A clip from the opening number of Beauty and the Beast debuted earlier this week to the excitement of fans, but while we were admiring Emma Watson’s singing we missed a magical Easter egg right under our noses.
We already had the inevitable Harry Potter mashup of Beauty and the Beast featuring Hermione and Voldemort, but this marks our first Harry Potter nod in a clip from the upcoming Disney movie. About halfway through, Belle greets a man named Monsieur Jean who looks confused.
“I’m afraid I have,” Jean says when asked if he’d lost something. “The problem is, I can’t remember what!”
It’s a possible callback to Neville Longbottom’s Remembrall in Sorcerer’s Stone, a magical item that lets him know if he forgot something. Unfortunately, once it turns red he has no idea what he’s forgotten. While it was Neville’s robes in the film, we’re not told what Monsieur Jean has forgotten.
Given that Monsieur Jean doesn’t appear in the original 1991 film—Belle’s first conversation happens with a baker—it’s likely just a fun little nod. And Jean isn’t much for books after finding Belle’s book about two lovers in fair Verona, most likely Romeo and Juliet, pretty boring. But that in itself is another Easter egg: a deleted scene from the animated film shows Belle reading the end of Romeo and Juliet to the Beast, who—unlike Monsieur Jean—would very much like to hear it again.
H/T Bustle