A new report has revealed how J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them begins.

In a third preview of their Fantastic Beasts cover story hitting newsstands tomorrow, Entertainment Weekly offers a couple of hints about the Wizarding World spinoff’s plot. The crux of it is this: Newt’s suitcase will hold big habitats for the beasts he studies and collects, and the film will kick into gear when a few of them escape from the case.

Adding to the problems, non-magical folk will be wearier of Wizards and Witches than they are in the United Kingdom. Funnily enough, this is exactly what we speculated would be happening on a recent episode of MuggleCast.

Says EW of the plot:

Eccentric magizoologist Newt Scamander (Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne) comes to New York (for a reason we won’t disclose) with his trusty weathered case. This case is one of those way-way-way-bigger-on-the-inside magical devices, and within are expansive habitats for a collection of rare and endangered magical creatures from Newt’s travels around globe. He discovers the American wizarding community is fearfully hiding from Muggles (who are called “No-Maj” in the States, more on that here) and the threat of public exposure is an even graver concern than in the UK (remember the Salem witch trials?). Fantastic Beasts is the story of what happens when this uniquely skilled English wizard travels to wiz-phobic America and a variety of his creatures, some quite dangerous … get out of their case.

The suitcase reminds us of Hermione Granger’s magical beaded handbag, seen in Deathly Hallows while she was on the road with Harry and Ron. The small bag would let her hold an unlimited number of items, no matter their size.

It’s still too early to judge the premise of the film, but we like what we’re hearing so far. The suitcase’s ability to hold habitats will surely be whimsical on screen, as we know the team behind the Harry Potter films is damn good at bringing magical objects to life.

The report also reveals that Warner Brothers was originally hoping to adapt Rowling’s small Fantastic Beasts book as a documentary before the Harry Potter author came up with what became the final story. As longtime followers of this project know, Rowling ended up writing the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and reportedly has final say about all plot decisions.

What do you think of the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ plot (so far)?

Fantastic Beasts opens next November and stars Eddie Redmayne. Check out photos from the film here!