Gellert Grindelwald

Gellert Gringelwald, also known as Grindelwald is a minor, but important antagonist in the Harry Potter franchise, appearing as a minor character in The Deathly Hallows, and the main antagonist of the Fantastic Beasts series.

He has been portrayed by several actors:

Colin Farrell in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in his guise as Percival Graves
Johnny Depp - who also portrayed Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and The Wolf in Into the Woods - in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Crimes of Grindlewald
Mads Mikkelsen - who also portrayed Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, and Hannibal Lecter in the TV series Hannibal - in The Secrets of Dumbledore
Jamie Campbell Bower as his younger self, portrayed in flashbacks in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Michael Byrne as an old man, portrayed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

History[]

Before the Fantastic Beast Series[]

Gellert Grindelwald was born around 1883. He was educated at Durmstrang Institute, where he excelled in various fields of magic and absorbed much of the school's strength-obsessed, Dark Magic-oriented culture. He was an extremely talented wizard, who possessed an attractive and winsome personality, which was coupled with a "merry, wild" disposition.

Keenly interested in history, lore, and the powerful mystique of magical artifacts, Grindelwald became fascinated with the Deathly Hallows. He became fascinated to the point of appropriating their runic symbol as his own personal emblem and engraving it on the walls of Durmstrang prior to his departure. These engravings persisted for many generations. Rita Skeeter's book The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore explains that Grindelwald's 'twisted experiments' had been the reason for his expulsion at 16 years old from Durmstrang before he could graduate. This was an ominous and troubling sign, as it meant that Grindelwald performed experiments that were too disturbing even for a school with notably high tolerance of the Dark Arts.

After expulsion, Gellert's quest for information about the Hallows led him to Godric's Hollow, England, where Ignotus Peverell, said to have been the first owner of Death's Cloak of Invisibility, had been laid to rest. Conveniently, his great-aunt, acclaimed wizarding historian Bathilda Bagshot, lived there and provided a place for him to stay, complete with a treasure trove of books and documents and a minimum of supervision. It was in Godric's Hollow in late 1898 or early 1899 that Grindelwald met and befriended Albus Dumbledore. The two teenagers had a lot in common: they were class-topping intellectuals and talented young wizards who were idealistic and ambitious. Albus, who felt trapped in a boring town out of familial obligation, gained a glamorous and attractive connection to the excitement of faraway places and things in Gellert. Gellert, an ego case, gained a powerful ally, complete with stimulating conversation, who didn't threaten his sense of control. It is clear that the pair were very close and even became lovers. They shaped one another's ideas, powers, as well as destinies from that day forth.

They also shared two preoccupations. The Deathly Hallows held their fascination for many shared reasons, but their most fundamental reasons they did not quite have in common. Gellert wanted together with his lover to acquire all three and wield the power of Master of Death, the two of them even making a blood pact to ensure their position in their upcoming revolution was equal and no one could hold superior power over the other.

They also dreamed of overturning the Statute of Secrecy and creating a new order in which wise and powerful wizards and witches were the benevolent overlords of their world, including Muggles. Again, Dumbledore's reasons were subtly different from Grindelwald's: as a young man, Dumbledore had witnessed and been powerless to stop a group of Muggle boys tormenting his younger sister, Ariana, to the point that the sweet-natured girl suffered an emotional breakdown and her repressed magic became dangerously unstable. Dumbledore's father was sent to Azkaban for taking revenge on the Muggle boys and his mother was killed in one of Ariana's accidents. He wanted power to protect his loved ones (and by extension the whole world) against cruelty and xenophobia like that shown by the Muggles. They coined the phrase that would become Grindelwald's slogan and the justification for his moral indiscretions and atrocities: "For the Greater Good".

The friends' plans to leave Godric's Hollow, acquire power, and begin their revolution turned serious. When Dumbledore's brother Aberforth became aware of this in the summer of 1899, he was disgusted with Albus's ambition, but was concerned about it as well, knowing that he and Ariana would need to be brought along as she would not receive the care and attention she needed to keep her stable. The tense situation boiled over into a confrontation and Grindelwald, enraged, inflicted the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth. Albus moved to defend his brother, igniting a vicious three-way duel in which Ariana was accidentally killed. Aberforth and Albus were devastated. Though Grindelwald was indicated to have been emotionally cold and dark even back then, it was evident that he too was shocked and likely felt guilt and remorse for the accident, as he did genuinely care for Albus. Realizing Albus would no longer join him, but unwilling to face his now former lover, he fled the country and received putative blame for Ariana's death, thus confirming his place on the wrong side of the law and touching off his career as a Dark revolutionary, which would last until 1945.

Grindelwald eventually acquired the Elder Wand from Gregorovitch by defeating him with a Stunning Spell. With the mightiest wand at his hand, he began launching numerous single-handed devastating attacks across the Wizarding World, committing mass slaughter and attracting the attention of international wizarding communities, risking exposure to the Muggles. Despite the international manhunt, Grindelwald was far too powerful and competent and repeatedly defeated his pursuers and those who tried to stop him. Even when the derelict chateau he stayed in was located, Grindelwald simply killed all his pursuers and left, which Magical Congress of the United States of America President, Seraphina Picquery would later lay the blame for Grindelwald's escape on Swiss delegate Heinrich Eberstadt, claiming that he had let the dark wizard "slip through his fingers".

Realizing the dangers of being captured, Grindelwald swiftly amassed a huge army of followers to both spread his word and also for actual military power, having learned his lesson that he could not take on the entire world by himself. He established the Nurmengard Castle in Austria as both his headquarters and also to contain his enemies. This only further made the situation critical for his enemies, as not only did they know have an army to fight against, but Grindelwald himself was also personally active and had murdered many enemies.

Although Grindelwald seemed unstoppable, he began to plan for his old friend's intervention. Grindelwald knew that despite the Blood Pact that he had made with Dumbledore, Dumbledore was still capable of subtly interfering in his revolution. Henceforth, Grindelwald began to plan for Albus's inevitable intervention should he decide to move against his revolution, seemingly being willing to allow Dumbledore to continue doing whatever he wanted but not willing to just let him get away with it should he try to fight him indirectly. He had a vision of an extraordinarily powerful Obscurial terrorizing New York and went there to recruit the boy to his cause, knowing he was the only one who could possibly stand a chance at defeating Dumbledore apart from Grindelwald himself.

Fantastic Beasts Series[]

In December 1926, Grindelwald managed to remove Percival Graves, the right-hand man of President Seraphina Picquery of MACUSA, from the playing field and assumed his identity to carry out his plans to locate the Obscurus. Having managed to decode his vision enough that Credence Barebone, the adopted son of Mary Lou Barebone, the leader of the New Salem, was related to the Obscurial, Grindelwald established a friendly relationship with him via his expertise in emotional manipulation, promising to protect him from his mother and teach him magic.

