Harry Potter fans have long awaited J.K. Rowling's book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” to be released in theaters, and thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we now have the first official images and plot description of the film.
Because this 1926 story takes place in America, Rowling (who also wrote the script for the film) had to come up with an American word for muggle. According to EW, the word is “No-Maj” pronounced “no madge,” as in “no magic”. Rowling is known for inventing new words for her stories, and now no-maj will join the list.
USA Today notes that a lot of fans were upset when they heard this name. Whether fans are being loyal to the original word muggle or they are just having a hard time adjusting remains unclear. No-maj does sound like a slang New York way to say “no magic”, which would fit the attitude of the time.
According to EW, the plot for “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is as follows:
Eccentric magizoologist Newt Scamander comes to New York with his trusty weathered case. This case is one of those way-way-way-bigger-on-the-inside magical devices, and within are expansive habitats for a collection of rare and endangered magical creatures from Newt”s travels around globe. He discovers the American wizarding community is fearfully hiding from Muggles and the threat of public exposure is an even graver concern than in the UK. “Fantastic Beasts” is the story of what happens when this uniquely skilled English wizard travels to wiz-phobic America and a variety of his creatures, some quite dangerous … get out of their case.
So what'll it be Potterheads? Muggle or No-Maj?
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” stars Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmayne and arrives in theaters November 18, 2016.