Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Read online

  THESEUS

  (pulling him in for a hug)

  C’mere.

  NEWT doesn’t reciprocate but doesn’t fight him off either.

  THESEUS

  (in NEWT’S ear)

  They’re watching you.

  SCENE 21

  INT. MINISTRY OF MAGIC, HEARING ROOM—AFTERNOON

  GRIMMSON is sitting in what was NEWT’S seat, facing the committee.

  GRIMMSON

  Well, gentlemen. I assume this means I have the job.

  SCENE 22

  EXT. SKYLINE OF UPMARKET QUARTER OF PARIS—AFTERNOON

  Establishing shot.

  SCENE 23

  EXT. ELEGANT STREET OF 19TH-CENTURY PARISIAN HOUSES—AFTERNOON

  GRINDELWALD and ACOLYTES stand in the street. GRINDELWALD points his cane at a particularly fine house.

  A clatter announces the arrival of a horse-drawn hearse.

  NAGEL, KRALL, CARROW, ABERNATHY, KRAFFT, ROSIER (female), and MACDUFF approach the front door. KRALL opens it with his wand. The ACOLYTES enter.

  PARISIAN MAN (O.S.)

  Chérie?

  PARISIAN WOMAN (O.S.)

  (worried)

  Qui est là?

  GRINDELWALD looks around the street, calm, waiting, tapping on the pavement with his cane.

  We see a green flash—the Killing Curse. The door reopens. Two black coffins exit. GRINDELWALD watches as NAGEL and KRAFFT load the coffins onto the carriage.

  SCENE 24

  INT. GRINDELWALD’S HIDEOUT, DRAWING ROOM—AFTERNOON

  GRINDELWALD surveys the elegant clutter left by the haut bourgeois family he has just murdered.

  GRINDELWALD

  Yes. This will be suitable after a thorough cleanse.

  (to NAGEL)

  I want you to go to the circus now. Give my note to Credence, begin his journey.

  NAGEL nods and leaves.

  ROSIER

  When we’ve won, they’ll flee cities in the millions. They’ve had their time.

  GRINDELWALD

  We don’t say such things out loud. We want only freedom. Freedom to be ourselves.

  ROSIER

  To annihilate non-wizards.

  GRINDELWALD

  Not all of them. Not all. We’re not merciless. The beast of burden will always be necessary.

  We hear the sound of a child close at hand.

  SCENE 25

  INT. GRINDELWALD’S HIDEOUT, NURSERY—AFTERNOON

  GRINDELWALD enters. A small child looks up, puzzled. GRINDELWALD contemplates him for a moment, then nods at CARROW and turns to leave.

  We see another green flash as GRINDELWALD closes the door.

  SCENE 26

  EXT. LONDON BACK STREET—EVENING

  NEWT Apparates and walks on briskly beneath an increasingly stormy sky. Seconds later, STEBBINS, an Auror, Apparates some yards behind him. They have been playing this game for an hour. NEWT turns a corner into a darker alleyway, peers back around the corner, and points his wand back at STEBBINS.

  NEWT

  (sotto voce)

  Ventus.

  STEBBINS is immediately caught in a hurricane for one. To the confusion and amusement of passing Muggles, his hat flies away, he is almost knocked off his feet, and cannot proceed.

  Smiling slightly, NEWT withdraws his head, still leaning against the wall of the dark alleyway, to find a single black glove hanging in the air in front of him. He looks at it, expressionless. It gives a little wave, then points into the far distance. NEWT looks to where it is pointing. High on the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, a tiny human figure raises its arm.

  NEWT looks back at the glove, which makes as though to shake hands. NEWT takes it, and he and the glove Disapparate—

  SCENE 27

  EXT. DOME OF ST. PAUL’S—EVENING

  —Apparating beside a dandyesque forty-five-year-old wizard with graying auburn hair and beard. NEWT hands back his glove.

  NEWT

  Dumbledore.

  (amused)

  Were the less conspicuous rooftops full, then?

  DUMBLEDORE

  (looking out over city)

  I do enjoy a view. Nebulus.

  A swirling fog descends over London.

  They Disapparate.

  SCENE 28

  EXT. TRAFALGAR SQUARE—EVENING

  DUMBLEDORE and NEWT Apparate and walk on past the great stone Landseer lions. The darkening sky is becoming increasingly ominous. A flock of pigeons rises into the air at their approach.