At one point, Grindelwald arrested Newt Scamander, whose escaped beasts were believed by MACUSA to be the cause of the Obscurial's attacks. During his interrogation, Grindelwald discovered the Obscurus within Newt's suitcase, and in an effort to hide his tracks, had him and Tina Goldstein sentenced to death. Afterwards, he approached Credence after Mary Lou Barebone was killed by the Obscurial and had him track down his adoptive sister Modesty, believing her to be the source of the Obscurus. Once they found Modesty, Grindelwald cruelly rejected Credence, as he had no further use of him. This angered Credence, who then revealed that he was the Obscurial, much to Grindelwald's surprise, as no Obscurial had survived to more than 10 years old, more than 15 years younger than Credence's age.

Grindelwald wanted to use him to expose the North American wizarding community, and create a weapon against Dumbledore. He attempted to convince Credence that he had nothing to fear anymore and to join his ranks, but this further angered Credence, who began rampaging through the city. Grindelwald was not easily deterred, however, and continued to try to recruit Credence. He easily fended off Tina when she tried to stop him and proved to be far too powerful for Newt to defeat but before he could kill Newt, Credence rampaged once more. Just as Grindelwald realized he would have to fight and began preparing himself, Tina returned to the fold and began calming down Credence until Picquery and her Aurors appeared on the scene and immediately attacked the Obscurus.

With Credence being seemingly destroyed at the Aurors' hands, Grindelwald was so beside himself with rage that he, led by his extreme idealism, began to break his disguise while expressing his utter disgust for being forced to hide from the Muggles. Picquery subsequently ordered the other Aurors to bring "Graves" in, but Grindelwald, no longer suppressing his tremendous magical prowess, soon started to overwhelm them despite being outnumbered at least twenty to one, until Newt finally managed to catch him off-guard with his Swooping Evil and restrained Grindelwald's hands from behind, while Tina used a Summoning Charm to take Graves' wand.

Newt then cast the Revelio Charm, making Grindelwald's disguise fade away while revealing his identity. Even apprehended, Grindelwald was unfazed, arrogantly questioning Picquery's ability to contain a wizard of his reputation and power. As he was led away, Grindelwald met Newt's gaze and mysteriously asked him: "Will we die, just a little?"

Six months after Grindelwald was captured by Newt Scamander, he was supposed to be transported from MACUSA's prison to Europe by Rudolph Spielman and Aurors to answer for crimes he committed. Because of his gift of persuasion, they had his tongue cut out, as several guards had sided with him. Unbeknownst to Picquery, Spielman and several others, Abernathy, MACUSA's employee, was one of Grindelwald's Acolytes. Unbeknownst to Picquery, Spielman and several others, Abernathy, MACUSA's employee, was one of Grindelwald's Acolytes. A few moments before escorting the dark wizard, Abernathy went to Grindelwald's cell and they both assumed each other's identity by using Polyjuice Potion. When the carriage with false Grindelwald set off, Grindelwald (as Abernathy) disapparated from the MACUSA platform and apparated underneath the carriage. When two wizards back to their true identity, Grindelwald apparated onto the carriage and using simple spells, swiftly took control over the carriage. He then incapacitated all the Aurors inside the carriage and killed the pursuers with lightning spells. He entered the carriage and quickly physically overpowered and threw Spielman into the waters of New York Bay, before flying to Europe with his lieutenant.

Three months later Grindelwald, alongside his Acolytes, travelled to Paris to search again for Credence Barebone, who had survived the battle in New York, in order to utilise his abilities to kill Albus Dumbledore. He ordered his subordinates to kill the unknown couple and their small child in order to take over their apartment as a temporary headquarters. During this time, Grindelwald urged Queenie Goldstein and Gunnar Grimmson, the bounty hunter, to join his cause, which worked on Queenie due to her relationship with No-Maj Jacob Kowalski. Grindelwald ordered Grimmson to kill Irma Dugard in order to keep Credence's identity a secret from him. Grindelwald himself later found Credence and offered him a chance to find out his true parentage, then gave him a map to the cemetery of Pere Lachaise.

One evening, Grindelwald called a meeting for his followers in the Lestrange family Mausoleum. There, he gave a rousing speech, in which he shared his idealist perspective of Muggles, as well as his vision of the future, which he warns of another great and terrible war, with images of the London Blitz and Hiroshima punctuating his rhetoric. Openly recognising the battalion of Aurors that had infiltrated the rally, Grindelwald told his followers to remain calm as he revealed their presence and invited them into the circle and he described how the Aurors have fought him so mercilessly, killing his followers simply for believing. When a young girl, who had been motivated by Grindelwald's speech to lash out, went for her wand, the Auror killed her in response, much to the rage of Grindelwald and the rest of attendees. Grindelwald went to the girl and martyred her, asking the brave young witch to be taken back to her family, before commanding his followers to Disapparate from the scene while he faced off against the Aurors.

When Theseus Scamander set his men on Grindelwald, he conjured a circle of protective fire around himself, and added an enchantment designed to test the loyalty of his followers: those who entered with complete fidelity and believed in his cause would survive; those who did not, would be engulfed and perish. Abernathy, Vinda Rosier, Credence, and Queenie joined Grindelwald into the circle and Apparated as Grindelwald easily overwhelmed his enemies, many of the Aurors dying either fleeing or fighting when Grindelwald manipulated the fire to work as a weapon as well, sending balls and bursts of black fire towards his enemies, thereby killing them. Ultimately, about half a dozen of the fifty Aurors Theseus had brought along accepted his offer and joined him in the circle as well. Then Grindelwald, mocking Newt by asking whether he thought Dumbledore would mourn for him, battled him and Theseus Scamander and quickly drove them to a corner. Leta Lestrange screamed to him to stop, which he did and, in response, offered her to join his ranks. She refused, however, and cast a curse that blasted to pieces his skull hookah and attacked him, only to be killed by Grindelwald in retaliation. Having struck down Leta, Grindelwald let out his fury over losing such a valuable tool by unleashing the deadly blue fire, and letting it run rampant, with the intent on destroying the entirety of Paris, and all of those present along with it, before he departed the scene.

Sometime later, at Nurmengard Castle in Austria, Grindelwald spoke with Queenie about Credence. Then he revealed to Credence that the baby bird he has been caring for is actually a Phoenix. According to legend, a phoenix will appear to anyone of a certain wizarding family in dire need. Grindelwald then presented him with a wand, as well as his birth name: Aurelius Dumbledore.

