Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has already raised hopes for two sequels and that we might see young Dumbledore, but it isn’t stopping there. The film will also introduce a new magical power, something heretofore unseen in the Potterverse.
Queenie Goldstein, played by Alison Sudol, is a Legilimens. That means mind-reader, and we’ve seen that power before — Snape teaches Harry Occlumency to combat attacks on his mind — but she’s a different kind. Rather than intentionally entering people’s thoughts, Goldstein is constantly attuned to their true motivations. So if one were to, say, go on a date with her, she would know why you were really taking that phone call from your “very sick” roommate.
Sounds like an utter nightmare!
“She’s basically a complete and utter magical empath,” Sudol tells EW of her character. “She’s able to read people — so it’s not just reading somebody’s thoughts. She’s can read into someone’s story, she can see people’s goals. And so even though she’s able to do magic with her wand, a lot of her magic is actually internal, which makes her a different type of wizard or witch. And she’s incredibly fun, playful, joyful, and free-spirited, kind and wise, and also has a sort of stillness about her because she’s always tuning into people, so she’s quite an interesting character to play — very vivacious and lively, yet very centered and aware.”
That’s probably the worst magical power to have. Human society is founded on a healthy bed of lies, like that we really would like to go see your improv show, or that your child is an excellent painter. Lose those lies and the whole thing collapses. We might see New York crumble into dust, who knows! Anyways, lie to your friends. That’s what we’re trying to say.
Apropos of nothing, Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them would make a great mixtape name.
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