Fantastic Beasts 2: 10 Biggest Changes To Harry Potter Canon (And If They Work)

1. Dumbledore Has A Secret Brother

The Change:

Dumbledore's tragic past is revealed towards the end of the series, as we learn that, alongside his brother Aberforth (and his, er, special interest in goats), he had a sister, Ariana, who was terrorised by Muggles and her magic turned inwards, eventually killing their mother before she too died in a three way-duel between Albus, Aberforth, and Grindelwald. This movie adds a new twist into that, by revealing that Credence isn't Credence, nor is he Corvus Lestrange, but is actually Aurelius Dumbledore, a never-before-heard-of brother of Albus.

Does It Work?

If Aurelius is Dumbledore's brother, then how come he's literally never been mentioned before now? How is Dumbledore seemingly unaware of his existence? How could be he be born to either Kendra, who died in 1899 and lived at home with her actual children, or Percival, who spent much of his life in Azkaban? But then if Grindelwald is lying, a) why the phoenix?, but b) that is the cheapest move imaginable. It's an absolute clusterf**k of an ending that stupifies the audience and sees J.K Rowling take a leap into George Lucas territory. It's a twist pulled out of nowhere, that doesn't fit with anything that's come before or is to come in the already established future, and worse it risks completely upending the family backstory that makes Dumbledore such a compelling, tragic character. On the other hand, it means people will be going to see Fantastic Beasts 3 (and 4, and 5) to see exactly how this turns out, so it's done its job.

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