Finally, a tiny peek into the world of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," the new film set in the Harry Potter universe and coming out in November.
A new two-minute video was released Thursday. In it, both author J.K. Rowling and star Eddie Redmayne chat a little about the upcoming movie, which was inspired by a Hogwarts textbook. While not too many secrets are revealed, one cute little sproutlike character pops up briefly, and Potter pros know it to be a bowtruckle.
The "Fantastic Beasts" textbook notes that bowtruckles are tiny tree guardians that eat insects mostly, but will defend their tree if it's threatened.
"It has been known to leap down upon the woodcutter or tree surgeon attempting to harm its home and gouge at their eyes with its long, sharp fingers," the book says. (The remedy? Offer it some woodlice and it will calm down long enough for you to remove some wood from its tree to make a wand.)
Also in the new video, Rowling shares that Newt Scamander (Redmayne), like Harry, marches to his own magical drummer. "My heroes are always people who feel themselves to be set apart, stigmatized, or othered," Rowling says. "That's at the heart of most of what I write," and it's certainly at the heart of this movie."
Scamander, the author of the "Fantastic Beasts" textbook Harry will later use, was kicked out of Hogwarts and is now a magizoologist who travels the world studying magical creatures. He carries some in a magic briefcase, and when American No-Maj (that's US for "Muggle") Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) opens it, madness ensues.
Bowtruckles have made occasional appearances in Potter books and games, but at least one fan sees a resemblance to a much larger movie creature.