- "Dark wizards are still out there... And so are we."
- — Official tagline
Self-made poster to "The Aurors"
On April Fool's Day 2011, the US-based TV station IGN posted a trailer on its website for a supposedly new series called The Aurors. It was said to be a show based in the Harry Potter universe, that was half crime, half fantasy.
The show was supposedly ordered by the US cable/satellite television network FX for 12 episodes, with a scheduled start date of 31 July, 2011 - Harry Potter's birthday. It was supposedly rated M (the strongest television advisory rating in the United States - advised for mature audiences only) with the tags LSV (language, sex and violence.)
However, it was only an April Fool's joke and a fake trailer.
Summary
The trailer showed two intercut sequences:
1. An Auror in Muggle attire (a grey suit) following a dark-skinned, hooded figure through a parking garage, a stairwell and on the roof of a highrise (presumably all the same building), where the two face off: a wand drops out of the hooded wizard's left sleeve, surrounded by green sparks, indicating the hooded wizard is about to use Avada Kedavra on the Auror. But the latter one is very quick, he pulls his wand out fast and shouts "Expulso!"
2. The same Auror in a dark office, where a bearded elder man tells him how "the Department [of Magical Law Enforcement] has its eyes on him for quite some time." He's got a "pristine record", the Auror-to-be's tests would "Exceed Expectations" and that he was about to join an elite unit, the only probability higher of him quitting this unit was him dying. And that if he doubted himself just one time, the world would swallow him whole. With the elder man's "Welcome... to the Aurors", the trailer ended with the CSI-style title card and the familiar bells of "Hedwig's Theme."
The file in the office identifies the Auror-to-be as "William J. Albricht".
Behind the scenes
- A web-only project with a similar concept, titled Auror's Tale, was announced for summer 2012.