The victory that Grindelwald secured in the Lestrange Rally Mausoleum not only included his gaining Credence's allegiance, however. He was also successful at spreading the word of his seemingly benevolent goals, the inevitability of the Second World War, and potraying his enemies as the real villains, ensuring he would acquire even more followers. By 1930, Grindelwald's power had steadily increased and he was confident enough to finally start an open war, seeking to become the Head of the International Confideration of Wizards, but met the opposition of another army lead by his former friend Dumbledore, who had finally started taking action and assembled his forces to challenge his.

His Downfall[]

Dumbledore hesitated to confront Grindelwald, despite the belief held by many, including quite possibly both men themselves, that he was the only wizard skilful enough to stop his former friend. The reason Dumbledore himself gave Harry was that he was afraid Grindelwald knew better than he did who exactly was responsible for killing Ariana and he didn't want to find out. It was also because the difficulties in abolishing their old blood pact that prolonged the Global Wizarding War. But Dumbledore, at this point about 63 years old and Head of Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was finally able to destroy the vial that prevented him from taking on Grindelwald and convinced by people who suffered from his former friend's actions, he tracked down Grindelwald.

In 1945, upon being found by Dumbledore, they engaged in a duel of such legendary proportions that eyewitnesses stated that it was the greatest duel ever fought between wizards. Despite Grindelwald's mastery of the Elder Wand, Dumbledore had ultimately triumphed over Grindelwald due to being, in his own admission, a "shade more skillful", thus becoming the master of the Elder Wand in the process, and brought him to the authorities of the magical world, resulting in Grindelwald ironically being imprisoned in the topmost cell of Nurmengard, which would serve as his residence for the remainder of his life.

Towards the later years of his life, Grindelwald re-evaluated his actions and his revolution and expressed shame and remorse for the horrors he and his followers had inflicted on the magical and non magical worlds. Fifty-three years after his defeat, Grindelwald woke to find he was not alone in his prison cell; the prison had been infiltrated by Lord Voldemort, who was searching for the Elder Wand for himself. The Dark Lord, expecting fear and surprise, was himself startled to find Grindelwald was not only unafraid but had been expecting him for some time. Despite being unarmed and defenceless against perhaps the most evil and powerful Dark Wizard to have ever existed and the only Dark Wizard ever considered to be more powerful than himself, Grindelwald refused to give up the location of the Elder Wand while taunting Voldemort by his name and laughing at his desire for the wand, having decided to protect the Elder Wand from Voldemort in order to try to achieve a level of redemption. Growing more and more furious, Voldemort's fury exploded uncontrollably when he felt his Death Eaters summoning him in tandem with Grindelwald's final taunts that he could kill him if he wanted but the Elder Wand would never ever truly belong to him and thus Voldemort ended Grindelwald's life with the Killing Curse.

Personality[]

Grindelwald was a driven, charismatic, determined and brilliant individual, even in his youth. Albus Dumbledore himself confessed that Grindelwald was extremely charming, so much that it had induced him to fall in love with him, and it was partly the reason Dumbledore had been initially blind to just how dangerous Grindelwald truly was. His attraction to the Dark Arts was not necessarily malevolent in its initial stages, but was more of a personal interest that swelled over time in Durmstrang, a school that was rather notorious for its acceptance and study of the Dark Arts. During his formative years, Grindelwald also proved himself highly intelligent, magically talented, idealistic, as well as ambitious to the point of ruthlessness, with a ferocious temper: when Aberforth Dumbledore challenged his and Albus's plans and tried to convince his brother to abandon them, Grindelwald "lost control" and used the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth, showing his willingness to cause pain to people who challenged him. This remained as he became a full adult, although it was tempered with remarkable self-control: he showed outright anger at Tina for interrupting his attempts to persuade Credence but restrained himself enough to not waste time to kill her, instead pursuing Credence to continue his goal, and did not allow his rage to cloud his dueling prowess when fighting Newt, swiftly besting him and not allowing him a chance to retaliate as he furiously bombarded him with lightning curses to kill him, unrelenting until Credence attacked him. This was exemplified when despite his utter rage of the injustice MACUSA treated Credence with, Grindelwald once again remained focused to defeating the Aurors, showing his capability to control his emotions, which he would have did with ease had Newt not interfered; he even seemed to have been willing to avoid confrontation until the shield was reinstated and he had no other choice. When Leta deceived and destroyed his Skull-Hookah he was so outraged, he killed her and then unleashed the fire on Paris. Dumbledore himself expressed horror in what Grindelwald truly was, stating that he had always (unconsciously) sensed something dangerous in him.

As a revolutionary operating outside the law, Gellert Grindelwald grew to become a man who lived in service to his ideals and, as he saw it, in humanity, and was fully convinced that his revolution to bring wizardkind out of hiding and "rise up and take [their] rightful place in the world", above the non-magical population, was truly For the Greater Good, and would bring order, purpose, and direction to the world and benefit of mankind in the long run, and tirelessly endeavoured to fulfil this vision.

While both willing and capable of achieving his own ends by force, Grindelwald, being such an intelligent and, albeit perversely, wise man, fully recognized that although he was most likely the most powerful wizard of the time, the only possible contender being Dumbledore, he would not be able to win against the world on his own and henceforth he relied just as much on his strategical and charismatic leadership skills, raising an entire army in his revolution and creating carefully-woven plans for success in his goals often as well as being able to see and use the emotions of others to get them to join him. His cleverness and persuasive tongue as well as emotional perception made him perhaps the most skilled orator and tactician the series had ever seen, easily surpassing his predecessor Lord Voldemort at least in that regard as he was not blinded by feelings of superiority and treated his followers as equals and was fully willing to rely on allies, very nearly, if not truly, rivaling Albus in terms of leadership and intelligence. Treated as a celebrity by the audience of his rally as he affectionately called his supporters "brothers and sisters", Grindelwald successfully used the discontent of those members of the Wizarding World that harboured anti-Muggle sentiments very strongly as a case for his cause, while making the aurors, the actual noble defenders, seem the tyrannical ones, along with the knowledge of the impending World War II to near-entirely convince all of his audience to join him, showing how far his mastery of public speaking extended, being able to mystify and terrify any individual, even those who ultimately chose to not join him, inspiring fanatical loyalty in each word he said to gain global support. Grindelwald was also fully capable of applying this to individual persons as he could easily tell the most prominent emotions and desires of individuals to use to his advantage: he effortlessly exploited Credence Barebone by appealing to the boy in a way nobody else tried to and offering to accept the boy into his ranks and later on successfully turned him to his side by promising him knowledge and purpose, even overpowering the boy's friendship with Nagini, as well as effortlessly persuading the peaceful, kind, and compassionate Queenie Goldstein to join his cause by promising to abolish such laws as Rappaport's Law, thus promising to bring Queenie and others a newfound freedom to love whomever they please, taking advantage of the latter's desperation to be with Jacob to the point even Jacob himself was unable to persuade Queenie to not join him. In addition to this, he was able to operate very independently if needed, as he single-handedly infiltrated the MACUSA, and was able to mimic the personality of Percival Graves for an extended period time without arousing suspicion. Even at times when he made an error, Grindelwald could mostly deal with them with his composure and swift ability to make judgements, as he soundly recognized Newt had come to suspect his identity and sentenced him and Tina to death to cover his tracks and quickly continued to try to persuade Credence after learning he was the Obscurial calmly despite his phenomenal power and anger.

