Both Harry Potter and its spin-off film series Fantastic Beasts take place in an alternate fantasy world that resembles the real world but in which magic exists. The non-magical humans, called “Muggles” in Harry Potter and “No-Majs” in Fantastic Beasts, are unaware of the magical world that coexists with their own world with most magical beings and artifacts being rendered invisible to them.
Since both series take place in a world that resembles our own, there are a lot of similarities between the two worlds. Also, because of the shared resemblance, there are aspects of both Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts that are realistic. Here are five realistic aspects of Harry Potter and five of Fantastic Beasts.
10 Harry Potter: Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, And Hogsmeade
It makes sense that witches and wizards would need places to shop and find wands, books, brooms, etcetera to fit their needs. They obviously could not go to Muggle shops to find such things. So, places like Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, both of which are essentially wizarding shopping centers, exist to cater to the needs of the general magical population while remaining hidden from Muggles.
Knockturn Alley is also realistic because where there are general shopping centers, there are seedy and shady counterparts akin to the real world Black Market.
9 Fantastic Beasts: The Name No-Maj
While the name sounds odd, especially since fans have been calling non-magical humans of the series “Muggles” since 1997, the name “No-Maj” makes more sense. It is more likely that wizards and witches would be inclined to call non-wizard people born into non-wizard families something along the lines of “non-magical.”
The United States is not the only country to call them a name that alludes to their non-magical status, either. They are called Non-Magiques in France and “Can’t-Spells” and “Non-Wizards” in other English speaking nations, making Britain the odd one out so far according to information that J.K. Rowling has released.
8 Harry Potter: The Dangerousness Of Beasts
While fewer magical creatures in Harry Potter are as prominently featured as they are in Fantastic Beasts, the former showcases a wider array of dangerous and deadly creatures from Fluffy the three-headed dog resembling Cerberus from Greek mythology to the Hungarian Horntail dragon that Harry faces in the Triwizard Tournament.
These creatures that Harry and his friends encounter raise the stakes more so than the beasts in Fantastic Beasts, with the exception of beasts such as the Zouwu which was briefly featured as part of the Circus Arcanus in Crimes of Grindelwald.
7 Fantastic Beasts: Forbidding Magic And Non-Magic Romance
Not everything deemed realistic will necessarily be good, and this aspect of Fantastic Beasts is one of those cases. Wizarding culture of the 1920s as shown in Fantastic Beasts greatly emphasizes the separation of Wizards and No-Majs. This acts as a point of conflict in the series with the witch Queenie Goldstein falling in love with No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, the former of whom becomes so desperate for a change in the law that she joins forces with Muggle-hater and Pureblood Supremacist Gellert Grindelwald.
Unfortunately, the law makes sense given the Wizarding World’s immense desire to keep themselves and their magic hidden from Muggles and No-Majs. However, it is still a problematic law that seems to have been abolished at least in Britain by the time in which the Harry Potter series takes place.
6 Harry Potter: All-Wizard Communities
Something that is briefly mentioned in the Harry Potter series is the witch trials that plagued Europe and the United States, causing secrecy statutes to be adopted by magical governments. Especially in the beginning years of such statutes wizards and witches likely would have found it easier to remain anonymous by forming their own communities and villages.
These communities are not really touched upon in the Fantastic Beasts films in which magical beings seem to be more interspersed with non-magical humans, which did have its advantages, which will be touched upon later in this article.
5 Fantastic Beasts: The Number Of Beasts Encountered
Because the main character, Newt Scamander, was a magizoologist, Fantastic Beasts has showcased a lot more magical creatures more frequently than Harry Potter. While the Wizarding World is depicted as almost as industrialized as its non-magical counterpart, with exceptions such as still using candles and quills over electricity and computers, animals are still likely to be part of that world.
However, if magical creatures are seen in Harry Potter, they are usually a pet, in captivity, or in the Forbidden Forest. Magical creatures are just as likely to be roaming the city in Fantastic Beasts as they are in captivity or in the wild, which is more realistic.
4 Harry Potter: Pureblood Supremacy
As previously mentioned, not everything realistic about these two film series is good. While both series address Pureblood Supremacy through its antagonists, Lord Voldemort and Gellert Grindelwald respectively, so far, the Harry Potter series has addressed this aspect of the world more than Fantastic Beasts. Especially later in the Harry Potter series, the Sacred 28 (families who are still entirely Pureblood) are discussed at great length due to its connection to Voldemort’s ideology, his followers, and his own maternal lineage.
We have yet to see as much discussion of Pureblood Supremacy outside of Grindelwald’s gathering in The Crimes of Grindelwald and some allusions to it in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, considering what happened in the former-mentioned film, fans can likely expect to see more of Grindelwald and his Pureblood ideology in future films. Regardless, depictions of such prejudices are unfortunately realistic due to its real-world parallels such as racism and sexism.
3 Fantastic Beasts: Circus Arcanus
Where there are people, there are opportunities to exploit the oppressed and the weird. Just as there are circuses in the non-magical world, there are circuses in the Wizarding World, as established in Fantastic Beasts. And just like real-world circuses, the owner Skender is sleazy and exploitative of his workers, using their skills and uniqueness to make more money for himself while leaving them dependent on the Circus for work.
Also, like in real-world circuses, the animals are treated poorly, making them more skittish and prone to lashing out and escaping, similar to the Zouwu in Crimes of Grindelwald.
2 Harry Potter: The News Media
Much like in the real world, the news media in Harry Potter, particularly The Daily Prophet, is depicted as having a tendency to skew stories and spin them in a way that will draw in the most readers. While not all media outlets in the real world are like this, most people believe the same about one outlet or another, generally because of political biases.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Magic was able to manipulate The Daily Prophet into telling the news the way they, especially Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic at the time, wanted it to be told, similar to modern-day government censorship and cover-ups.
1 Fantastic Beasts: Knowledge Of No-Maj Culture
A running gag in Harry Potter is how little wizards and witches, especially the adults, know about Muggle culture. While they are supposed to blend in while in Muggle settings, most wizards have a difficult time doing so and tend to stand out either by wearing mismatching clothing or trying to purchase Muggle items with wizarding money.
While a funny joke, this does not actually make sense. Wizards and witches have co-existed with Muggles for centuries and should be able to keep up a little bit with Muggle culture. Fantastic Beasts portrays such an idea better. While they are not allowed to marry or interact for extended periods of time, the wizards and witches seem to be better adapted to blending into the No-Maj culture in the U.S.
