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5 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Plot Holes We Simply Can’t Ignore


Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald may not be the critical hit its 2016 predecessor was. Nevertheless, the film is a worthy sequel in the Wizarding World prequel series.

However, for all that Fantastic Beasts 2 does right, it still creates some pretty glaring plot holes, and we here at Epicstream would be remiss if we didn’t bring them up.

That being said, here are five Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald plot holes we simply can’t ignore:

  1. Dumbledore’s (Other) Brother

    In Fantastic Beasts 2, we learn that Ezra Miller’s Credence Barebone is actually Aurelius Dumbledore, the brother of Albus Dumbledore. This presents a bit of a problem, though. We previously learned that Albus had two siblings: Aberforth and Ariana. It seems odd that we’re only now learning of a fourth Dumbledore. Furthermore, Albus’ father died in Azkaban sometime after 1890, while his mother died in 1899, both of which predate Credence Barebone’s birth year of 1901 by a noticeable amount of time.

  2. Dumbledore, Professor of…

    We’ve long known that, prior to becoming Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dumbledore was a Transfiguration professor. However, in Fantastic Beasts 2, he’s shown to be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Admittedly, he could have taught this course prior to Transfiguration, but the fact that it’s never been mentioned previously, especially given the school’s messy history with DAtDA professors, seems baffling.

  3. Obliviation Deflation

    At the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Jacob Kowalski’s memories of the events of that film were wiped via obliviation. In Fantastic Beasts 2, though, we learn that obliviation only removes negative memories, which is why Jacob is able to recall his past adventures so easily. This seems to contradict what we previously learned about memory charms, as evidenced by Gilderoy Lockhart wiping the minds of those who accomplished mighty feats and claiming he accomplished them. Unless accomplishing said feats resulted in negative memories, wouldn’t those hit with the spell still remember?

  4. Wayward Wands

    It’s been established in the Wizarding World that when a wand’s master is defeated or disarmed, the attacker can become its new master. This is especially true in the case of the Elder Wand, which only respects power and can change allegiances even if the master isn’t in possession of it when they’re defeated. However, despite the fact that Tina Goldstein disarms Grindelwald at the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, she isn’t the Elder Wand’s master… Grindelwald still is, and there’s no explanation to be found.

  5. The McGonagall Chronicles

    In a similar, yet more convoluted vein as the first entry on this list, this entry has to do with timeline discrepancies. In Fantastic Beasts 2, we meet a young Minerva McGonagall, as in Professor McGonagall from the core Harry Potter films/books. The problem, however, is that McGonagall was born in 1935, while the events of Fantastic Beasts 2 take place in 1927. What’s more, during the flashback to Leta Lestrange’s school years, we also see McGonagall, this time in the 1910s. Even if we ignore the fact that she was supposedly born in 1935, that would still make her well into her 100's during the original Harry Potter films/books.

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