On Nov. 18, 2016, the first installment of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film series was released. This movie immediately became a majorly popular hit immediately and made millions in only the first day of release. Even the Disney film Moana, which came out on Nov. 23, did not slow down the extreme popularity of this movie, for Fantastic Beasts was named the most popular movie to ever come out during that month. In fact, the film broke multiple IMAX records and came directly behind the last movie of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, in terms of immediate popularity in the Wizarding World.

It seemed to many that J.K. Rowling was done with Harry Potter only a few months ago, but she wrote the script for the movie herself and was heavily involved in film creating. Back in August, Rowling released the script of the play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which also immediately became a major hit. Though, during the hype of the play, she told a reporter, “No, Harry is done now,” which left fans of the series upset, but shortly afterwards, the production of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them was announced. Originally, the film series was only supposed to be a trilogy, but Rowling extended it to a series of five movies.

Although the movie series does not contain Harry Potter himself, the films are based off a textbook that Potter and his classmates used in the fictional series. They bring the past of the Wizarding World alive by referencing the history mentioned briefly in the Harry Potter series numerous times.

Fans of the Harry Potter series have had several scares where Rowling has acted as though the Wizarding World would never expand, yet she continues to surprise everybody with new related entities, leaving fans begging for more each time. Though nothing can compare to the original Harry Potter series, the Wizarding World does not seem as though it will rest for many years to come.