The Rise and Fall of Gellert Grindelwald

Gellert Grindelwald was one of the best-known sorcerers of his time but also one of the most dangerous and powerful dark wizards. He killed many people throughout Europe like Viktor Krum’s grandfather and many others. But Gellert was never powerful in Great Britain. To explain this, it was rumored that he was afraid of Albus Dumbledore.
 

Biography

 

Schooling in Durmstrang

Gellert Grindelwald was a pupil in the school of Durmstrang where he engraved on a wall the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. This symbol, synonymous with provocation, was taken up years later by many students who displayed it on their clothes or in books to provoke and look impressive. Viktor Krum and other students who have lost relatives because of Grindelwald were eager to teach these students a lesson and stop their movement.

Gellert is as intellectually brilliant as Albus Dumbledore, and during his schooling, he was already known for his interest in black magic. His talents were not used to obtain distinctions and rewards but for the sake of darker activities.

At the age of sixteen, the headmaster of Durmstrang can no longer ignore his activities. After attacking and almost killing students at the school, Grindelwald was dismissed by Durmsrang Institute. Following this dismissal, he traveled abroad for a few months.
 

Meeting with Albus Dumbledore

In 1899, during his trip abroad, Gellert Grindelwald met Albus Dumbledore when he returned to Godric’s Hollow after the death of his mother, Kendra Dumbledore. Grindelwald was at that time hosted by his great-aunt Bathilda Bagshot who put him in touch with Albus Dumbledore.

Very quickly, the two ambitious sorcerers sympathized and exchanged many letters to discuss their common project. This common project consisted of suppressing the International Statute of Secrecy in order to establish a domination of sorcerers over the Muggles. All this for the “Greatest good” of the world according to Albus and Gellert. The two young men begin a loving, intense, and passionate relationship.

While he has to take care of his sister Ariana, Albus spends more time chatting with Grindelwald which annoys his brother, Abelforth Dumbledore. Abelforth tells his brother that he will not be able to travel with his sister when he gathers his supporters with Grindelwald. Grindelwald hears this remark and gets angry. He attacks Abelforth while Albus tries to calm them down and a three-way fight ensues.

The noises of the fight attract Ariana who tries to stop the fight but is fatally hit by a spell. Gellert Grindelwald and the two Dumbledore brothers never knew who had cast the spell.

Grindelwald leaves the country in a hurry the same day and does not attend the funeral as he is already known in his own country for many misdeeds. He didn’t want to add this death to his long list of crimes. This tragic event definitively distances Dumbledore from Grindelwald.
 

The Elder Wand Quest

During the reflections he had with Dumbledore, the two sorcerers became interested in the Deathly Hallows, even going so far as to use the symbol of the Hallows as a signature. Grindelwald continued this interest after the death of Ariana Dumbledore. He later succeeds in finding the Elder Wand in Gregorovitch’s house, stuns him, and flees through the window with it.

The popularity of Grindelwald eclipses the initial meaning of the Deathly Hallows symbol and is later considered by many sorcerers as his mark.
 

Ascension

The details of his ascent remain rather little known in Great Britain, Grindelwald being powerful especially in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, he justified his actions by using Dumbledore’s formula, “For the greater good” which he even had engraved at the entrance of Nurmengard. It is in this prison that he locked up his opponents. It’s probable that he theorized a “right to rule” over the Muggles to justify his ascension.

1926
After numerous murders, Grindelwald disappears without a trace. This event is in the headlines for a while and the wizarding world stayed on guard.

The dark mage takes the appearance of Percival Graves, an important member of the magical Congress of the United States of America, in order to hide and use the powers of Credence Barebone, a powerful Obscurial, to his advantage. He is unmasked in New York by Newt Scamander who uses the Revelio spell on him. He is taken to prison after addressing a few words to Newt.

1927
In 1927, Grindelwald escaped from the M.A.C.U.S.A prison thanks to the intervention of an employee of the US Department of State named Abernathy, who became one of his loyal supporters. He joins Europe to increase his notoriety as a guide to the resistance in the wizarding world.

Three months after his escape, he arrives in Paris, France. There he is accompanied by several of his acolytes, namely Vinda Rosier, Abernathy, Carrow, MacDuff, Krafft, Nagel, and Krall, who takes for their master a luxurious apartment in the center of the capital by killing its residents.

Grindelwald stays there out of sight until Vinda brings back Queenie Goldstein, a powerful Legilimens, sister of Porpentina Goldstein, and former friend of Newt Scamander. Initially, Queenie didn’t was against Gellert and tried to fight him, but thanks to his beautiful words, Grindelwald manages to make her think about her positions.

Gellert then gives an appointment with his supporters in the Lestrange mausoleum, located in the center of the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. There, he uses his talents as an orator in a speech of appeasement, to try to prove to the Aurors, that he knew were among the guests, that they are more violent than him.

After ordering his men to leave, he launches a Protego Diabolica that kills several Aurors and threatens to destroy the city. Credence and Queenie have then joined him and left with Gellert and his acolytes.

Later, Grindelwald ends up in Nurmengard Castle with several of his supporters such as Queenie Goldstein and Credence Barebone. Grindelwald comes to the latter, gives him a wand and tells him about a prophecy which he believes to be a prophecy about his family and a phoenix. He then reveals to him that, still according to him, his name is Aurelius Dumbledore.
 

Duel against Albus Dumbledore

While Grindelwald is at his peak, the wizarding world was unanimously asking Albus Dumbledore for help. Albus is then is charged to find Grindelwald and stop his reign. A fight breaks out between the two old friends and Grindelwald is taken prisoner after a hard duel that will remain in the legends.
 

Imprisonment and Voldemort’s visit

Following his lost duel against Dumbledore, Grindelwald is imprisoned for life in his own prison in Nurmengard in the highest window of the highest tower where he remains for decades.

In 1998, Voldemort is looking for Elder’s wand and manages to find Gregorovitch. He manages to read his mind before killing him and revisits the scene of the theft of the wand. Ignoring the identity of the thief, he is unable to follow the trail.

It’s only when Nagini attacks Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in the house of Bathilda Bagshot that Voldemort manages to continue his quest for the wand. During Harry and Hermione’s escape by apparating, Lord Voldemort finds a picture of a young Grindelwald that Harry dropped to the ground during the escape, leading him to the theft he was looking for.

After a long search abroad, Voldemort finds the Grindelwald prison and reaches his cell. Grindelwald is not surprised by this visit and smiles at the Dark Lord from above. He asks him to kill him and provokes him again by telling him that the Elder wand would never belong to him.

Voldemort, already enraged by Grindelwald’s provocations, feels that Bellatrix Lestrange is calling him by pressing his dark mark. His fury explodes and in rage, he kills Grindelwald, freeing him from his long agony.
 

Characteristics of the character

Physical description
Gellert Grindelwald was a man with golden blond hair in his youth.
When Voldemort visited him in his cell in 1998, he had the appearance of a skeletal silhouette under his blanket. His face looked like a bald skull and has almost no teeth.

Character
Gellert Grindelwald is a man who holds his ideals high and does not hesitate to use force and manipulation to apply them. He was highly confident and knew how to please people. Although he was a murderer and terrorized people, he was not believed to be killing just by pleasure as Voldemort did. All the crimes of Grindelwald were to attain his objective, which was to stop the reign of Muggles on the world and to give that power to the wizards.