There's a supernatural creature lurking in the dark that transforms into whatever its prey fears most.

That will sound very familiar to anyone who saw the new IT adaptation recently, but we were actually referring to boggarts – the shapeshifters that feature prominently in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Which leads us to the obvious question: Is Pennywise just a very powerful boggart? Let's take a look.

The Harry Potter wiki describes boggarts as being "sustained by human emotions", an accurate description of how IT feeds off the fear and suffering of the children of Derry.

It also explains why the adults of the town are unable to realise what is happening right under their noses, as those who encounter boggarts are "often easily convinced that they are a figment of their imagination".

Boggarts are "particularly fond of inhabiting dark, confined spaces" – like the sewers under a small American town, for instance – and can be driven back if their prey confront their own fears, which is considerably more difficult and dangerous without the aid of a Riddikulus charm.

So why has the Wizarding World never stopped Pennywise's evil reign over Derry? They've been too busy fighting each other, sentencing people to death without trial and reviving tournaments known for their high child mortality rates to bother saving a bunch of muggles.

Stephen King and JK Rowling teamed up earlier in the year to troll Donald Trump – could a collaboration on Harry Potter and the Pennywise of Doom be far behind?

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Trump has blocked me from reading his tweets. I may have to kill myself. — Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 13, 2017

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. I still have access. I'll DM them to you. https://t.co/MhibEYDBTg — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 13, 2017

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. .@StephenKing On a sliding scale of Annie Wilkes to Cujo, what level of delusion do you reckon we're at today? pic.twitter.com/vmPwdS47Ks — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 15, 2017

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