【Watch The Fourth Body Online】

NEW YORK -- For fans who have Watch The Fourth Body Onlinebeen poring over Pottermore for years, the tale of Newt Scamander -- not to mention American magic in general -- is highly familiar.

For those whose knowledge begins and ends with a few books and movies, you're going to need a little boning up before Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,the latest addition to the Harry Potter universe that comes to movie theaters this weekend.

SEE ALSO: 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' is more fine than fantastic

Even if you've never read a word about the Boy Who Lived or seen any of the movies, this primer is all you'll need.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Who is Newt Scamander? Newt Scamander (played by Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne) is a magizoologist who was kicked out of Hogwarts and is now on a worldwide adventure tracking down various magical creatures.

Hold up. A magizoologist is ... ?A person who a studies magical creatures, duh.

Ok. So how does his story relate to Harry's?The events in Fantastic Beaststake place in 1926 in New York City. Harry Potter's tale takes place in the 1990s in Great Britain.

Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

So there's no overlap to the Potter books?Wrong. Newt writes this book about his magical adventures, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. That book becomes a textbook at Hogwarts, so that by the 1990s, Harry Potter and Co. read and learn from it. Also, you don't need to know this to enjoy the movie, but Newt's grandson Rolf goes on to marry Luna Lovegood. Everything ties together!

Does this book ... actually exist ... or?It does! J.K. Rowling (who wrote the Fantastic Beasts screenplay) is nothing if not a completionist. So: In 2001, Rowling (under the pen name Newt Scamander) wrote a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themtextbook. It was released in the three-year waiting period between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. The thin volume contains encyclopedia-esque entries about all kinds of magical beasts, some of which appear in the Potter books and some of which do not.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

So the movie is based on a textbook? There's no way that is going to work, right?Well, the textbook lets everyone know about the characters they're going to see in the film. But! Rowling came up with a whole new story beyond animals. The film finds Newt dealing with all the Potter standards: dark magic, sad kids, a hint of whimsy.

Where are you getting all of this?Over the years, Rowling has been updating Pottermore, her site with all of the information about the Potter world. That's where (if you so desire) you can get officially sorted into a Hogwarts house as well as brush up on backstories for a ton of characters.

Recently, she's also written a lot of articles about the history of American magic -- while not strictly necessary to know to enjoy Fantastic Beasts, it does provide a lot of follow-up information to things referenced in the film.

Anything else I should know?If you saw the Potter films, you saw (but have likely forgotten) that Voldemort wasn't the only evil wizard in the Potter-verse. In Deathly Hallows, a dark wizard named Gellert Grindelwald (portrayed by Jamie Campbell Bower) is oh-so-briefly seen. He was a bad guy in the 1940s who has a complicated history with Dumbledore. Intrigue!

No Fantastic Beastsspoilers here, but he's a name to remember -- and fear.

Topics Harry Potter JK Rowling

• Shopping
• Tech
• Games
• Life
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Science
• Social Good

• DDR4 Memory at 4000 MT/s, Does It Make a Difference?
• Wombat butt biting sex habits could be helpful for its survival
• Productivity Boost: Enable 'Night Mode' on All Your Devices
• Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Best deals on cleaning supplies
• Best iPad deal: Save $100 on 13
• Sony PULSE Elite PS5 headset open
• Nintendo Switch 2 release date, price announced
• Trump's science adviser pick is actually a good scientist
• Comparing Team Communication Apps: What Do You Get for Free?
• Best Apple TV+ deal: Get 3 months for $2.99 monthly

• Twitter is testing an ecommerce card with a Shop button
• Twitter is testing an 'undo send' button
• 5 places to play free online math games for kids and adults
• There are two types of texters in the world. Which one are you?
• World's strongest man casually bends frying pan, lifts BBC presenter over his head
• Get your cat some high
• Trump incites rage from ex
• This app will help you speak up—or shut up—during meetings
• Netflix's 'Murder Among the Mormons' as strange as its subject: Review
• NASA's Perseverance rover shares a photo of its first tracks on Mars

• Trump tariff news: See the latest impacts on consumer tech
• Amazon Big Spring Sale 2025: Best Apple deals on iPads, MacBooks, and more still live
• Productivity Boost: Enable 'Night Mode' on All Your Devices
• Best Fire Stick deal: Save $20 on Amazon Fire Stick 4K
• 'Mario Kart World' Nintendo Direct: 3 takeaways
• How to Secure Your Android Phone and Get the Most Out of Smart Lock
• Best gaming laptop deal: Save $400 on the HP Victus 15 with Ryzen 5 and Radeon RX 6550M
• Best travel deal: Take 30% off Southwest flights
• The best day to book your flight, according to Google
• #rateaspecies is basically Yelp reviews for zoo animals

• Productivity Boost: Enable 'Night Mode' on All Your Devices
• Best Bluetooth tracker deal: Save 29% on the Tile by Life360 Essentials bundle
• Analyzing Graphics Card Pricing: October 2018
• Bestway Hydro
• The Mismeasure of Media
• Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Best Apple AirPods 4 deal
• Amazon Big Spring Sale 2025: Best Apple deals on iPads, MacBooks, and more still live
• ‘Jurassic World’: What was the headbutting dinosaur who saved the day?
• The Sound and the “Furious”
• Best tablet deal: Get the Google Pixel Tablet for $120 off at Amazon