Worst parts of the trailer.

That line made me chuckle and the eyes of the cat-things are overdone.

Yep, that bummed me out too. Making him look old is one thing, but he just looks very frail too.

But perhaps like old!Dumbledore, he only appears old but has a spring in his step?

Still not keen on Newt as a protagonist. I'd prefer Dumbledore in the lead.

That aside, I'm rather exited. Has the makings of a fun film.

 

Maybe the DADA teacher was sick that day and Albus was filling in D: .

 

I have to say I'm a fan of this interpretation of Flamel. I know Dumbledore was spry, but Flamel is 4x Dumbledore's dying age at this point. I mean, while the elixir of life extends life, there's nothing to say it preserves youth.

Also, I foresee... a lot of Leta Lestrange fanfic

 

I liked the look of the magical creatures, it seems a shame a lot of the duels are just going to be chucking little bits of blue light around. I feel that all the Harry Potter films have fallen foul of that, notable exception being the Dumbledore vs Riddle fight in the Ministry. With almost limitless potential the directors seem to go for a very boring set of coloured lights being fired between duellists.

 

I would like to think so, but way the scene with him and Newt's muggle friend is written makes me think otherwise. It seemed like the simple, light handshake actually hurt him. Which is a frankly terrible direction to take any form of immortality in, ya know?

 

It's not how I would do it if I were writing HP from scratch, but it fits with what has already been established in earlier HP books. Nicolas and Perenelle died extremely quickly after losing access to the Elixir of Life. That implies that it's not a case of "the elixir pauses your aging so that, if you stop taking it, you resume aging naturally". If that had been the case, then the Flamels would likely have had a while longer to live, unless Nicolas literally created the stone on his death bed. So it's strongly implied as far back as PS that the elixir does not give you eternal youth, but rather simply prevents you from dying.

 

Solid explanation for why a witch and wizard with 650+ years of experience aren't more present on the world stage.

Personally, I prefer the idea that they've absented themselves from things because people bore them and they've grown apart, but this works too.

 

That's nightmare fuel right there. Six centuries of nursing home dementia, shitting your robes and spending all the gold you can make on owl-order porcelain statues of Krups.

 

What do you mean "Transfiguration or gtfo"? Given Dumbledore's explanation of the events leading to the death of Ariana and Grindelwald's departure from Godric's Hollow in the seventh book, it would be perfectly in character for Dumbledore to pursue a career as DADA teacher. He knew of Grindelwald's plans and could predict the upcoming conflict.

I'd say it'd be very odd indeed if Dumbledore's secret knowledge of these things, toppled with his fear of facing Grindelwald due to the demise of his sister, did not leave him feeling to some extent responsible for Grindelwald's subsequent rise to power ands inspire in him a desire to arm the students with the skills needed to prepare them for what he knew would soon become a dark and turbulent world. I have no problem imagining him teaching DADA until he defeated Grindelwald. With the threat of the For The Greater Good movement no more, Dumbledore was free to switch to his favorite subject.

If Dumbledore changed subject shortly prior to defeating Grindelwald and announced his interest in teaching Transfiguration, Professor Merrythought could for all we know have been an old Charms professor who stayed on one more year on the staff as DADA teacher to give Professor Dippet enough time to find a more permanent replacement because Dumbledore's switch left an opening on the staff that it was difficult to fill on short notice?

It wouldn't contradict Canon if such was the case.

 

We know that Dumbledore was Transfiguration Professor at the time of the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets in 1942-1943:

Further, as stated above, I do think Transfiguration fits Dumbledore much better. DADA is a practical, applied class without its own proper domain, whereas Transfiguration is more fundamental/a core branch of magic. Transfiguration therefore goes much better with Dumbledore the academic whose combat abilities derive from his general knowledge and understanding of all magic, not from any special devotion to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Ultimately, however, it's not that important.

 

Alright, Vina Rosier or Leta Lestrange. Pick one.

 

After going to Pottermore & reading the Everything we noticed from the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Comic-Con trailerarticle there was this bit

 

I honestly can't believe I didn't even think of this. There's no reason he couldn't have switched subjects eventually.

 

I always took that as their age catching up with them quickly once they stop taking the elixir. It's magic. The elixir didn't need to keep them young, but I always assumed that it kept you healthy. What's the point otherwise?

Yeah, it doesn't contradict canon and I'm not particularly fussed about it. But, I still don't like it.

 

So you don't think my reasoning for Dumbledore's initial decision to teach DADA seem plausible?

 

Surely Dumbledore seeing Grindelwald in the Mirror of Erised and refusing to fight him directly is such an acknowledgement?

 

I like the way their relationship is left just offscreen. There's something really tantalising about not knowing what the exact nature of it is. It could be a romantic and sexual relationship, it could be an aromatic type of love between two lonely young men who have finally found an intellectual peer, or it could be a wholly one-sided affair, with Dumbledore in love with Grindelwald and Grindelwald exploiting his romantic interest to gain a partner in magical or political pursuits.

Canon seems to imply a mixture of all three without stating it outright.

Perhaps it's a parallel to the excitement of romantic tension when a fictional couple are interested in one another, flirting or fighting, coming close to but not yet explicitly hooking up.

Although I do agree in general terms with everything @Sorrows said.