  DUMBLEDORE

  How was it?

  NEWT

  They’re still convinced that you sent me to New York.

  DUMBLEDORE

  You told them I didn’t?

  NEWT

  Yes. Even though you did.

  A beat. DUMBLEDORE inscrutable, NEWT wanting answers.

  NEWT

  You told me where to find that trafficked Thunderbird, Dumbledore. You knew that I would take him home and you knew I’d have to take him through a Muggle port.

  DUMBLEDORE

  Well, I’ve always felt an affinity with the great magical birds. There’s a story in my family that a phoenix will come to any Dumbledore who is in desperate need. They say my great-great-grandfather had one, but that it took flight when he died, never to return.

  NEWT

  With all due respect, I don’t believe for a minute that’s why you told me about the Thunderbird.

  A noise behind them. The silhouette of a man appears out of shadows. They Disapparate—

  SCENE 29

  EXT. VICTORIA BUS STATION—EVENING

  Footsteps nearby. Both ready their wands, but the footsteps die away. They walk on.

  DUMBLEDORE

  Credence is in Paris, Newt. He’s trying to trace his real family. I take it you’ve heard the rumors about who he really is?

  NEWT

  No.

  DUMBLEDORE and NEWT board a stationary bus.

  DUMBLEDORE

  The purebloods think he’s the last of an important French line, a baby whom everyone thought lost . . .

  A look between them. NEWT is astonished.

  NEWT

  Not Leta’s brother?

  DUMBLEDORE

  That’s what they’re whispering. Pureblood or not, I know this: An Obscurus grows in the absence of love as a dark twin, an only friend. If Credence has a real brother or sister out there who can take its place, he might yet be saved.

  (beat)

  Wherever Credence is in Paris, he’s either in danger or a danger to others. We may not know who he is yet, but he needs to be found. And I rather hoped you might be the one to find him.

  DUMBLEDORE conjures NICOLAS FLAMEL’S card from thin air and offers it to NEWT, who eyes it with suspicion.

  NEWT

  What’s that?

  DUMBLEDORE

  It’s an address of a very old acquaintance of mine. A safe house in Paris, reinforced with enchantments.

  NEWT

  Safe house? Why would I need a safe house in Paris?

  DUMBLEDORE

  One hopes you won’t, but should things at some point go terribly wrong, it’s good to have a place to go. You know, for a cup of tea.

  NEWT

  No, no, no—absolutely not.

  SCENE 30

  EXT. LAMBETH BRIDGE—NIGHT

  They Apparate onto a bridge.

  NEWT

  I’m banned from international travel, Dumbledore. If I leave the country, they will put me in Azkaban and throw away the key.

  DUMBLEDORE stops.

  DUMBLEDORE

  Do you know why I admire you, Newt? More, perhaps, than any man I know?

  (off NEWT’S surprise)

  You don’t seek power or popularity. You simply ask, is the thing right in itself? If it is, then I must do it, no matter the cost.

  He walks on.

  NEWT

  That’s all very well, Dumbledore, but, forgive me for asking, why ca
n’t you go?

  They stop.

  DUMBLEDORE

  I can’t move against Grindelwald. It has to be you.

  (beat)

  Well, I don’t blame you, in your shoes I’d probably refuse too. It’s late. Good evening, Newt.

  DUMBLEDORE Disapparates.

  NEWT

  Oh c’mon!

  DUMBLEDORE’S empty glove reappears and tucks the business card bearing the address of the safe house into NEWT’S top pocket.

  NEWT

  (exasperated)

  Dumbledore.

  SCENE 31

  EXT. NEWT’S STREET—NIGHT

  Establishing shot: a street of ordinary yellow brick Victorian houses. First specks of rain. NEWT walks swiftly up the front steps but pauses just outside the front door. The light in his sitting room is flashing on and off.

  SCENE 32

  INT. NEWT’S HOUSE—NIGHT

  NEWT opens the front door cautiously. Inside, a baby Niffler is swinging from the brass cord of a table lamp, causing the light to flicker on and off. The baby Niffler succeeds in stealing the brass cord before spotting NEWT. It scampers away, knocking all manner of objects to the floor.

