The Magical Congress of the United States of America, the third and final installment in a collection of new original writings by J.K. Rowling entitled Magic in North America, was published on pottermore.com today. This latest writing explores the roots of America's secret wizarding governing body, the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). It is available exclusively on pottermore.com.
The Magical Congress of the United States of America, together with the short video, offers insightful background details for the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures feature film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The film, which marks J.K. Rowling's screenwriting debut, is set in New York in 1926, and will be released worldwide on November 18, 2016. The new writing reveals how MACUSA was formed and tracks the odyssey of its various headquarters as it moved from an enchanted edifice in the Appalachian Mountains to Williamsburg, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and, finally, to New York City, where it was magically modified to be hidden from No-Majs (the American term for Muggles).
The Magical Congress of the United States of America also examines MACUSA's place in American history, including the infamous 'Country or Kind' debate during the Revolutionary War, when members of the U.S. magical community questioned to whom they owed their allegiance. Another facet of the story looks at how the Statute of Secrecy-the law preventing wizards and witches from revealing the magical world to No-Majs-evolved. Pottermore published two previous instalments of Magic in North America earlier this year, including History of Magic in North America in March. This first piece of writing in the series revealed the history of North American witches and wizards, and in June, Pottermore unveiled the second instalment about Ilvermorny, the North American school of magic founded in the 17th century.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars in the central role of wizarding world Magizoologist, under the direction of David Yates. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them also stars Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo, Ron Perlman, Jenn Murray, Faith Wood-Blagrove and Colin Farrell.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident...were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds. The film marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, whose script was inspired by the Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by her character Newt Scamander.
The film reunites a number of people from the Harry Potter features, including producers David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Tim Lewis, Neil Blair and Rick Senat served as executive producers. Opening November 18, 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Take a look at this new video below to learn more about MACUSA in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and you can visit Pottermore to read the full The Magical Congress of the United States of America story.