What scares you the most? If the answer to that question is "clowns," then you probably aren't planning on seeing the new adaptation of Stephen King's It, which stars Bill Skårsgard as the iconic (and downright terrifying) Pennywise the Clown.
However, it's not just Pennywise you need to worry about in the movie: What Skårsgard is really portraying is an evil supernatural entity capable of transforming into anything one is afraid of.
Does that concept sound familiar to you? It may be because you've seen Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Fans on Twitter have put together that Pennywise is pretty much a boggart, a type of being that exists within the Harry Potter universe. The creature first makes its appearance in the Prisoner of Azkaban, where Professor Remus Lupin brings one to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He releases the boggart, who turns into a variety of things depending on which Hogwarts student is staring at it. Unsurprisingly, Ron is forced to confront a "spider" — or, rather, the boggart masquerading as one.
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Other people within the wizarding universe have had their own boggart experiences as well. Mrs. Weasley sees the boggart as the dead bodies of her loved ones. Neville sees Professor Snape. Hermione sees Professor McGonagall telling her that she is an academic failure. The way to fight the monster is to do the charm "riddikulus," which ultimately turns the monster (or whatever else you are seeing) into something funny and no longer scary.
As for the monster in It, well... things are a little more complicated.
Fans of both It and Harry Potter can't get over the similarities.
IT is a boggart but like you can't riddikulus it and its chasing you and you dont have lupin as a professor and its a fucking clown
— lothlórien (@risenning) September 9, 2017
B:What's It about?
— Jennie Patten (@DramaMamaP) September 9, 2017
Me:Hard to explain. The clown's like a demon that manifests their fears
B:like a boggart?
Me:Yes. Pennywise is a boggart.
While rereading @StephenKing's "IT" I can't help but realize the clown is actually just a Boggart like in Harry Potter..
— Timmah On The T (@ImYellinTimmer) August 4, 2017
yo the It clown is like a straight up boggart from hell. crazy mah dudes.
— samn (@sgeezy99) September 8, 2017
Today's pop culture question: Is Pennywise a boggart? @jk_rowling @StephenKing
— Peter N. Dudar (@peterndudar) September 10, 2017
I just realized that pennywise is a boggart!!!!!
— Cade (@caderpotader) September 10, 2017
Okay, so It and Harry Potter don't exactly share the same universe, but maybe J.K. Rowling was a little bit inspired by King's creepy work. Fortunately, she made the boggart a little easier to defeat than the child-eating Pennywise.