Judging by Aberforth Dumbledore's testimony, Grindelwald had little interest in, or patience with, those he considered beneath him. He considered Albus Dumbledore an equal, and praised the tremendous potential of the Obscurial Credence Barebone, for instance, but was dismissive of the less talented and intelligent Aberforth, the permanently damaged Ariana, and also, initially, Credence, whom Grindelwald initially callously discarded when he seemingly became no longer useful, mistakenly believing Credence to be a Squib, whom it would be impossible to magically train. In addition, while disguised as Percival Graves, Grindelwald questioned Newt Scamander in an interrogation as to why Dumbledore would have such faith in Newt, indicating an interest in further understanding both Dumbledore and Newt's abilities. Grindelwald's dismissal of Credence as a Squib suggested that Grindelwald, in his (somewhat arrogant) awareness of his own brilliance, was so secure in his own Seer judgement as to having grown a weakness for jumping to conclusions. Grindelwald was also criticized by Newt for deeming magical creatures too simple to raise his interest, being only turned towards more complex forms of magic, unaware that one such creature, a Niffler, actually stole his Blood pact vial.

However, Grindelwald was ultimately a far less evil than his predecessor Voldemort, which made the dark wizard, who was close to Grindelwald's might, deemed far more dangerous than he was. Compared to Voldemort's self-serving actions Grindelwald seemed to have genuinely had what he thought was the best for the wizarding world in his heart. Although he was willing to be ruthless even when it was not neccessary, as shown by how he abandoned Antonia, his Chupacabra pet, to the waters due to it's needing personality and even had no objections to the death of innocents inside a muggle's house, Grindelwald did at times show a level of mercy, as while he could have easily killed Gregrovitch, he only stunned him and rather than just killing all the aurors who interrupted his rally, Grindelwald instead invited them to join his cause and those who went to his side were spared. When Leta Lestrange demanded he stop and seemed willing to join his side, Grindelwald seemed to have been willing to spare Newt and Theseus.

In addition, Grindelwald notably had no Pure Blood Supremacy beliefs, as he welcomed anyone with magic to his side without caring for their blood status and even proved willing to tolerate muggles should they join him, having allowed Jacob to attend his rally and was willing to promise her they would be together. He only ever desired to subjugate Muggles and openly professed that they were, in his eyes, of merely different and not lesser purpose to wizardkind and showed no resentment even as he described them as beasts of burden, while telling Vinda Rosier without hesitation that exterminating all non-magical individuals was never his goal and that some would be spared, insisting that his subordinates not be merciless towards them. Indeed, he lacked any actual resentment towards Muggles, showing spite and even disheartenment when referring to the beliefs that he hated Muggles and correcting it personally in front of a very public audience clarifying to them that his deviant motives were not driven by hatred towards lesser beings, whom he considers inferior but in no way without worth to those higher, inferring that he may even pity them for their inferiority by virtue of their lack of magical aptitude. He also showed a lack of sadistic joy when handling Muggles, as he looked somber as the corpses of the Muggle family his acolytes killed were carried out and Grindelwald even hesitated briefly before allowing a Muggle baby to be killed, in stark contrast to the utterly relishing Carrow and Rosier.

Finally, unlike Voldemort's uncaring and harsh treatment towards the Death Eaters, Grindelwald held his followers in considerably higher regard, treating them as equals, and even appeared to actually care for them and willing to tolerate certain failures and lapses in loyalty and quick to reward them. After Abernathy joined his side, he quickly appointed him as one of his Acolytes, a great honor considering how carefully he had selected those inside the group, and openly praised him along with giving him a new tongue. He forgave Rosier for failing to protect his prized Skull-Hookah and even despite having coldly confronted Krall over his diminishing loyalty, appeared to show some remorse when he died in his spell. At the end of his life, Grindelwald had apparently no longer held his dark views and out of a desire to achieve redemption, Grindelwald lied to Voldemort in order to try to stop him from trying to take the Elder Wand.

Grindelwald was nearly fearless due to his belief of great skill and superiority. He remained calm as he dealt with Credence upon realizing that he was the Obscurial (in the knowledge of how dangerous and volatile Obscurials were), and even proclaimed that he would have personally confronted Dumbledore, the only one he actually feared, had it not been for their Blood Pact. It should be noted that Grindelwald never unleashed Credence upon Britain as it was noted Britain never got attacked, indicating that despite his claims of wanting to remove Albus from the equation, he still considered him a friend to an extent despite their fall-out and even after Albus proved to be the reason of his downfall, Grindelwald still respected Dumbledore and cared for him enough that part of his motivation to stop Voldemort from gaining the Elder Wand was to stop him from desecrating Dumbledore's tomb.

When trapped and unarmed in Nurmengard, facing certain death at the hands of the only Dark Wizard to ever be considered possibly more dangerous than himself, Grindelwald was openly defiant and even mocking, goading Voldemort into killing him by saying that he welcomed death, but that it would not "bring him what [he] seek" and saying there is so much he "doesn't understand". Indeed, he seemed to exhibit a grotesque remnant of the "merry, wild" temperament of his youth. Grindelwald's last words consisted of the dressing-down of Voldemort, and a rather enthusiastic outlook on "the next great adventure", all of which seems clear in its connection to his old friend, Albus Dumbledore.

Powers and Abilities[]

Magical Mastery: Grindelwald was noted to be extremely talented and prodigiously skilled while still a student of Durmstrang Institute, being acknowledged as the best student the school ever had, and his magical mastery was considered to be comparable to that of Albus Dumbledore, which induced the two young men to quickly befriend one another in their youth. As an adult, armed with the Elder Wand to enhance his already formidable powers and having grown into a wizard of terrifyingly incredible, almost unmatched power and ability, Gellert Grindelwald became the greatest dark wizard in history in terms of sheer magical strength and prowess and was officially acknowledged as such even years after his defeat, so much so that even when the insanely more evil and cruel Voldemort arrived 2 centuries later to steal his crown, there were still people who believed Grindelwald was superior even in Britain, with Britain admitting their belief may well be incorrect as they never experienced him, as well as the second greatest wizard in all of history, surpassed barely only by his former friend. Deeply feared by most of the wizarding world while admired by his followers for his immense power, even in the early years of his revolution, the immensity of Grindelwald's magical capabilities were already clearly evident, having proven himself to be easily capable of killing all the seasoned witches and wizards who aimed to end his reign of terror, to the point that everyone already believed that Dumbledore was the only one capable of matching and subduing Grindelwald, even Torquil Travers of the Ministry of Magic in London who, in spite of himself and his personal dislike of Dumbledore. Perfecting many aspects of magic, particularly dark magic, Grindelwald successfully terrorized much of the wizarding world to where ultimately Dumbledore despite his strong desire to avoid confrontation was eventually forced to move against his friend, recalling Grindelwald's power as being such that he seemed unstoppable and many people were being defeated and killed by him. Although Grindelwald was ultimately defeated by Albus, their displays of power and skill was of a standard that few had ever seen before in the history of wizardkind, and their famous duel in 1945 went down in history as arguably the greatest one ever fought between two wizards.

