Fantastic Beasts will ‘feature’ Dumbledore and another evil wizard from Deathly Hallows

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes place decades before the events of Harry Potter, so fans shouldn’t expect much crossover between Rowling’s newest tale and her famous one. That being said, during a live Q&A in London last night, director David Yates did confirm that the iconic wizard and one of his biggest foes from the main Harry Potter franchise would have a role in the new story.

Most notable is wizard extraordinaire and longtime headmaster at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, according to Entertainment Weekly. Dumbledore won’t actually appear in the movie, but Yates told fans that his name would come up a few times. In particular, he added, Dumbledore is part of a conversation between main character Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and Percival Graves (Colin Farrell).

“We do mention Dumbledore in this movie,” Yates said. “He features a little bit in a wonderful scene between Colin [Farrell] and Eddie [Redmayne].”

The other wizard that fans should keep an ear out for is Grindelwald, the menacing figure whose relationship with Dumbledore was explored at length in the final Harry Potter novel, The Deathly Hallows. Although Hallows gave readers a glimpse into the life of the madman, Fantastic Beasts will focus on Grindelwald at the height of his reign, ruling over the magical landscape in Europe and trying to rid the continent of Muggles.

“He’s going to become a much more prominent part of the stories going forward,” Yates said, adding that he couldn’t reveal too much more about the character.

During the Q&A, Rowling also confirmed that there would be five Fantastic Beasts films in total. Earlier this year, the author said Fantastic Beasts would be a trilogy; yesterday, she didn’t offer any insight into why Warner Bros. decided to add two additional films to the franchise.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters Nov. 18.