There’s a reason Harry Potter fans are so rabid when it comes to the boy wizard. They’ve read seven books, that’s 199 chapters, over 1,000,000 words and they’ve spent years waiting for all those words to be translated to the big screen. But just because they love to read doesn’t mean any of them are good at solving a simple anagram. J.K. Rowling, the be-all end-all when it comes to the wizarding community, took to Twitter to tease fans of her magical series with a 140 character word puzzle and unknowingly opened up a huge can of worms (not Flobberworms though, that would be gross). It all started with this innocent challenge issued by one of her followers:
.@peruseproject See, now I'm tempted to post a riddle or an anagram. Must resist temptation… must work…
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 5, 2014
Well it looks like we know a bit more about the best-selling author: she has absolutely no willpower. Soon after the gauntlet was thrown, Rowling penned this cryptic message to the Twitterverse:
Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won’t tolerate this nonsense.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 6, 2014
She encouraged fans to “ponder away” and by ponder, we mean create incredibly elaborate plots about sequels, prequels and conspiracy theories concerning one Mr. Harry James Potter. Thanks to a quickly established Reddit thread, a few fans discovered the anagram resulted in this sentence: “Harry returns! Won’t say any details now. A week off. No comment.” Obviously, the internet went apesh*t.
Rowling followed up her riddle with a series of hints:
"Newt Scamander's History of New York Fauna: One town, my tale" Warmer.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 7, 2014
.@VikiCarter_ Much warmer.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 7, 2014
#helpfulhint The solution is the first sentence of a synopsis of Newt's story. It isn't part of the script, but sets the scene.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 7, 2014
#Hint2 There's only one sentence hidden in the anagram, it is written in natural English and it concerns Newt Scamandar. #3hintsreally
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 7, 2014
Typo alert: ScamandEr, not ScamandAr (long day). Now take out 'Newt Scamander' and 'New York' and see what you can make of the rest! #hint3
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 7, 2014
After a while, Rowling took pity on us all by giving us the answer to her head-scratching anagram, and no, it has nothing to do with Daniel Radcliffe donning his famous pair of specs and lighting scar again:
.@EmyBemy2 YES!!!!!!!!!!!! People, we have a winner!
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 7, 2014
Still don’t get it? Here’s what we know: A script following the life and adventures of Newt Scamander, the author of the textbook Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them is currently in the works. The story, set in New York City, happens 70 years before Harry and his friends ever make it to Hogwarts.
Rowling sent out a final tweet, thanking fans for getting excited about something as simple as an anagram, but we all know what she was really doing was giving off some harsh Hermione Granger “I’m judging you” vibes for everyone who lost their minds over more potential HP books.