The two websites I take seriously in Rowling-Galbraith fandom are StrikeFans and The Rowling Library (TRL). Patricio Tarantino at TRL as I have written before is that rara avis who is connected to Rowling, Inc., is popular with fandom and conversant with their concerns, and who is a respected member of Potter Punditry and Royal Society of Rowling Readers. The latest issue of TRL’s online magazine is out, a double-helping exclusively devoted to the new Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore film. There are at least seven articles in it that will be of real interest to serious readers here, namely:
10. DIPLOMACY IN THE WIZARDING WORLD: an up close look at what the film reveals about the nature and operations of The International Confederation of Wizards;
17. THE AVADA KEDAVRA SCENE: there’s real problem for readers of Goblet of Fire who watch Secrets of Dumbledore, namely, the blocking of a supposedly unblockable curse.
22. WHERE DOES THE QILIN COME FROM? Readers of Beatrice Groves’ posts on this subject will find a different perspective here that complements and expands in some ways what Professor Groves has taught us.
26. THE MIRROR DIMENSION: The center-piece of the double-issue that reflects (sic) and speculates (again…) on the hidden inner reality or “mirror dimension” to which Dumbledore has access in Secrets. Nota Bene!
33. TO END OR NOT TO END: There has been quite a bit of discussion about whether to end the series here because the box office take has been bad enough that Warner Brothers has to be worried about recouping their investment in this blockbuster bust of a movie. TRL tackles the topic head on.
38. WHEN DOES THE FILM TAKE PLACE? 1932 seems the most credible answer from TRL’s examination of the miniscule typed evidence, but this causes all sorts of problems. Take Buntyy and her memory, for example…
46. PARQUE LAGE: If you asked, as I did, “What happened to Brazil?” TRL has your answers.
You can download the issue here. Enjoy this collection of great Secrets of Dumbledore explorations — and let me know (and Patricio, too, he’ll read this post’s comments I’m pretty sure) what you think!
First of all, I have to say that I adored this movie, so much so, that it might be my favorite movie of the series, and precisely because of the scene where the Dumbledore brothers intercept, or kill, the killing curse. It is my favorite part of the movie. I realized after thinking about it what it was saying about Dumbledore, and the entire story arc of the series. When I first saw the trailer I was intrigued as to why they had included the clip from Half Blood Prince where he says, “If we listen closely, the past whispers to us…”. It’s not in the movie, so why on earth was it in the trailer? Dumbledore’s memory of that duel was extremely important in working out how Harry would be able to defeat Voldemort. When Grindelwald cast the killing curse on Credence, he was attacking a blood relation of Dumbledore, and the combined force of Abeforth, and Albus, & Albus’s sacrifice, not only broke the blood troth, but countered the killing curse. The elder wand might already belong to Dumbledore. Now he just has to go and get it. This is a movie for serious readers of the whole series, and it was very clever, brilliant actually, that they added that scene in the trailer.
Also, regarding my “the clue is in the trailer theory” it might be true that Grindelwald would have failed in killing Credence, and that the curse would have rebounded on him because of the blood troth, and because Credence was a blood relation to Dumbledore.
Answer to Lisa A: as for “the elder wand might already belong to DD”: during the whole of FB3 Kama is still (unknowingly) master of the elder wand, ever since he disarmed Newt in FB2. But maybe something else is the case: when Harry’s cruciatus curse on Bellatrix fails (HP5), she teaches him a lesson about unforgivable curses: “You need to mean them, Potter!” It might be that GG’s heart is not really in this curse.