Tuesday, February 21, 2017

This Fan Theory Says the Latest Beauty and the Beast Clip Has a Harry Potter Reference

Because Emma Watson is starring in Disney's upcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast, fans have naturally been on the lookout for any possible Harry Potter crossover references. One already strung together a pretty solid one, in the form of "Beauty and Lord Voldemort," a fake trailer for a love story between Belle and He Who Must Not Be Named. And now, fans are on to another theory.




Disney recently dropped another clip from Beauty and the Beast, which features Emma and company singing the show's lively opening number, "Belle." If you still remember all the words from the original animated film, you may recall the baker's dramatic uttering of, "Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!" However, the live-action clip reveals that the line has unfortunately been cut. Instead of a chat with the baker, Belle converses with a villager named Monsieur Jean.

"Have you lost something again?" she asks him. "Well, I believe I have. Problem is, I can't remember what." Sound familiar, Harry Potter enthusiasts? As a Redditor points out, back in the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Neville receives a Remembrall in the mail. A Remembrall is a clear ball filled with smoke that turns red when the owner has forgotten something. When it turns a fiery red, Neville sheepishly tells his fellow Gryffindors, "The only problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten."

Magical, right? Well, one Redditor begs to differ. After a few Redditors expressed excitement at the BATB/HP reference, a user by the name of WaxyPadlockJazz kindly shut them down. "I hate to play devil's advocate, but this is one of the oldest gags in the book...," the user wrote. "While the whole 'forgetting something you've forgotten' bit is a line in HP, it's not a HP specific reference. It's a joke that's been used many times over." Yes, true, it's a pretty classic one-liner. But we're still holding out hope that Beauty and the Beast found a way to nod to Hermione.