J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts may be Dear Utol (2025): Week 7 Highlights 40a Potter-esque magical adventure, but it requires brushing up on our history -- both magical and non-magical -- before the film's Nov. 18 release.

Pottermore is here to help with even more information about North American magic, this time the history of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA).

TL;DR? Do you doze off in history, even when there are wizards? We've got you covered with the big takeaways about MACUSA and more...

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Harry Potter has American ancestry

Not only that, but Abraham Potter was an Auror, one of the original dark wizard catchers who volunteered to help MACUSA and protect the American magical community. He was one of a dozen, along with Gondulphus Graves, who is definitely related to Fantastic Beasts' Percival Graves (because no two people in the wizarding world share a last name without also sharing a bloodline).

One MACUSA President bred bigoted magical dogs

President Thornton Harkaway, whose home became MACUSA headquarters in 1760, bred a whole pack of crups -- which are essentially Jack Russell terriers, minus the forked tail and the penchant for attacking non-magical people. The crups attacked locals and Harkaway was forced out of office.

Country or Kind?

In 1777, the American Revolution prompted the magical community to question where its loyalty lay: With fellow wizards, or with the United States? Taking the lead from their British counterparts, American wizards did not actively engage in the Revolution, but protected their neighbors and communities and celebrate the Fourth of July.

Rappaport's Law

We've seen this before on Pottermore, but the law instituted in 1790 forbade wizardkind from marrying or even forming close friendly ties with No-Majes.

The Sasquatch is real

...and had an uprising in 1892 which made quite a lot of extra work for MACUSA.

American wizards have the death penalty

At least they do in the 1920s, when Fantastic Beaststakes place. The decision for who receives this punishment for serious crime lies with the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement: Percival Graves.