“Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”- JK Rowling

Again, JK Rowling has created another chapter, or chapters might I say, in the many folds of the great Harry Potter Universe she has created. With the addition of five more movies, all based before Harry Potter’s time, fans are able to dive deeper into the development of the Wizarding World and the magic within in her next renditions gracing the cinematic stage in the next few years.

Following the July 11, 2011 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the inevitable close to the Harry Potter Universe had arrived… or so we thought. Then, on November 10, 2016, JK Rowling revealed another chapter in the Wizarding World: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In the movie, set in 1920’s New York City, Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, and his fantastic beasts find themselves divulged in a world and story unlike anything seen before by fans

“If you think about Marvel movies, it is pretty much the same thing. They are creating a fantastical world where they are developing something really beautiful and a sense of escapism [for viewers]… They are continuing the escapism of something that came out when I was almost the same age as Harry Potter,” says Victoria Milette, the HBHS Film Studies teacher.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is only the first of the five acclaimed movies set to debut in the next few years.

The next movie, again set before Harry Potter’s July of 1980 birth, is called The Crimes of Grindelwald. The second of the five movies will be released nearly two years exactly after Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: November 2, 2018. “My favorite part of the Harry Potter Universe would probably be the simple magic: apparating [the ability to disappear in one place, and appear in another] and their wands just in general,” says Izzy Menard ‘19, a lifelong fan of the series.

The Crimes of Grindelwald, and its magic, follows the story of Gellert Grindelwald, one of the tales most historic, dark wizards of all time. Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp (himself one of the most notorious “bad guys” of the generation), wreaks havoc on both magic and non-magical folk of the 1920s. His demise, as we learned in the original Harry Potter novels, was administered by Albus Dumbledore, who is cast to be played by Jude Law. The story and its origins is, apparently, told in depth in the latest movie.

The $25 billion franchise continues to expand much to the applause of its closely following fans. With books, movies, amusement parks, Broadway shows, and video games to offer, there is a place for everyone somewhere in the puzzle. “If people like it, and [producers] can get them to read and watch critically, there is no harm in [expanding on the Harry Potter Universe],” says Christine Heaton, HBHS librarian.

Whether you do, in fact, plan to return by page or by the big screen, the Harry Potter Universe will welcome you with open arms. Buy your tickets early, as with every installment of the Harry Potter Universe, The Crimes of Grindelwald is sure to be a sell-out.