'Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them': J.K Rowling Introduces New Magic Concept!

For fans who grew up with best-selling author J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series, it is a treat to see a spin-off of the series in the theaters once more. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them tells the adventures of Newt Scamander, the author of the same book found in the main Harry Potter series. What this movie gives us is a brand new concept of magic.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

In the movie, Newt Scamander is a magizoologist who tends to magical creatures of the wizarding world. After being expelled from Hogwarts due to an incident with one of his creatures, he worked in the Ministry of Magic as part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. What the movie provided us is that a brand new concept of magic is introduced by the name Obscurus.

According to BusinessInsider, the Obscurus is a form of magical parasite that takes over the bodies of wizards and witches who suppresses their magical ability. Those who suppress their magical ability refuse to perform spells due to discrimination, persecution or something traumatic that happened to them that prevents them from using it. An obscurus will take over the bodies of those wizards and witches and eat them from the inside. They are considered as magical parasites.

The term Obscurus is referring to the parasite itself while an Obscurial is a term for the body used as a host. If not controlled, an Obscurial can serve as a threat to the world. The movie shows that Scamander managed to capture an Obscurus and hid it in his suitcase. Scamander's suitcase transforms into some sort of zoo that hosts all of the magical creatures he managed to capture. The Obscurus appears to be some sort of cloud with ash-colored tendrils.

The connection between Fantastic Beasts and the main Harry Potter series is vague at first but it explained one small detail from the last book of the series. In the Deathly Hallows, the book introduced Dumbledore's younger sister Ariana Dumbledore. The book tells that Ariana died at the age of fourteen and never went to Hogwarts or to St. Mungo's Hospital.  Albus' brother, Aberforth explained that she was attacked by Muggle boys in her childhood.

"It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again," Aberforth said. "She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless."  - An excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Sounds similar? An Obscurial can pose a threat to the magical world by exposing their existence to the Muggles. They may unknowingly kill people near them when the magic exploded out of them, similar with how Ariana killed her mother when it happened.

Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them spells Rowling's screenwriting debut. It was released on November 10 in New York City and November 18 worldwide.