'Fantastic Beasts' sequel won't mention Dumbledore's sexuality

"I always thought of Dumbledore as gay," J.K. Rowling announced nonchalantly to her fans shortly after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

11 years later, the highly anticipated Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will introduce us to a young Dumbledore, but will "not explicitly" tell us he's gay, director David Yates told Entertainment Weekly.

When Rowling made her announcement in 2007, Albus Dumbledore – already a hero to millions of Harry Potter fans, became instantly canonized in literature as a prolific gay character; one who was not stereotypical or negative, and whose tragic love story with the evil Grindelwald as teens has fascinated Potter fans ever since they learned of it.

“I think all the fans are aware of that," Yates said of Dumbledore's sexuality. "He had a very intense relationship with Grindelwald when they were young men. They fell in love with each other’s ideas, and ideology and each other.”

That's exactly why the decision to have a young Grindelwald and Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts franchise at all was initially surprising, since their relationship would have occurred years prior to the first Beasts film in 1926. It has since become apparent that the Beasts franchise is leading up to the pair's famous 1945 duel, which Dumbledore won.

In 2016, Rowling suggested that we might see more to Dumbledore's personal life than in the Harry Potter series. “You will see Dumbledore as a younger man and quite a troubled man — he wasn’t always the sage," Rowling told TIME. "We’ll see him at that formative period of his life. As far as his sexuality is concerned…watch this space.”

"Watch this space" turned out to mean "Watch all five of these films," if that, for fans to see their hero as he truly is. But Rowling got defensive about the film – which no one has seen – and responded within hours to fans' considerable ire:

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So what will we see of Dumbledore in The Crimes of Grindelwald?

“He’s a maverick and a rebel and he’s an inspiring teacher at Hogwarts," Yates said. "He’s witty and has a bit of edge. He’s not this elder statesman. He’s a really kinetic guy. And opposite Johnny Depp as Grindelwald, they make an incredible pairing.” (For Mashable's coverage of Depp's casting, click here).

Dumbledore never explicitly stated his sexual orientation in the original Harry Potter series, perhaps because he was a notoriously secretive mentor figure who may not have wanted to discuss such matters with students (or because Rowling hadn't decided yet. You choose!). It would make sense for a gay man in the 1920s and '30s to not want to discuss his sexuality, but Beasts already has similar discrepancies, like the African American president of the U.S. Magical Congress.

We sure will. The Crimes of Grindelwald releases Nov. 16.