Set 70 years before Harry Potter's story begins, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them gives us a peak into the wizarding world of 1926 NYC where relations are tense between the wizarding and No-Maj communities. The fanatical New Salem Philanthropic Society works to eliminate all of wizard-kind. When some of Newt's magical creatures escape into the streets of NYC, the tenuous truce between these two communities is further threatened, prompting the American wizarding authorities to try to catch Newt. The film follows the adventures of Newt, sisters Tina and Queenie, and No-Maj aspiring baker Jacob as they presumably try to catch the escaped magical creatures and stop conflict between the No-Maj and wizarding communities. Here's the official synopsis for the story...
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.