  NEWT spots a second baby Niffler sitting on a set of weighing scales, pinned down by gold-colored weights it is clearly attempting to steal.

  As the first baby makes it to the dining table, NEWT lightly drops a saucepan on top of it, which continues moving across the table. NEWT tosses an apple into the opposite weighing scale, sending the baby Niffler flying into the air. NEWT catches both baby Nifflers as they fall, then tucks them into his pockets.

  Satisfied, NEWT heads toward the door to his basement but turns at the last moment to see a third escaped baby Niffler climbing onto a bottle of champagne on the counter. With a sense of inevitability, the champagne bottle pops and the baby Niffler zooms toward NEWT on top of the cork, soaring past him and down the stairs to the basement.

  SCENE 33

  INT. NEWT’S BASEMENT MENAGERIE—MOMENTS LATER—NIGHT

  A gigantic hospital for magical creatures.

  NEWT

  Bunty! Bunty! Bunty, the baby Nifflers are loose again!

  (to the Nifflers)

  Oi! Oh.

  BUNTY, NEWT’S assistant, hurries into view. She is a plain girl, crazy about creatures, hopelessly in love with NEWT. She peels off the Nifflers with freshly bandaged fingers.

  She tempts the last baby Niffler—the champagne cork rider—with a gold necklace, then tucks all three into a nest full of sparkling objects.

  NEWT

  Well done.

  BUNTY

  I’m so sorry, Newt, they must have picked the lock while I was cleaning out the Augureys—

  NEWT

  Not to worry.

  NEWT and BUNTY walk together among the enclosures.

  BUNTY

  Hmm . . . I’ve fed nearly everyone, Pinky’s had his nose drops, and—

  NEWT

  —And Elsie?

  BUNTY

  Elsie’s droppings are nearly normal again.

  NEWT

  Wonderful. You can clock off now—

  (seeing her fingers)

  I told you to leave the Kelpie to me.

  BUNTY

  That wound needs more ointment—

  NEWT

  I don’t want you losing fingers over it.

  NEWT marches toward a patch of black water, BUNTY trotting in his wake, awash with emotion at his concern for her.

  NEWT

  Seriously, you go home now, Bunty. You must be exhausted.

  BUNTY

  You know the Kelpie’s easier with two.

  They approach the water. NEWT unhooks a bridle hanging beside the pond.

  BUNTY

  (hopeful)

  Perhaps you should take off your shirt?

  NEWT

  (oblivious)

  Don’t worry, I’ll dry off quickly enough.

  NEWT smiles and jumps backward into the water. The Kelpie erupts: a gigantic, semi-spectral horse intent on drowning NEWT, who grabs it around the neck and manages to scramble onto its back as it thrashes.

  The Kelpie dives, taking NEWT with it. BUNTY waits, frightened.

  WHOOSH—NEWT bursts back out of the water and the Kelpie is bridled. Now docile, it shakes its mane. BUNTY transfixed by the sight of NEWT in his wet shirt.

  NEWT

  Someone needed to let off some steam. Ointment, Bunty?

  She hands it over. Still mounted, NEWT applies ointment to a wound on the Kelpie’s neck.

  NEWT

  Bite Bunty again and there’ll be trouble, mister.

  As he dismounts, there is a crash from overhead. Both he and BUNTY look up.

  BUNTY

  (scared)

  What was that?

  NEWT

  I don’t know. But I want you to go home now, Bunty.

  BUNTY

  Shall I call the Ministry?

  NEWT

  No, I want you to go home. Please.

  SCENE 34

  INT. NEWT’S STAIRCASE—A MINUTE LATER—NIGHT

  NEWT climbs the stairs to his living quarters, wand drawn, curious and expecting the worst. He pushes open the door.

  SCENE 35

  INT. NEWT’S SITTING ROOM—NIGHT

  A spartan bachelor residence. NEWT’S real life is in the basement.

  JACOB KOWALSKI and QUEENIE GOLDSTEIN stand in the middle of the room, suitcases beside them, QUEENIE nervous and excited, JACOB unfocused and over-merry, possibly drunk. He is holding the remaining pieces of NEWT’S vase, which he has just broken.

  QUEENIE

  If you could just give it to me . . . Just give it to me, sweetie. Just give it to me.

