition to Hogwarts, it also goes back to the neighboring town Hogsmeade and the pub of Aberforth Dumbledore: the boar head.

2. Harry Potter reunion with familiar characters in Fantastic Beasts 3

Although there are about 70 years between Harry Potter’s school days and the beasts series, well-known characters return again this time. These include (younger versions of) Harry’s eventual headmaster

Albus Dumbledore and villain Gellert Grindelwaldwhose story was featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Also a renewed short appearance (as a discussed break in the canon) by Professor Minerva McGonagall in the boar’s head should not be missing. Also new in part 3 is Albus’ brother Aberforth Dumbledore at a young age, which we at old age (with the portrait of the Dumbledore sister shown again Ariana) only really got to know in Harry Potter 7.2.

3. Harry Potter return in Fantastic Beasts 3: Deluminator and Mirror

Not only the Elder Wand (in Grindelwald’s hands), so crucial for the Harry Potter finale, and the symbol of the Deathly Hallows appear again. Two Dumbledore items in particular are celebrating their return: In the fight against Credence/Aurelius, Albus Dumbledore pulls out the de-illuminator. However, he not only catches lights with this stopper, but even creates a parallel world for fighting. Harry, Ron and Hermione had no idea what powers lay dormant in the Deluminator!

Besides, the mirror communication between Aberforth and Credence in Part 3 a veiled Dumbledore reference to the future: For Harry Potter sees in his own mirror shard (received from Sirius) apparently the face of the dead Albus, which turns out to be Aberforth’s in the last film.

4. Harry Potter Wizardry in Fantastic Beasts 3: Magical Allusions

Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore also quotes plenty from the magical repertoire. The spells Accio and crucio (poor Jacob) must not be missing, for example. Also, along with Harry Headmaster, Grindelwald also removes milky ones memory threads from heads. Lally and Jacob use Floo powder to get on the train to Germany. Theseus escapes his prison thanks portkey-tie. All of this is established and popular magic from the Harry Potter series.

Fans will also anticipate the return of the doubling spell (Geminio) recognize. The annoying spell that Bellatrix used to make life difficult for Harry, Ron and Hermione when Horcux was stolen in the Gringotts dungeon is now used by Dumbledore: to duplicate the contents of his dummy suitcases (in addition to the pastries, Quidditch balls and that Monster Book of Monsters for further Harry Potter references). And speaking of duplication: the many suitcases used as a distraction maneuver are very reminiscent of them seven Harryswhich will help him escape from Privet Drive via Polyjuice Potion in Part 7.1, right?

4. Fantastic Beasts 3 borrows creature inspiration from Harry Potter

Dumbledore’s pet Fawkes played no small part in the Harry Potter series. That Phoenix-Reunion isn’t all that the third prequel has to offer in terms of creature references, though.

The new important beast of the Qilin is crucial to Dumbledore’s plan. After all, it only bows to those who are pure in heart. Animals bowing their heads to witches and wizards are nothing new in the Harry Potter world: that one hippogriff paid respect to selected people in this way. Book readers will also remember that adult unicorns only let women touch you. Apparently, the magical animal world is choosy in many ways when it comes to dealing with bipeds.

5. Weighty Harry Potter quotes in Fantastic Beasts 3

Not only in what we see, memories of Harry Potter’s story can be found in the third beast film. There are even direct quotes from Dumbledore’s wisdom. Albus uses Newt to tell Anton Vogel, the outgoing international boss of the magical world, that he should “do what is right and not what is easy”. He uses these exact words in the 4th film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when he announces to Harry after Cedric Diggory’s death that dark times are ahead and soon they will all have to decide between the right way and the easy way forward.

6. Fantastic Beasts 3 repeats Harry’s story of survival

If we push the allusions even further, Fantastic Beasts 3 is also reminiscent of Harry Potter’s story as “the boy who lived”. Not only the blood pact between Dumbledore and Grindelwald presents itself as an equivalent to Unbreakable Oath (as Snape swore to Narcissa Malfoy). The spell that saves Credence’s life at the end also fits suspiciously well with the love sacrifice of Harry’s mother, who protected her son from Voldemort’s killing curse with her life. By combining their magic in Grindelwald’s deadly attack on Credence, Albus and Aberforth also avert his death: Love triumphs over death again and the desire to protect over evil intentions.

7. “Always”: Fantastic Beasts 3 ends like Harry Potter

Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets has a chilling quote for Harry Potter fans at the very end: When Credence found out that Aberforth was his father and asked him if he had thought of him from time to time, the latter replied: “Always.” (“Always.”)

This dictum describes in fan circles Severus Snape’s whole tragic love story to Harry Potter’s mother Lily. When asked by Dumbledore years after Lily’s death whether his love would continue, he replies: “Always”.

Fantastic Beasts 3 on Podcast

In this episode of Screen Love, Sebastian, Esther from Moviepilot and Melanie from the Social team discuss Fantastic Beasts 3: Secrets of Dumbledore, including how Mads Mikkelsen is doing as Johnny Depp’s replacement.

The screen love is the weekly cinema and film podcast of our colleagues from FILMSTARTS.

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Will you bring home Fantastic Beasts 3 on Blu-ray, DVD or 4K? What other Harry Potter references did you notice?