Dark Arts: Grindelwald was incredibly talented in the Dark Arts, and possessed a lethal passion for them even at a young age. Even when he was still only a student of Durmstrang Institute, Grindelwald's experiments in the Dark Arts were already very dangerous, even nearly fatal to the fellow Durmstrang students he attacked, and eventually, his "twisted experiments" became too dangerous for even Dumstrang's tolerant outlook on the Dark Arts, resulting in his expulsion. While seventeen, Grindelwald was already adept at casting the extremely powerful Cruciatus Curse, which was one of the three Unforgivable Curses and required an immense level of magical potential, notably using it against Aberforth Dumbledore. By the time he became an adult, Grindelwald was widely considered to be the most powerful Dark Arts practitioner in history, with even Britain, despite not having experienced him due to Dumbledore's protection, considering Lord Voldemort the only one who possibly surpassed him in the Dark Arts. While impersonating Percival Graves, Grindelwald displayed the ability to cast a curse that emitted a bolt of lightning, which inflicted immense pain on those hit by it, which Grindelwald used to torture Newt Scamander. He also was able to cast a Reductor Curse strong enough to destroy Spielman's wand, a notably considerable feat as not even a hastily cast Blasting Curse was capable of completely destroying a wand. Grindelwald was capable of highly skillfully manifesting and completely controlling phenomenally powerful cursed fire, which he used against Theseus and his aurors, first creating a large protective ring of blue flames that he used some kind of modifying curse to make sure that those who entered with loyalty would survive while others would die and was able to manipulate with great dexterity and precision, casting wide fiery tendrils and balls capable of easily killing the Aurors and even able to slay them mid-Apparition, and then unleashing it's full potency upon Paris, conjuring a fiery demonic dragon which would have destroyed it had it not been contained.
Elemental Magic Mastery: Much like his former friend Albus Dumbledore, Grindelwald was extremely accomplished with the manipulation of the elements, particularly fire, lightning, and water, though Grindelwald seemed to favour the first two, and his mastery seemed to be equal to even Dumbledore. While fighting off five European Aurors send after him, Grindelwald incinerated them with a single huge white fiery blast. In his brief duel with Newt Scamander, Grindelwald repeatedly used lightning-based spells to quickly overwhelm his foe, first casting a shock-wave of blue electricity capable of collapsing the ground, and then rendering Newt helpless with several consecutive bolts of blue lightning. While escaping his flying Incarceration Carriage, Grindelwald blasted massive thunder bolts accurately at several broomstick mounted Aurors to knock them down and quickly filled the carriage with so much water it nearly drowned all inside. Later, when fending off Theseus Scamander and his Aurors, Grindelwald conjured a large ring of tremendously powerful blue fire, which he was able to easily manipulate with pin-point precision, precisely casting several columns of blue fire to easily kill many Aurors, even slaying them mid-Apparition. The blue fire far surpassed even Fiendfyre, as he was able to shape it into a huge fiery demon that would have destroyed the entirety of Paris had it not been contained just in time.
Duelling: Gellert Grindelwald was a duelist of terrifyingly formidable skill. Having received thorough training in duelling and all manner of martial magic during his schooling at Durmstrang Institute, Grindelwald was able to hone his skills to match his extraordinary high potential, becoming a fully confident, focused, disciplined and versatile master of combative sorcery, his reactions "marvelous, astounding". Though quite capable of performing magic of tremendous and destructive power, as seen in how he made short work of the five European Aurors who were searching for him with a huge white fiery blast, he generally seems to prefer to engage his adversaries in a more traditional and formal manner, and thereby defeating his foes in a more "fair fight". Grindelwald thus showed a surprisingly defensive duelling style compared to the aggressive duelling style of Lord Voldemort, deflecting his opponents' efforts to subdue him, and slowly advancing upon his foes, before delivering the crushing blow, in order to take in the awe with which they observe the tremendousness of his magical power. Even as a teenager, Grindelwald was already highly proficient in martial magic, having effortlessly overpowered and Stunned Gregorovitch, efficiently enough to master the Elder Wand in an instant, and later even fought against Albus and Aberforth Dumbledores simultaneously during their three-way duel when they were all in their late teens. As an adult, armed with the Elder Wand, Grindelwald's duelling skills far exceeded that of Lord Voldemort and made him look almost undefeatable in a duel, as he repeatedly proved capable of defeating and killing powerful witches and wizards during his reign of terror in wizarding world with ease, so much so that Albus admitted Grindelwald had been considered unstoppable, easily overpowering the extremely accomplished Percival Graves, so he could disguise himself as him and infiltrate MACUSA, effortlessly fending off Tina Goldstein's assault before swiftly grounding her with a car and quite swiftly gaining and maintaining the upper hand over Newton Scamander before soon decisively defeating him while holding back and disguised as Graves with ease, and even overcoming the combined might of Leta Lestrange, Head Auror Theseus, Tina Goldstein, and Newt Scamander without much effort, going as far as to casually deflect a spell from Leta with his back behind her and instantly killing her afterwards, with Newt, Theseus, and Tina barely escaping with their lives. Even armies of trained wizards and witches working together proved to be of no threat to Grindelwald, while still disguised as Graves but no longer holding back, Grindelwald quickly overwhelmed up to 20 Aurors with ease, seamlessly switching between offence and defence to both repel and attack his opponents, single-handedly escaped from captivity, effortlessly defeating many broomstick-mounted Aurors, and previously soundly defeating the Head of Incarceration Rudolph Spielman and his men in order to take control of the carriage, while simultaneously directing the Thestrals pulling his Incarceration Carriage, and effortlessly taking down up to 50 Aurors during the Battle of Lestrange's Mausoleum. During his reign of terror, Albus Dumbledore was considered by the British Ministry of Magic to be the only duelist capable of capturing Grindelwald alone, with much of the wizarding world pleading with Dumbledore to fight him. Indeed, although he was ultimately defeated by him, their duel went down in history as among one of the greatest battles ever fought between two wizards, their duelling might being of a standard the likes of which none of the witnesses had ever seen before.
Potions: Grindelwald was quite accomplished with Potions, having managed to brew two Polyjuice Potions in secret while held captive by the MACUSA as part of the brilliant plan to escape captivity. While it appeared due to the condition he was in when he made the potion it only lasted a while, it was enough for Grindelwald to succeed in his escape plan.