  (whispering)

  If you could just give this to me, sweetheart. Oh!

  JACOB

  (looking at NEWT)

  He doesn’t care. Hold it.

  NEWT

  St—

  JACOB

  (bellows)

  HEY! NEWT! Get over here, you maniac.

  He flings his arms around a delighted but awkward NEWT.

  QUEENIE

  We hope you don’t mind, Newt? We let ourselves in—it’s raining out there—cats and dogs! London’s cold!

  NEWT

  (to JACOB)

  But you were supposed to have been Obliviated!

  JACOB

  I know!

  NEWT

  So . . . But . . .

  JACOB

  It didn’t work, pal. I mean, you said it, the potion only erases bad memories. I didn’t have any. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I had some weird ones. But this angel . . . this angel over here, she filled me in on all the bad parts, and here we are, I guess, huh?

  NEWT

  (overjoyed)

  This is wonderful!

  He looks around, sure that TINA is here too.

  NEWT

  Is . . .Tina? Tina?

  QUEENIE

  Oh it’s just us, honey. Me and Jacob.

  NEWT

  Oh.

  QUEENIE

  (uncomfortable)

  Why don’t I make us some dinner, huh?

  JACOB

  Yes!

  SCENE 36

  INT. NEWT’S SITTING ROOM—FIVE MINUTES LATER—NIGHT

  The threesome sit at a table bearing NEWT’S mismatched crockery, the atmosphere tainted by TINA’S absence. QUEENIE’S case lies open on the sofa.

  QUEENIE

  Tina and I aren’t talking.

  NEWT

  Why?

  JACOB’S POV—pink and hazy, as though happily drunk.

  QUEENIE

  Oh well, you know, she found out about Jacob and I seeing each other and she didn’t like it, ’cause of the “law.”

  (miming quotation marks)

  Not allowed to date No-Majs, not allowed to marry them. Blah, blah, blah. Well, she was all in a tizzy anyway, ’cause of you.

  NEWT

>   Me?

  QUEENIE

  Yeah, you, Newt. It was in Spellbound. Here—I brought it for you—

  She points her wand at her suitcase. A celebrity magazine zooms to her: Spellbound: Celebrity Secrets and Spell Tips of the Stars! On the cover, an idealized NEWT and an improbably beaming Niffler. BEAST TAMER NEWT TO WED!

  QUEENIE opens the magazine. THESEUS, LETA, NEWT, and BUNTY stand side by side at his book launch.

  QUEENIE

  (showing him)

  “Newt Scamander with fiancée, Leta Lestrange; brother, Theseus; and unknown woman.”

  NEWT

  No. Theseus is marrying Leta, not me.

  QUEENIE

  Oh! Oh dear . . . well, see, Teen read that, and she started dating someone else. He’s an Auror. His name’s Achilles Tolliver.

  A silence. Then NEWT starts to notice JACOB’S state: Eating sloppily, he hums to himself, then tries to drink the salt. QUEENIE takes it and puts his glass in his hand, trying to cover.

  QUEENIE

  Anyway . . . We’re real excited to be here, Newt. This is a—well, it’s a special trip for us. You see, Jacob and I, we’re getting married.

  She shows him her engagement ring. JACOB tries to toast the moment and pours beer all over his ear.

  JACOB

  I’m marrying Jacob!

  Now sure he knows what’s going on, NEWT glares at QUEENIE.

  NEWT (V.O.)

  (speaking telepathically)

  You’ve enchanted him, haven’t you?

  QUEENIE

  (reading his mind)

  What? I have not.

  NEWT

  Will you stop reading my mind?

  (speaking telepathically)

  Queenie, you’ve brought him here against his will.

  QUEENIE

  Oh, that is an outrageous accusation. Look at him. He’s just happy. He’s so happy!

  NEWT

  (drawing his wand)

  Then you won’t mind if I—

  QUEENIE jumps up and tries to shield JACOB from him.

  QUEENIE

  Please don’t!

  NEWT

  Queenie, you’ve got nothing to fear if he wants to get married. We can just lift the enchantment and he can tell us himself.

  Several painful moments pass. At last she moves aside.

  JACOB

  What you got there? Whatchu gonna do? Whatchu gonna do with that, Mr. Scamander?