Harry Potter Fans Debate Possible Plot Hole In ‘Fantastic Beasts 2’

Thanks to J.K. Rowling, we have a Wizarding World that is extremely vast, from the seven novels we all cherish to theme parks and Broadway plays to the intense amount of extra knowledge provided by Pottermore.

Creating an important fictional world must be a magical feeling (pun-intended), but having such a devoted fanbase is probably bittersweet for Rowling, who is responsible for keeping the rules of her world air tight.

The most recent addition to the fandom is Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, and it has some die hard fans fuming over a glaring plot hole. If you haven’t seen the film yet, stop reading, because a character cameo spoiler is coming…

Minerva McGonagall! We know and love her as Harry Potter’s stern-yet lovable Transfiguration teacher who got him a spot on her House’s quidditch team, famously said “Have a biscuit, Potter,” and was overall brave and heroic throughout the Battle of Hogwarts. Bonus: she was played flawlessly by Dame Maggie Smith in the original films.

You would think catching a glimpse of this iconic character would be fun for audiences, but there’s one glaring error: she shouldn’t have been born yet.

During the events of the new film, Albus Dumbledore (now played by Jude Law) recruits Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to help bring down Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). There’s a moment when Dumbledore tells Newt to follow Professor McGonagall, but she’s not actually seen onscreen.

If you did some math, you’d know McGonagall didn’t actually start teaching at Hogwarts until about 1956. We know this because in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she tells Prosessor Umbridge she’s been working at the school for about 39. Since that book takes place in 1995 and 1996, that wouldn’t place her in Hogwarts until nearly 30 years after the events of Grindelwald, which takes place in 1927.

Grindelwald eventually shows McGonagall in a flashback as a student which is even more baffling considering the teacher was supposedly born in 1935. Many fans have speculated that it could have been the character’s grandmother, who she was named after. However, the name McGonagall (according to Pottermore) originated from her muggle father, who would not have have had a relative with the same name at Hogwarts. Basically, it’s a mystery!

J.K. Rowling has yet to respond to what seems like a hefty mistake, but the author is always quick to present an explanation when questioned (and she gets these kinds of questions A LOT). However, the author has tweeted about other things since the McGonagall debate began, so there’s a chance she will just ignore the questions this time.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is currently playing in theaters everywhere and co-stars Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, and Katherine Waterston.