Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore delivered a shocking twist regarding Credence's Dumbledore parentage — let's break down what it means for the Harry Potter canon and the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Since Credence is Aurelius Dumbledore, his connection to the Dumbledore line was heavily theorized before the big reveal. As the title notes, the Credence twist was the perfect setup for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. It's revealed in the film that Credence is Aberforth Dumbledore's long-lost son, which worked perfectly for the Harry Potter canon and the Fantastic Beasts franchise as a whole.

So, who is Credence in Fantastic Beasts? Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) was introduced in 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as the adopted son of Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton). Mary Lou was the leader of a group that preached hatred of the magical community to fellow No-Majs (non-magical people). Because of this internalized hatred — as well as physical and emotional abuse from Mary Lou — Credence repressed his powers and became an Obscurial. An Obscurus is a parasitic magical force that leeches onto a young witch or wizard until they die, usually young. However, Credence is an especially powerful Obscurial, which is why the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp/Mads Mikkelsen) wants to recruit the young man to his cause — and why many in the wizarding community want Credence killed. Much of The Secrets of Dumbledore sees Credence using his Obscurus to wreak destruction in Grindelwald's name, and he even tries to use it against Albus.

Related: Fantastic Beasts 3: Dumbledore & Grindelwald Backstory Explained

Fantastic Beasts 3 zeroes in on Dumbledore's role and Credence's part in the villain's movement. That being said, Credence is just searching for answers about the true identities of his birth parents. Though there are rumors in the wizarding community about who Credence is in Fantastic Beasts and which powerful family he could be linked to, the truth is different – and completely unexpected. Fantastic Beasts 3 revealed Credence's parentage through the messages on the mirror he was sending to Aberforth. It has a significant effect not only on the prequel franchise but also on the Harry Potter canon. Now, let's dive into the Credence twist, how it changes the Harry Potter canon as it's known, and what it means for the remaining Fantastic Beasts movies.

Fantastic Beasts 2's Big Twist: Credence Is Aurelius Dumbledore

Ezra Miller Credence Barebone Fantastic Beasts Secrets of Dumbledore

At the end of The Crimes of Grindelwald, the titular dark wizard, and his followers, take refuge in Nurmengard Castle. It's here that Grindelwald finally reveals who Credence is in Fantastic Beasts, but not without some manipulation on his part. In the sequence, Grindelwald begins to sow discord between Credence and his family before even revealing who that is. Further, as the sequence continues to build to the big reveal, the baby bird Credence was nurturing evolves into a Phoenix. Grindelwald refers to a legend that phoenixes come to men in his family when they're in dire need. Finally, Grindelwald reveals Credence is a Dumbledore, and his name is Aurelius.

The filmmakers don't initially make it explicit whether Grindelwald was telling Credence the truth. After all, Grindelwald is known to lie and manipulate to get what he wants, and he did just that to Credence in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It would've made sense for him to use Credence's identity as a manipulation tactic to motivate the Obscurial to kill Albus — which is the end goal people already know Grindelwald is working toward by recruiting Credence. This is evidenced by Fantastic Beasts 3, which shows Credence at the forefront of Grindelwald's army, using his Obscurus as a weapon. As such, the second movie does leave room for doubt that Credence actually is Aurelius Dumbledore. The seeds of doubt planted by the second film were a purposeful tool used to make the twist revealed in the third movie that much more shocking. Breadcrumbs were left to take people off the trail, as J.K. Rowling is known to do, which caused a lot of false theorization over his parentage before The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Aurelius Dumbledore's Parents & Backstory

Credence Dumbledore twist

In The Secrets of Dumbledore, Credence is revealed to be the son of Albus' brother Aberforth and an unknown young woman. Albus's backstory is shown in the Harry Potter novels, though it's not present in the movies. The Secrets of Dumbledore sought to change that, by rehashing what's already known from the books, but with the new Credence twist. While at the Hog's Head, Albus has a conversation with Newt Scamander, in which he tells the Magizoologist the story of his sister Ariana and her death. But in this talk, he also tells Newt that Credence is Aberforth's son.

Related: Why Johnny Depp Was Recast As Grindelwald In Fantastic Beasts 3

Newt finds out that Aberforth got a girl from the village pregnant, but she was shipped away before she had the baby. There were rumors that Credence's mother was pregnant, but it wasn't enough to prompt Aberforth to go looking for his son, since he didn't know where she was taken to. This would explain Leta Lestrange's story about the baby switch on the boat. Credence survived, but it's unknown what happened to his mother. She likely drowned when the ship sank, leading to Credence being adopted by the Barebones. Since Credence was without magical parents or schooling, he developed an Obscurus, like Ariana, and now is facing the consequences of the magical force that aided in his aunt's death.

Aurelius Dumbledore Is New To Harry Potter Canon

Jude Law's Dumbledore with the Ministry in his classroom

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the reveal about Credence's identity in Fantastic Beasts 3 is that it added a new central character to the Harry Potter canon. Although not much was known about Albus Dumbledore's family prior to Fantastic Beasts 3, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows offers the most information about the Boy Who Lived's mentor. It's in the time following Dumbledore's death that Harry learns about Albus's family. But Rita Skeeter's The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore also makes it clear that there's a lot about the Dumbledore family the public doesn't know, and Credence is included in that. Unlike most of the Harry Potter canon changes made in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, the Credence twist fits in nicely, with the only plothole being why he was never talked about before.

