Fan asks: do Harry Potter wizards learn 'muggle magic' like card tricks?
A Reddit user has an interesting fan theory about Dumbledore...
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is chockfull of magic, from Grindlewald's watery feats at the beginning of the film, to Nagini's shape-shifting and Newt's gut-churning Portkey ride across the Channel.
But according to one Reddit user, there's one particularly interesting magic trick we've overlooked — because technically, it's not magic at all.
- Newt Scamander meets his brother in the final mysterious trailer for Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald
- When is Fantastic Beasts 2 released in cinemas?
The Redditor, named Glitch_King, suggests that the moment where Dumbledore (played by Jude Law) draws a calling card out of thin air for Newt is actually just a sleight of hand — in other words, a Muggle magic trick.
"Dumbledore is not doing magic, he's showing off a nifty card trick," Glitch_King explains. "Dumbledore is a bit of an odd duck, and it is my belief that he might have seen a Muggle performing this card trick and been fascinated by it."
They suggest that Dumbledore went on to learn the trick, before deciding to test the trick out on his friend Newt (who also "enjoys the weirder things in life"), taking him to a private location (remember the old-fashioned London bus?) where he can control Newt's viewpoint.
More like this
The moment is actually featured right at the beginning of the film's trailer.
"I just find the idea of Dumbledore practicing the trick in his office between classes absolutely adorable, and totally in fitting with his character," Glitch_King continued.
"I also dearly hope that at one point he got to show off his "Muggle Magic" to Arthur Weasley, because Arthur would have lost his mind in pure excitement."
It's a pretty convincing theory, and even if JK Rowling didn't intend it, we very much enjoy the idea of the Hogwarts headmaster fumbling with a deck of cards, watching YouTube videos of David Blaine to perfect his close-up skills. Maybe in the next Fantastic Beasts film, he can bust out the fake thumb trick.
