New Fantastic Beasts trailer confirms massive Harry Potter theory

The final trailer for the new Fantastic Beasts movie has been released, less than two months before its big screen debut.

From the teaser, it's clear that The Crimes Of Grindelwald is set to pick up where 2016's Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them left off. Powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald has made good on his threat to escape MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) custody and is now gathering followers to help him rule over all non-magical beings.

Nagini got mixed up with 'the wrong crowd', as my grandma would say.

While that sneak peek into the highly anticipated sequel has caused plenty of excitement among fans, it's a revelation about Nagini, the terrifyingly huge snake that belonged to Harry Potter's nemesis Voldemort in the original series, that's really driving them wild.

In the new trailer, we finally see a bit of the magical creature's origin story — including the fact that she was once a witch.

In the new trailer, we finally see a bit of the magical creature's origin story - including the fact that she was once a witch.

As soon as that detail was revealed, people were quick to speculate that Nagini must be an Animagus, like Peter Pettigrew (aka Wormtail) — prompting J.K. Rowling herself to quickly set the record straight.

"Not an Animagus. A Maledictus. Big difference," she tweeted in response to one fan.

The big difference, it seems, is the fact that Animagi — like Professor McGonagall, who can turn into a cat — can be both male or female and are trained in the skill, and have control over when it happens. However, Maledictuses are always women, and their animal abilities are brought on by a curse.

Not at all. The slow transformation into a beast is beyond their control, but they aren't destined to be evil.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 25, 2018

They're different conditions. Maledictuses are always women, whereas werewolves can be either sex. The Maledictus carries a blood curse from birth, which is passed down from mother to daughter. https://t.co/wYfvPeQFRW

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 25, 2018

Rowling was also quick to dispel the "persistent" fan theory that linked Nagini with Harry Potter at the beginning of the first book in the series.

Noooo... I thought I'd shot that one down! The escaped boa constrictor in Philosopher's Stone wasn't Nagini. It was never Nagini. That's an incorrect but very persistent fan theory! https://t.co/QEy89kwloA

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 25, 2018

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald will be released in cinemas on November 15.