Charms: Grindelwald was exceptionally skilled in all sorts of Charms. Albus Dumbledore claimed that when they were still seventeen, both he and Grindelwald could already cast a Disillusionment Charm strong enough to effectively render themself invisible without needing to use an invisibility cloak, which is a tremendous feat, implying Grindelwald's mastery of Charms was comparable to Dumbledore's own. This ability made the Cloak of Invisibility the Hallow that Grindelwald was least interested in, and continued his search for it only because the Cloak completed the trio of legendary artefacts. Repeatedly, Grindelwald displayed such consummate skill that he could perform basic spells flawlessly without using his wand or the incantation, pulling Newt's suitcase and the magical orb containing an Obsurus from Newt's case to himself and levitating a car as well as even briefly lifting Newt, Tina and Jacob off their feet before letting them down, all with mere hand gestures without any strain. While escaping his Incarceration Carriage, Grindelwald used various charms to quickly defeat the Aurors without once speaking a word, instantly disarming every auror and levitating their wands, notably combusting Spielman's wand, as well as manipulating the ropes to hurl the Aurors out and quickly filling the carriage with sufficient water to nearly drown all inside. Grindelwald also enchanted a necklace with the symbol of Deathly Hallows that he gave to Credence so Credence could summon him by touching it. Later, Grindelwald used his skull-hookah to conjure up detailed projected images of Credence Barebone and the latter's Obscurus, for his acolytes to see and also used it to project terrifying images of the World War II. Grindelwald also displayed phenomenal mastery over the Shield Charm, and proved himself capable of repelling a barrage of spells fired at him by around thirty trained Aurors simultaneously with relative ease. While using the Elder Wand, he was capable of casting an incredibly complex modified fiery version of the Shield Charm, which conjured an incredibly powerful protective ring of fearsome blue fire around the caster, making it so that anyone loyal to Grindelwald could enter the flame circle unharmed, while those who were disloyal or inadequately loyal (such as Krall) disintegrated instantly when touched by the flames, while also using these blue flames to effortlessly kill several Aurors in mid-Apparition. Overall, this blue fire was far more powerful than Fiendfyre, as it would have destroyed all of Paris had it not been contained in time by the combined magical might of Nicolas Flamel, Newt Scamander, Theseus Scamander, Tina Goldstein, and Yusuf Kama.
History of Magic: Grindelwald had a high level of knowledge of magical history and lore, with particular specialisation in the portions of it that pertained to powerful magical artefacts, such as the Deathly Hallows and Wandlore. For example, he knew that Ignotus Peverell, owner of the Cloak of Invisibility, had been laid to rest in Godric's Hollow. Grindelwald was also aware that in order to become the master of the Elder Wand, he needed to not only steal it, but he also had to defeat it's previous owner. Moreover, Grindelwald was highly knowledgeable of both past and current histories of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, as he knew about the ancient abandoned Lestrange family Mausoleum in Paris and was aware of Leta Lestrange's backstory, and possibly even able to uncover the identity of Credence Barebone before Albus Dumbledore, despite despite the latter's extensive network of international contacts, indicating his knowledge of magical history exceeded even his friend.
Healing magic: Grindelwald had an immense understanding of healing charms, being able to heal the cuts on Credence Barebone's hands wandlessly and nonverbally, by simply touching them. Indeed, Grindelwald's mastery and knowledge was so great that with the Elder Wand, he was capable of restoring back his cut-off tongue, returning his ability to speak.
Transfiguration: Grindelwald was incredibly proficient in the field of Transfiguration, and his ability and knowledge on the area of Human Transfiguration was sufficient to transform himself into an exact replica of Percival Graves for an extended period of time without his disguise fading, without him needing any Polyjuice Potion. Grindelwald was also highly accomplished in the difficult area of Conjuration, easily conjuring several snakes with heads to knock the Aurors out of his carriage.
Apparition: Grindelwald was highly skilled in Apparition, capable of Apparating with pin-point precision and speed, as shown by how he had little trouble avoiding the violent attacks of Credence's huge Obscurus by rapidly apparating, and he easily Apparated to the bottom of his speedily flying Incarceration Carriage, while disguised as Abernathy. His profiency was great enough that just like his former friend Albus Dumbledore, Grindelwald could Apparate silently, something which very few witches and wizards were able do do, notably Apparating away before Credence or Nagini noticed it.
Occlumency: Grindelwald was an incredibly accomplished Occlumens, being able to fully conceal his true thoughts from the exceptionally talented Legilimens Queenie Goldstein while in his Percival Graves disguise[20], and later while turning her to his side. Even in his older days, and having been imprisoned for 53 years in Nurmengard, Grindelwald remained very proficient in the art, as even Lord Voldemort himself, who was reputed to be the most accomplished Legilimens alive, was unable to penetrate Grindelwald's mind to gain information in his search of the Elder Wand.
Care of Magical Creatures: Grindelwald was considerably knowledgeable and skilled in interacting with at least dark creatures, having managed to tame several monsters that he used during his Global Wizarding War, notably his pet Chupacabra. He was also able to recognize a baby bird as a Phoenix, and, with his awareness of the legend of a Phoenix coming to the aid of a Dumbledore in need, Grindelwald managed to persuade Credence Barebone that the latter was actually Aurelius Dumbledore. Grindelwald also had no problems mounting the Thestrals of his Incarceration Carriage, directing them while simultaneously defeating many broomstick-mounted Aurors. However, as expert Magizoologist Newt Scamander noted, Grindelwald was not an expert on other magical creatures, being more turned towards more complex forms of magic, thus making it possible for Newt's Niffler to steal Grindelwald's Blood pact vial.
Divination: Grindelwald was a Seer. He had a vision about the existence of a powerful Obscurial linked to Credence Barebone. However, Grindelwald is seemingly not an expert in this magical field, as he initially misinterpreted his vision, believing that Credence would lead him to the Obscurial child while in fact, Credence was the Obscurial himself. It should be noted, however, that Credence is the only known Obscurial ever to have survived past the age of 10, so Grindelwald could possibly not have anticipated this. Indeed, while possibly not an expert in Divination, Grindelwald's raw Seer power was extreme, to the point that 12 years prior to the Muggles starting the Second World War, Grindelwald predicted it in detail, and was able to use his skull-hookah to project fearsome images of the future Blitzkrieg and Holocaust for attendees of his rally to see. At the end of his life, Grindelwald claimed that he knew that Lord Voldemort would come to him in Nurmengard, which might be another instance of Grindelwald's Seer foresight.
Wandless and Nonverbal magic: Grindelwald was incredibly skilled in both wandless and nonverbal magic, either of which is advanced and often difficult to perform even individually, making Grindelwald's prowess all the more impressive, as he usually performed both simultaneously. In 1926, Grindelwald swiftly Summoned Newton Scamander's wand and suitcase over to him, both with a silent wave of his hand. Grindelwald also wandlessly lifted Newt Scamander from the ground from across the room and then made him, Porpentina Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski simultaneously drop to their knees with their arms locked behind against their backs, without a silent hand gesture. When he interrogated Newt shortly thereafter, Grindelwald Summoned the protective orb containing an Obscurus by silently gesturing it forth. He later saved the life of Credence Barebone from an oncoming train in the New York City Subway by hurling him sideways off the tracks with a wave of his wand. Grindelwald was even able to send an automobile flying across a street at Tina Goldstein with a silent wave of his hand. By using only silent hand gestures, Grindelwald generated forceful shock-waves to move and otherwise exert force on people and objects, notably being able to break apart the ground by sending a shock-wave rippling through a street, and later performing this on the train tracks Newt Scamander was standing on, to knock him down. Grindelwald later fended off around twenty Aurors simultaneously without speaking a single incantation. Grindelwald also healed the cuts on Credence's hand by silently running his own over it. While escaping his Incarceration Carriage, Grindelwald instantly and easily disarmed all of the accompanying Aurors inside the carriage of their wands, and made all of those wands hover in air, while pointing at the Aurors. He subsequently defeated all of the remaining Aurors (along with Head of Incarceration Rudolph Spielman) by nonverbally using the Elder Wand, and sent Spielman's wand flying closer to the latter with a clasp of his fingers, while both Spielman and the latter's wand were quickly falling from the prison carriage. Grindelwald later used his skull-hookah to nonverbally project detailed images of Credence Barebone and the latter's Obscurus, and, during his rally, Grindelwald nonverbally used the skull-hookah again to project images of the Muggles' future Second World War, and later even nonverbally generated tremendously powerful blue fire from the Elder Wand.

