There was quite a lot going on in the story of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which saw Albus tasking Newt and his allies with foiling Grindelwald’s plan to become the Supreme Mugwump. As is the case with just about every new entry in the Wizarding World chronology, there were several things that clashed with established canon and logic.
Fantastic Beasts 3 also has unexplained plot points that don’t align with other pieces of the story. Whether it has to do with Albus and Aberforth’s pasts to Grindelwald’s plans or the absence of Tina Goldstein, it’s worth looking into the things that made the movie a little hard to believe.
How Does Credence’s Age Match With Aberforth’s Timeline?
One of the biggest references in Fantastic Beasts 3 to the Harry Potter series was the presence of Aberforth, as he mentioned things like his upbringing with Albus. The original chronology had stated that Aberforth was born around 1883-84, which would make him 15 when Grindelwald arrived at Godric’s Hollow and caused Ariana’s demise.
Since Credence was born in 1902, there’s a gap of around 2-3 years that’s unaccounted for. Aberforth couldn’t have been in a relationship with Credence’s mother at this point because she was sent away by this point. Moving Credence’s year of birth to 1898 also doesn’t make sense since he’s clearly not supposed to be 34-years-old in Fantastic Beasts 3.
Why Couldn’t Tina Join Newt’s Team?
While there were a lot of improvements in Fantastic Beasts 3 compared to The Crimes of Grindelwald, one of the weaker points was the absence of Tina until the climax. Her unavailability was said to be due to her status as Head Auror of the MACUSA, which shouldn’t be an issue since Tina has been shown to defy orders before.
Moreover, the post of Head Auror should mean that Tina has the power to plan out where her team can go, so commissioning a mission that aligns with Dumbledore’s plan shouldn’t have been a problem. There’s also the fact that Theseus was in on the adventure despite being an Auror himself, which again brings up the question as to why Tina couldn’t do the same.
Why Did It Take So Long For Credence’s Obscurial Curse To Harm Him?
An Obscurial is said to be doomed because the repression of their magic essentially as a slow poison that will claim their life eventually. Obscurials generally don’t even survive their teenage years, but Credence was supposed to be either pushing 30 or already at that age in Fantastic Beasts 3.
It was never explained why it took so long for Credence to succumb to his condition, especially since he was able to gain control of his magical powers and used them for at least five years. Since his age was more than a decade longer than a normal Obscurial, it doesn’t make sense why Credence got to have such a long life without any exceptional qualities.
How Could Grindelwald Remove Yusuf’s Memories Entirely?
Grindelwald remembered that he had caused Leta’s death in the previous movie but still accepted Yusuf’s allegiance. However, he also removed the memories of Leta that Yusuf had, which appeared to be permanent with the way everyone reacted with horror.
This shouldn’t have happened since characters like Dumbledore, Snape, and Slughorn were shown removing their memories in the exact same manner during the Harry Potter timeline. None of those wizards permanently forgot the memories they’d removed, so there’s no reason why it wasn’t the same for Yusuf.
How Did Grindelwald Know Of The Qilin’s Birth But Not Of The Existence Of Another?
While his performance in Fantastic Beasts 3 should win Mads Mikkelsen new fans, Grindelwald’s abilities were rather all over the place. His precognitive powers could be the reason he knew of the birth of the Qilin in the movie’s opening, which is when his acolytes made off with the newborn.
However, that doesn’t explain why Grindelwald was unaware of the Qilin’s twin, seeing as they were born around the same time. Grindelwald’s powers of precognition were so great that Dumbledore had to come up with an elaborate plan to dupe him, meaning he should have been able to know of both Qilins right from the get-go.
Why Would Queenie Stick With Grindelwald Despite Knowing His Motives?
One of the ways the previous Fantastic Beasts movie set up the sequel was when Queenie aligned with Grindelwald. She falsely believed that Grindelwald would make it legal for Muggles and magical people to marry when he really just wanted to eradicate Muggles altogether.
Queenie was around Grindelwald for years by Fantastic Beasts 3’s events and witnessed his twisted idealogy. It was abundantly clear that he never planned to let her marry Jacob, yet Queenie stuck by him for some reason. Considering she could even read minds, Queenie should have figured out long ago that siding with Grindelwald wasn’t going to get her what she wanted.
How Was Jacob Able To Get Into Hogwarts?
Hermione explains in the Harry Potter series that Muggles are unable to perceive Hogwarts because of the protective enchantments. Moreover, there was never any recorded history of a non-family member Muggle entering Hogwarts by Harry’s time despite the fact that Jacob openly roamed Hogwarts in Fantastic Beasts 3.
Dumbledore wasn’t the headmaster by the events of this movie and wouldn’t have had the power to lift the protective enchantments without approval – his mission was a secret so the headmaster at the time didn’t know Dumbledore had left the school, either. All this leaves no real explanation as to how Jacob ever got into Hogwarts.
Why Doesn’t Anyone In The Future Know Of Credence’s Existence?
Investigative journalists like Rita Skeeter are shown to be so good at finding dirt on wizards that she was able to learn about Albus’ past over a century later in Deathly Hallows. While Ariana’s existence was somehow uncovered, there was absolutely no mention of Credence in the Harry Potter series.
It shouldn’t be possible since Aberforth was publicly seen with Credence at the end of Fantastic Beasts 3 in the Walk of the Qilin ceremony. Credence was also in the recent past compared to Ariana, so learning about his existence should have been far easier.
