Fantastic beasts on the prowl

London museum exhibition celebrates strange creatures both real and imagined, including those from Harry Potter series

(Above) A piece called "Dracorex Hogwartsia" and props of a Hungarian Horntail dragon and those made for the Fantastic Beasts film series are part of the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder Of Nature exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. PHOTO: REUTERS
(Clockwise from above) A piece called "Dracorex Hogwartsia" and props of a Hungarian Horntail dragon and those made for the Fantastic Beasts film series are part of the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder Of Nature exhibition at the Natural History Museum i
A piece called "Dracorex Hogwartsia" and (above) props of a Hungarian Horntail dragon and those made for the Fantastic Beasts film series are part of the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder Of Nature exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A piece called "Dracorex Hogwartsia" and props of a Hungarian Horntail dragon and (above) those made for the Fantastic Beasts film series are part of the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder Of Nature exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LONDON • Fans of J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts series will already be familiar with nifflers, occamy and demiguise, while unicorns, dragons and mermaids have been the stuff of legends for centuries.

Now, London's Natural History Museum has scoured its vast collection for an exhibition to celebrate strange beasts in all their forms, including those created by the Harry Potter author.

Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder Of Nature is a collaboration between the museum, the BBC and Warner Bros, and comes as the venue reopens after months of pandemic-enforced closure.

The show promises to plunge visitors straight into a world well known to Harry Potter fans, where they learn about "magizoologist" Newt Scamander, the stories' leading authority on fantastic beasts.

The 2001 book was turned into a hit fantasy film franchise starring Eddie Redmayne. His costume is also featured in the exhibition, which runs until August next year.

The head of conservation at the Natural History Museum, Ms Lorraine Cornish, said curators looked at the characteristics of Rowling's inventions and compared them with their own collection. Then they shortlisted more than 100 specimens for the show.

"By taking some of these fantastic beasts people have enjoyed watching on film or reading in the books, we've been able to highlight some of the fantastic beasts that actually exist in the real world today," she said. "I think it will give the audience an extra insight into the amazing world of nature."

The first part of the exhibition looks at the animals included in the books, such as the niffler, which resembles a platypus and whose penchant for shiny things makes it a good treasure hunter.

An occamy is described as a plumed, two-legged winged creature with a serpentine body, while a demiguise is a peaceful herbivore that can make itself invisible and predict the future.

Also featured are dragons, unicorns and mermaids, which are more well known in public consciousness.

A skeleton of an 8m-long deep-sea oarfish - which fuelled myths of huge sea serpents - is featured, as are giant narwhal tusks.

They are exhibited alongside the unicorn hair-infused wands of Harry Potter's friend Ron Weasley and his rival Draco Malfoy.

Visitors will also be able to explore the extraordinary abilities, behaviours and properties of real animals, such as mating rituals and methods of camouflage. For example, a demiguise's ability to disappear has been likened to that of butterflies which can disguise themselves as leaves for protection.

"The real world is in many ways weirder, stranger and more fantastical than anything in our imagination can cover," said curator Louis Buckley. "There are lots of examples of that within the show. To actually see that... and understand a bit more how amazingly adaptable animals are is truly breathtaking."

A total of 12 fantastic beasts from the world of wizardry are analysed, which the museum hopes will help transform its dusty image and pique the curiosity of newer, younger audiences. It has said the exhibition will eventually go on tour to a number of countries.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 17, 2020, with the headline Fantastic beasts on the prowl. Subscribe