Fantastic Beasts new photo teases major Dumbledore showdown

A new peek behind the scenes of the next Fantastic Beasts movie could be alluding to one of the biggest battles in J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world.

A photo posted on the film’s official Twitter account Wednesday shows two wands — the one on the left will be immediately recognizable to Harry Potter fans as the Elder Wand, one of the Deathly Hallows and, prior to his death, the wand that was used by Albus Dumbledore.

But… what is that mysterious other wand on the right?

The end of the first Fantastic Beasts film introduced Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, the infamous dark wizard whom Dumbledore defeated in a legendary 1945 duel.

With Jude Law on board to play a younger Albus Dumbledore in the as-yet-untitled Fantatic Beasts sequel, it seems incredibly likely that this next film could feature that major showdown where the onetime friends faced off against one another.

So, could one wand be Dumbledore’s and the other Grindelwald’s? That seems like the logical explanation … but which wand belongs to which wizard?

Here’s where things get interesting: Before that duel, Grindelwald was the master of the Elder Wand. Wand allegiances change hands when one wizard defeats another, which is how it came to be Dumbledore’s. If we’re talking pre-1945, the wand on the left in that photo belongs to the most evil dark wizard the world has ever known (at least until Voldemort came on the scene decades later).

So, what’s the wand on the right? If the Elder Wand was still Grindelwald’s, this could be the one Dumbledore used before his battle with Grindelwald. Or, alternatively, perhaps it’s one Grindelwald used before he took the Elder Wand from the wandmaker Gregorovitch.

In any event, this isn’t the last we’ll see from the wizarding world this week. Per that tweet, fans should check back tomorrow for another peek inside the next chapter in the Fantastic Beasts story.

The next Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film arrives Nov. 16, 2018.