Much to the chagrin of my friends, I don’t attend the big panels at SDCC. I used to, but that was back when you could still line up for the largest conference room, Hall H, twenty minutes before the panel and get decent seats. I think the last thing I saw in Hall H was the Van Helsing panel, to give you a timeframe. However I spent time kicking myself and wishing I had put in the effort after I read about Eddie Redmayne being adorable at the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them panel.

The Saturday panel, hosted by Conan O’Brien, consisted of Eddie, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller and Director David Yates. Eddie and Conan did a little rehearsed bit in which Eddie passed out wands to the audience in an effort to get more light in the hall. With the help of hundreds of WB employees, every person in attendance received one *kicks self again*. Following, Eddie got the crowd to chant “Luminous Maxima” to light the room and then took a selfie with his 7,000 new friends.

To promote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, star Eddie Redmayne walked through the massive Hall H and handed out wands to a crowd of thousands during San Diego Comic-Con.

The panel itself, including Colin Farrell and director David Yates, remained tight-lipped about movie details. “There’s going to be a hole that opens up and he’ll drop in,” Farrell said of co-star Dan Fogler when the latter almost gave away even the most minor of clues.

But they all shared their enthusiasm for being able to join the world of Harry Potter. “It’s like getting your Hogwarts letter way late in the game,” said Ezra Miller.

[From Time]

You can see footage of the panel here. Not only is Eddie adorable but Colin is funny (and so hot) and Dan gets flustered after he says too much. Ezra had a busy day Saturday as he had to turn around and return to Hall H almost immediately for his Justice League panel. I have really mixed feelings about Ezra as a person but he is a great actor, in my opinion. I look forward to him in both these movies.

I took for granted that the fantastic beast in the title referred to Colin but apparently they actually have proper beasts in the movie. The cast showed a new trailer (posted below) and in it are a glimpse of some of the amazing creatures that will be in the film. A few outlets have noted how this trailer seems more politically pointed than the prior ones. Given J.K. Rowling’s outspoken stance on the current political situations in both the US and the UK, it begs the question of how personal this story is to her? Fantastic Beasts hits theater November 18th, ten days after the US election. Timely.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros., Fame/Flynet Photos and Getty Images