667. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (01)

Title: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (01)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Year: 2016

Summary: In 1926, British wizard and "magizoologist" Newt Scamander arrives in New York, en route to Arizona. He encounters Mary Lou Barebone, a non-magical woman ("No-Maj" or "Muggle") who heads the New Salem Philanthropic Society. As Newt listens to her speaking about witches and wizards being real and dangerous, a Niffler escapes from Newt's magically expanded suitcase, which houses various magical creatures. As Newt attempts to capture the Niffler, he meets No-Maj cannery worker and aspiring baker Jacob Kowalski, and they unwittingly swap suitcases. Demoted Auror (hunter of dark wizards) Tina Goldstein arrests Newt for the chaos caused by the Niffler and takes him to the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) headquarters, hoping to regain her former position. However, as Jacob's suitcase contains only baked goods, Newt is released. At Jacob's tenement apartment, several creatures escape from Newt's suitcase.

After Tina and Newt find Jacob and the suitcase, Tina takes them to her apartment and introduces them to Queenie, her Legilimens sister. Jacob and Queenie are mutually attracted, though American wizards are forbidden to have any contact with No-Majs. Newt takes Jacob inside his magically expanded suitcase, where Jacob encounters a contained Obscurus, a parasite that develops inside magically gifted children if they suppress their magical abilities. Newt extracted it from a young girl who died, those afflicted rarely living past the age of ten. Newt persuades Jacob to help search for the missing creatures. After they re-capture two of the three escaped beasts, Tina returns the suitcase to MACUSA. Officials arrest them, believing one of Newt's beasts to be responsible for killing Senator Henry Shaw, Jr. Director of Magical Security Percival Graves accuses Newt of conspiring with the infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, and decides to destroy Newt's suitcase and erase Jacob's recent memories of magic. Newt and Tina are sentenced to immediate death in secret, but they escape, aided by Queenie and Jacob, who also retrieve Newt's suitcase. Following a tip from Tina's old goblin informant Gnarlack, the foursome find and re-capture the last of the escaped creatures.

Meanwhile, Graves approaches Mary Lou's adopted son Credence and offers to free him from his abusive mother. In exchange, Graves wants Credence to find an Obscurus, which he believes has caused the mysterious destructive incidents around the city. Credence finds a wand under his adopted sister Modesty's bed. Mary Lou assumes it is Credence's wand, but Modesty says it is hers. When Modesty is about to be punished, the Obscurus kills Mary Lou and her eldest daughter Chastity. Graves arrives, and after Credence leads him to Modesty, who he assumes is the Obscurus's host, he dismisses Credence as being a Squib and refuses to teach him magic as he had previously promised. Credence reveals he is the real host, having lived longer than any other host due to the intensity of his magic. In a fit of rage, Credence transforms and attacks the city.

Newt finds Credence hiding in a subway tunnel, but he is attacked by Graves. Tina, who knows Credence, arrives and attempts to calm him, while Graves tries to convince Credence to listen to him. As Credence begins to settle back into human form, Aurors arrive and apparently disintegrate him to protect the magical society; however, a tiny Obscurus fragment escapes. Graves admits his plan of unleashing the Obscurus to expose the magical community to the No-Majs and framing Newt for it, and angrily claims that MACUSA protects the No-Majs more than themselves. As the president orders the Aurors to apprehend Graves, he attacks and begins to defeat all of them. Newt manages to subdue him with one of his beasts, and uses a revealing spell to expose Graves as Grindelwald in disguise, who is taken into custody.

MACUSA fears their secret world has been exposed, but Newt releases his Thunderbird to disperse a potion as rainfall over the city that erases all New Yorkers' recent memories, as MACUSA wizards repair the destruction. Queenie kisses Jacob goodbye as the rain erases his memories.

Jacob and the rest of the No-Majs are obliviated with the help of the Thunderbird and Newt returns to England. Jacob opens a bakery with some of his products looking like the beasts he had met before. Queenie enters, and Jacob smiles at her, seemingly beginning to remember the events he has been through.