Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard

by Tom Felton

fantastic beasts

Clever connection

We’ve been quacking ever since.

Quite the opposite. It’s because I’m saving them for the moment that I look forward to most in my future: one day sharing these stories—books first, then the films—with my own little Muggles.

“Are you a rich man?” I barely knew how to answer. I’m not sure I entirely understood the question. He told me he was a rich man, not because he had wealth but because he had his family around him. He knew what was important in life. He knew no amount of money, fame or praise would ever make him content. He knew to help people, and it would naturally pass on to others.

The realisation of this is what makes me a very rich man indeed.

An older actor once told me a line that he sometimes uses when people recognise or half-recognise him: Do you have any idea who I think I am? It can be a charming way to ease that awkward moment, but it hints at a deeper truth, too: often, those of us in the public eye have no idea who we think we are. Our sense of self is skewed. Our vision is blurred.

I smiled, because I knew what he was saying, wise old wizard that he is. Tom, he was saying, you haven’t done anything yet. You’re only just getting started. Chapter one may be over, but let’s not look back, let’s look forward. Let’s move on to the next thing, Tom, because the best is yet to come.