The Prophecy of Tycho Dodonus May Refer to Credence

Dumbledore fighting Credence in Fantastic Beasts 3

On the journey of exploration around the mystery of Credence's identity, a prophecy is mentioned. Prophecies also played a big part in the Harry Potter series, so it makes sense that another will become key to the Fantastic Beasts movies. The prophecy introduced in The Crimes of Grindelwald came from Tycho Dodonus, and reads:

A Son Cruelly Banished

Despair of the Daughter

Return, Great Avenger

With Wings from the Water

For much of Fantastic Beasts 2, Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam) believed the prophecy referred to Corvus Lestrange, and he thought himself to be the "great avenger." Yusuf planned to kill Credence, thinking he was Corvus, as revenge against the Lestranges for what they did to his family. However, when it was revealed that Credence is actually Aurelius Dumbledore, the prophecy could be interpreted differently. The prophecy of Tycho Dodonus wasn't mentioned in Fantastic Beasts 3. But filmmakers would be remiss to leave it out, given the importance of Harry Potter's own prophecy in Order of the Phoenix.

Related: Fantastic Beasts 3: Biggest Unanswered Questions

It's unclear whether the prophecy refers to Aurelius, but it would make sense given what we know about him. He's the youngest Dumbledore child, but isn't acknowledged by the family and was sent to live in America (a "son cruelly banished"). "Despair of the daughter" could refer to Ariana's Obscurus, an affliction that Credence shares. Then perhaps Aurelius is the "great avenger" who returns "with wings from the water." After all, his Obscurus allows him to fly, sort of, and Grindelwald manipulated him to seek vengeance on the Dumbledores for how he was treated as a baby. That's only one interpretation, though, and as people have seen with prophecies in Harry Potter, they can be interpreted in many ways. This one may refer to Aurelius Dumbledore, or it may refer to someone else.

Credence/Aurelius Dumbledore’s Role In Fantastic Beasts 3

Credence looking up in Fantastic Beasts 3 Secrets of Dumbledore

No matter the prophecy, Credence/Aurelius is key to the story of Fantastic Beasts 3. At first, he's aligned with Grindelwald, with Fantastic Beasts 3 showing him leading Grindelwald's army. He also trains to master both his magical abilities with the wand gifted to him by Grindelwald and the powers granted to him by the Obscurus. Grindelwald tasks Aurelius with killing Albus, since that's what the dark wizard wants from the young man. In the end, Credence/Aurelius returns to the light, taking sides with his family, rather than Grindelwald. The action has reverberating consequences, as Grindelwald tries to kill Credence, but Dumbledore protects him — breaking their blood pact.

For now, it remains to be seen where exactly Aurelius's story is headed. People know that he's being slowly killed by his own Obscurus and that he's headed home to live with his father, Aberforth. But lingering questions regarding Credence do remain. After all, there has to be some reason history doesn't know or remember Aurelius Dumbledore.That will be revealed in the rest of the Fantastic Beasts movies — if they happen, that is. Ultimately, the Credence twist in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was shocking, but it fits into the Harry Potter canon much better than some other changes J.K. Rowling has made.

Why Fantastic Beasts May Not Happen And What That Means For Credence

fantastic beasts 4

Given Credence actor Ezra Miller's recent spate of controversies and other unfortunate but decisive factors surrounding Fantastic Beasts 3's performance, will Fantastic Beasts 4 happen? As of now, there has been no announcement whether the series will keep going – and, sometimes, no news isn't good news. After the second installment, interest in the franchise dropped considerably. The Crimes of Grindelwald was the worst movie in the series and, arguably, the entire Wizarding World universe. Crimes of Grindelwald was certified rotten on Rotten Tomatoes (with a 36% critics score and a 54% audience score), which is something unseen in the monumentally successful Harry Potter franchise. Resultantly, no one had high expectations for Fantastic Beasts 3, and reviews for the sequel also landed it "Rotten" status, with a 46% critic score (despite its more promising 83% audience rating). The Aurelius/Credence twist only added to the initial dread, as many feared J.K. Rowling would have to blow another hole in the canon to make it work, and it may now never come to full fruition despite the third movie's partial tying up of the character's story.

Related: Fantastic Beasts 4 Is Even Less Likely To Happen Now

Considering the film's reception and the complete absence of sequel news, it could be the case that the prequel series has been hit with the Avada Kedavra curse. After all, director David Yates has other work on his current production schedule, and Fantastic Beasts 3 wasn't well-received enough to risk another big-budget blockbuster flop. In addition, there was a battle between Grindelwald and Dumbledore at the end, and producers could frame the event as closure for the series. Despite the Credence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore twist being handled well, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore may be the last movie in the series. While Fantastic Beasts 3 went down better than expected, mostly due to Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald and the Credence twist follow-up, it still wasn't enough to save the Fantastic Beasts franchise.