Indomitable Willpower: Grindelwald had tremendous willpower, never losing hope that he could sway Credence Barebone to his side despite the numerous obstacles in his way, and showing no fear when the MACUSA successfully imprisoned him, instead mocking Newt Scamander and President Picquery to their faces. His spirit remained unbroken after 6 months of MACUSA imprisonment, since Grindelwald was so effective at persuading his jailers to join his side, that President Picquery was forced to cut out the Dark Wizard's tongue. Grindelwald was not intimidated by the limitation of the Blood pact he had once made with Albus Dumbledore, since he planned to instead use Credence as a lethal weapon against his former friend. Indeed, Grindelwald's calm, yet unbreakable resolve greatly contributed to how persuasive his international rallies were. This was shown when Grindelwald didn't react violently after one of Theseus Scamander's Aurors killed one of his followers, so as to show the rally attendees that it was the Aurors, not his Acolytes, who were the actual violent wizards in the Global Wizarding War. Even after spending 53 years in Nurmengard following his defeat, Grindelwald was as confident and fearless as ever when visited by Lord Voldemort. Indeed, despite being defenseless against the Dark Lord, Grindelwald sadistically mocked Voldemort's efforts, daring the younger Dark Wizard to kill him.

Intellectual genius: Grindelwald was not only a great wizard, but also possessed a tremendous level of intellect, as he was considered to be as intelligent as Albus Dumbledore, who was considered the most brilliant student at Hogwarts's history when both of them were seventeen, which also similiarly marked him as the most brilliant student Dumstrang ever had. Indeed, Grindelwald and Dumbledore's intellects were so complementary to one another, that, according to Bathilda Bagshot, even after spending an entire day in intellectually stimulating discussions with Grindelwald, Dumbledore would still unexpectedly send Grindelwald messages by owl right after sudden ideas struck him, with him having to let Grindelwald know of them immediately.[16] As an adult, Grindelwald's intellect easily far exceeded even Voldemort and he became an exceptional strategist and tactician, with his strategical and tactical expertise displayed by his ability to start a massive revolution on his own, gathering a large amount of followers and being able to unstoppably rise to power steadily, even with all of Dumbledore's indirect attempts to stop him by offering his own extraordinary strategical expertise, eventually having came so close to conquering the whole wizarding world that even Dumbledore could no longer delay his duel with Grindelwald and he also formulated a master plan to investigate unhindered the Obscurus attacks of New York by subtly apprehending President Picquery's right-hand man Percival Graves and infiltrating the MACUSA by assuming his identity. Grindelwald also proved to be a consummate actor, multitasker and investigator, as during his time disguised as Graves, Grindelwald was able to perfectly mimic his personality and American accent and limit his magical abilities to be only on par with him as well as convincingly and effectively carry out his many duties as an Auror, the Head of MACUSA's Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the Director of Magical Security, while also gradually managing to locate the rampaging Obscurial, all without arousing suspicion. Grindelwald demonstrated his brilliance yet again when he orchestrated an escape plan, a plan cunning enough to completely outsmart even the experience of the Head of Incarceration Rudolph Spielman, and involved Grindelwald briefly switching places with new ally Abernathy. He also managed to think his way out of the blood pact he made with Dumbledore, which made him unable to directly fight his former friend, by instead having Aurelius kill Dumbledore for him. Grindelwald was also an outstandingly skilled orator, having complete calmness while delivering intense persuasive speeches, and being fully capable of applying persuasively terrifying provocations, as shown by how in his Paris rally, Grindelwald succeeded in convincing almost all of the many attendees to join his cause, and even Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj veteran of the First World War, still found Grindelwald's speech of the future Second World War to be extremely persuasive, despite fundamentally disagreeing with it.

