The seventh installment of the J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World Loot Crate, Secrets of the Wizarding World, has apparated in with sixteen smoldering soul letters, tableware from a wizarding world speakeasy, a memento to a witch, a folding bag celebrating a shifting facade, a shirt with two different messages for light and dark, and another horcrux delivered by mail, so you don’t have to spend books six and seven collecting them.
This month’s crate interior contains an awesome reproduction of The Marauder’s Map, which will make an excellent underbed or shelf box for odd-sized or prized collectibles.
As a lifelong fan of Jumble, crossword puzzles, the cryptoquip, Scrabble, and anagrams and acrostics in literature, my favorite item this month is the I Am Lord Voldemort magnet set. Printed on thick vinyl, the set is weightier than you would expect, just as you would expect from something concealing a horcrux.
With sixteen letters, most of them common ones, you would be surprised at how many words and names you can make from these magnets. For instance, how many Mordor cryptograms can you find in Tom Marvolo Riddle?
Mordor Moved It All
Veto All Dim Mordor
I’m All Voted, Mordor
I’m Tall Dove, Mordor
Mordor Loved Almit (a bastardization of everyone’s favorite My Hero Academia hero)
‘Til Mad Love, Mordor
‘Til Mad Love, Mordor is my favorite, for in one anagram I’ve encoded my Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and DC Comics fandoms. If your name is Voldemort, please enjoy these anagrams on your refrigerator without thought of royalty, but otherwise, I expect Honeydukes sweets.
Also extremely cool is the Ariana Dumbledore secret compartment picture frame. Not only can you collect this as in-universe fandom memorabilia, and display it so that Ariana’s eyes follow you by the power of lenticular magic, but you can also remove the witch from the box frame and replace her with your favorite muggle. Inside the frame is a small room of requirement with two hooks to hold your Gringott’s key.
The J K Rowling Loot Crate tees are always extremely strong inclusions, and the stylish glow-in-the-dark midnight blue Marauders T-shirt is no exception, with Professor Lupin’s greatest fear looming in the backdrop of the Whomping Willow, while in a dementor-studded starry night–or any other darkness–the Animagus magicians stand starkly revealed.
From the milieu of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them comes the Blind Pig coaster set, which includes six coasters drawn in the 1920s advertising style of the Potterverse speakeasy. As Loot Crate’s coaster sets usually include four coasters, it was nice to get a set of six for a larger group, such as for six-handed Catan.
Joining the club of the most apt fandom pieces ever, Secrets of the Wizarding World includes a collapsible tote bag which bears the image of 12 Grimmauld Place, the famously collapsible hidey-hole of The Order of the Phoenix. It’s a well-designed tote suitable for a bookbag, a reusable shopping bag, or a beach bag.
Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup pin completes the Horcrux series. It’s a bright, weighty double pinback that will either show your Hufflepuff team spirit or your undying devotion to the Dark Lord.
Secrets of the Wizarding World was not only an excellent installment in the J K Rowling Wizarding World Loot Crate, it was also one of the best Loot Crates I’ve received for review in 2017. The magnetic letters are a hoot, the shirt is fantastic, the coasters, frame, and bag are lovely, and I’ve now get a set of Horcruxes. The Wizarding World Loot Crates are full of not only delightful but unique items, many of which are so eclectic that you wonder how they were imagined. Like magic itself, the items in this Loot Crate are often unlooked for wonders.
While Secrets of the Wizarding World was tucked into the room of requirement, until January 3rd, 2018, you can order The Ties That Bind Us, which Loot Crate tells us contains two exclusive wearable items.
As you gather together with your loved ones for the holidays, we’ve gathered together a collection of exclusives from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World for you! (Or, as a gift for another!)
Get “The Ties That Bind Us,” featuring TWO exclusive wearables! https://t.co/rEWaonxCHF pic.twitter.com/44vPyNvPPx
— Loot Crate (@lootcrate) December 13, 2017
Loot Crate sent the review copy.