Unicorns, werewolves, and centaurs are mythical creatures of the past. It’s
time to get familiar with the ‘fantastic beasts’ of today – billywigs,
bowtruckles and demiguise.

To celebrate strange beasts in all their forms, London’s Natural History
Museum has extended its vast collection to include those created by the Harry
Potter author J.K. Rowling.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature”
is a collaboration between the museum, the BBC and Warner Bros, and comes in
light of the venue reopening after months of coronavirus-enforced closure.

Also Read | Good news for Harry Potter fans: Zynga out to cast a spell with puzzle-based mobile game

“By taking some of these fantastic beasts that people around the
world 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. The exhibition will provide the audience a glance into the
endless possibilities in nature”, said Lorraine Cornish, the head of
conservation at the Natural History Museum.

The shows promises to plunge visitors, including Muggles into the magical
world of Harry Potter, where they learn about the “magizoologist”
Newt Scamander, the leading authority on fantastic beasts.

The exhibition also features
the costume of Eddie Redmayne, playing the role of Newt Scamander in the hit
fantasy film franchise ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’.

Lorraine Cornish, said curators studied the characteristics of Rowling’s
innovative creations and compared them with their own collection. Then from a
long-list, they honed the exhibits down to more than 100 specimens that appear
in the show.

The first part of the exhibition features mythical beasts included in
the books such as nifflers, occamy and demiguise for those belonging to the
magical world. It also features dragons, unicorns and mermaids to make the
Muggles feel at home.

Curator Louis Buckley said visitors will also be able to explore
“the extraordinary abilities, behaviours and properties of real
animals” and strike similarities with those of the Harry Potter world.

The niffler is platypus-like animal with a fascination for anything
shiny and with tummies that serve as bottomless storage pits.

An occamy, a serpentine-bodied creature that can stretch itself across
the room or shrink to fit inside a closet, is compared with the Galapagos
marine iguanas or pufferfish that can expand or contract themselves as per
convenience.

The demiguise has superpowers of future prediction and invisibility,
which is likened to that of butterflies that disguise themselves as leaves as
camouflage.

Also showcased in the exhibition are the unicorn hair-infused wands of Harry
Potter’ friend Ron Weasley and his arch-enemy, Draco Malfoy.

“The real world is in many ways weirder, stranger and more
fantastical than anything in our imagination can cover,” said Buckley.

“I think 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.”

The venue has indicated the exhibition will eventually go on tour to a
number of countries.