Charisma: Even as a young man, Grindelwald was highly talented in manipulating others, such that he was able to manipulate the extremely intelligent and perceptive Albus Dumbledore into agreeing to his ideas of For the Greater Good revolution, and only Aberforth's timely intervention stopped Albus. As an adult, Grindelwald's skills in manipulating others grew even further, with Theseus Scamander describing him as a "charismatic blighter" and Grindelwald successfully convincing numerous wizards and witches to join his cause during rallies, with Grindelwald receiving a standing ovation at his Paris rally, being worshipped as a hero by his fanatical followers. He was also able to effortlessly manipulate Credence Barebone into trusting him by looking as a kind mentor to him in the "Percival Graves" disguise, to the point that Credence was completely unaware that Grindelwald was merely using him. He was also shown to be confident that he could eventually get Credence in his Obscurus form to listen to him, which made him enraged when he was seemingly destroyed by MACUSA Aurors. Indeed, despite previously angering Credence, and despite Nagini's attempts to stop Credence, Grindelwald was able to ultimately manipulate the young man to his side by promising to reveal Credence's true heritage to him as Aurelius Dumbledore, and finally gifting Credence with a proper wand, thus finally succeeding in persuading Credence to attempt to kill Albus Dumbledore for him. Grindelwald was even able to persuade the kind-hearted and compassionate Queenie Goldstein of house Pukwudgie, promising to provide Queenie with the freedom to love and marry Jacob Kowalski, as well as to provide that freedom to others, which was such a persuasive offer, that even her beloved Jacob was unable to dissuade his girlfriend. As a result, Grindelwald was an outstandingly skilled orator, inducing a fanatical following in numerous people at once, to the point that he trusted Vinda Rosier and his other acolytes to "spread the word" of his ideology across the Wizarding World. During his time in prison, the MACUSA was forced to cut out Grindelwald's tongue, as he kept convincing his jailers to join his side, notably thus swaying the formerly loyal MACUSA employee Abernathy. Indeed, only people with truly incorruptible moral codes, or with a full acceptance of their past sins, were able to resist Grindelwald's silver tongue, with such individuals being Newton Scamander, Theseus Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, Leta Lestrange, and pre-Horcrux Nagini.
Leadership skills: Grindelwald was an extremely skilled leader. During his younger days, he was apparently already an outstanding leader, having been fully confident that together, he and Dumbledore could start his revolution to conquer the wizarding world and muggle world. As an adult, Grindelwald proved his leadership expertise, which could be considered superior to Voldemort's, by having quickly managed to single-handedly found and lead a vast army of allies and acolytes during a horrific For the Greater Good revolution so effectively, that he successfully sparked the Global Wizarding War across much of the Wizarding World, and very nearly conquered the magical community, to the point that Albus Dumbledore ultimately saw the need to personally confront and fight Grindelwald, as even Dumbledore's attempts to offer his leadership expertise had proved futile. While disguised as Percival Graves, Grindelwald demonstrated his leadership expertise again by taking over the latter's high-ranking positions in the MACUSA as an Auror, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the Director of Magical Security, doing so for an extended period of time without even President Picquery suspecting anything.

Physical aptitude: Grindelwald, despite being middle-aged during the For the Greater Good revolution, was in exceptional physical condition, rivalling, if not, even surpassing that of a young, fit athlete. This was shown when Grindelwald effortlessly physically overpowered the Head of Incarceration Rudolph Spielman, who was also a physically fit individual enough to swim a large amount of water, holding Spielman up with one hand and suspending him out of the opened door of a quickly flying Incarceration Carriage, without any strain despite his struggles. Moreover, Grindelwald was very agile and fast and in addition to his so-called extraordinary dueling reflexes, he was effortlessly capable of swiftly climbing atop his flying prison carriage after Apparating right under it and easily maintaining balance on top of the carriage, despite its very swift flight through heavy rain. Despite physically degrading while imprisoned in Nurmengard, Grindelwald still survived in that prison for 53 years, until Lord Voldemort finally arrived and killed him.

Relationships[]

Albus Dumbledore[]

Albus Dumbledore first met Grindelwald when he was seventeen. They were introduced by Grindelwald's great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. They got along almost instantly, according to Bagshot. They had much in common, including the quest for the Deathly Hallows and edgy ideals about the structure of a wizard-led society. Eventually, their relationship developed further into one that went beyond mere friendship, one that was romantic, intense and passionate, as well as sexual. The two young lovers made plans to find the Deathly Hallows and lead a wizarding revolution with themselves as leaders, but Albus neglected his younger siblings, Aberforth and Ariana, as a result. When Aberforth confronted the pair over this, Grindelwald lost his temper and attacked Aberforth. Albus rushed forward to defend his brother, and during the duel Ariana was killed. Grindelwald fled, his relationship with Albus over, although their feelings for one another would not subside.

Over the next few decades, Grindelwald caused considerable havoc on behalf of his revolution but due to a past Blood Pact between them, neither Grindelwald or Dumbledore could directly fight one another, which frustrated Grindelwald as it prevented him from attacking Britain, which was essentially Dumbledore's protectorate and operates on behalf of in his duties outside of Hogwarts. Although at this point, their relationship seemed to be a thing of the past, Grindelwald still acknowledged and respected the extraordinary magical and intellectual capabilities of his former lover, noting Dumbledore far outclassed any of his followers and with his equal intelligence and magical capability, he had the ability to subtly intervene anyway in his revolution, and this respect made Dumbledore the only wizard Grindelwald was wary of. Grindelwald feared Dumbledore as he recognised that Dumbledore would be capable of defeating him. This made Grindelwald seek out Credence Barebone in order to be able to use him as a weapon in case Dumbledore attacked him, although despite his claims of wanting to use Credence to kill Dumbledore, it seemed unlikely as Britain was always noted long after his revolution to be the only place Grindelwald never attacked, which could imply Grindelwald was either willing to tolerate Dumbledore, as at the time, even with the blood pact vial stolen, he didin't have broken it anyway, or he wanted to conquer the rest of the wizarding world first before finally fighting Dumbledore to further increases his chances of victory. It also seemed that Grindelwald retained interest in Dumbledore, as shown by his taking time to question Newt regarding why Dumbledore would be fond of him while disguised as Graves and seeming reluctance to stop questioning him and sentence him and Tina to death after making a mistake, and perhaps may even have unresolved affections for him, as he, repeatedly, showed hatred for Newt being Dumbledore's favourite. Eventually, however, by 1945, the blood pact between them was abolished. Dumbledore and Grindelwald engaged each other in a legendary duel, one to be marked as the one of the greatest ever fought between two wizards. However, Dumbledore's greater power and skill ultimately defeated Grindelwald despite his mastery of the Elder Wand during their duel, and Grindelwald was imprisoned in his own prison, Nurmengard.

Many years later, in 1998, Grindelwald refused to give any information to Lord Voldemort about the Elder Wand despite the fact that he was imprisoned, wandless, and face-to-face with the only Dark Wizard ever considered more powerful than himself. This seems to indicate that Grindelwald no longer held the views of those who practised the Dark Arts and had felt remorse for his actions. It was speculated by Harry Potter that Grindelwald had given his life to prevent Voldemort from desecrating Dumbledore's tomb, perhaps indicating that despite all that happened, Grindelwald still retained some care and respect for his old friend and lover. Dumbledore's acknowledgement of Grindelwald's attempt to achieve redemption also indicated he believed Grindelwald was capable of changing out of possible remaining affection for him.