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For every American fan of "Harry Potter" who always felt left out of the Britain-based chaos, "Fantastic Beasts" brings it home to New York City.

The film, which is a prequel of sorts to the original seven "Harry Potter" books, takes place in 1926. And it's just the first in a new five-film series. 

It begins, as all great capers do, with smuggling something through customs.

Newt Scamander, a Hogwarts graduate and magizoologist, is a name familiar to "Potter" fans. He never appears in the books directly, but Harry and his classmates are assigned his classic textbook: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

In the film, we meet Scamander just as he's working on that very manuscript — and taking a side trip to New York City with some extra baggage. Because no magical trunk, chest or suitcase can ever stay closed for long in a fantasy film, Scamander's eclectic collection of magical creatures are soon running amok around the city. (Keep your valuables close around when a Niffler is near.)

But there are more dark, political forces at work than a magical raging rhinoceros. Scamander arrives to find the city seized with tension: The tentative peace between the wizards and their No-Maj (that's no-magics — the American slang for muggles) counterparts may not hold for long. While Scamander's creature-induced chaos threatens to expose the wizarding world further, there's something else on the loose in the city. Whatever's ripping up the streets and exploding entire brownstones didn't come out of Scamander's suitcase.

So that's the plot: A mad dash to recapture the creatures, a sinister conspiracy afoot, darker forces gathering. It's "Ghostbusters II" with wands instead of proton packs. (And I say that as a "Ghostbusters" fan.)

But the big question on everyone's mind is: Does it have that "Harry Potter" magic?

Everything you need to know about 'Harry Potter' in two minutes

It's darker and it's grittier and there are no charming children, but it does. Swap out the safe haven of the boarding school and the fairytale castle, and you're left with a more adult magic: A magic that tears through dark alleys, soup kitchens and campaign rallies. You can't escape it on a dragon — you have to fight it in the subway. 

"Fantastic Beasts" is directed by David Yates, who also directed the last four films in the "Potter" series, so it feels like an extension of the world — but for adults this time. For every slapstick moment about a kleptomaniac platypus-like creature with a taste for diamonds, there's a brutally dark callback to the Salem witch trials. 

"Harry Potter" fans have grown up significantly since the first book — 1998 — and the first movie — 2001 — and "Fantastic Beasts" knows it.

But unlike most magical worlds that kick you out when you grow old (looking at you, Neverland), J.K. Rowling has created a world where adult fans will still feel at home.

Grown-up "Potter" fans, this is your ticket back.

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Tracy Mumford

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"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" swoops into theaters this weekend. It has all the magic of the original "Potter" stories, but we're in the world of adults now.

'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'

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