Gellert Grindelwald

 Gellert Grindelwald

Biographical information

Full Name

Gellert Grindelwald

Date of Birth

1883

Blood status

Pure-blood

Marital status

Unmarried

Nationality

Austrian

Also known as

• Grindelwald

• Dark Lord

• Percival Graves (disguise; briefly)

Physical information

Species

Human

Gender

Male

Hair color

Blond

Eye color

Blue

Skin color

Pale

Family information

Parents

• Unnamed mother †

• Unnamed father †

Great-aunts/uncles

Bathilda Bagshot (great-aunt)

Relationships

Allies

• Bathilda Bagshot

• Albus Dumbledore (formerly)

Enemies

• Albus Dumbledore

• Tom Riddle

• Delphi Diggory 

Romances

Albus Dumbledore (ex-lover)

Magical information

Powers/skills

• High intelligence
• Manipulation
• Leadership
• Charisma
• Acting
• Gifted orator
• Knowledge of magical history and law
• Magic

Wand(s)

• Unknown wand

• Elder Wand (formerly)

Affiliation

Home

• Godric's Hollow (formerly)

• Nurmengard's Castle

Occupation

• Dark Wizard

• Wizarding revolutionary leader

School

Durmstrang Institute (graduated)

Loyalty

• Grindelwald family

• Durmstrang Institute

• Bathilda Bagshot

• Grindelwald's Army

Gellert Grindelwald is a Dark wizard on the list of "Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time".

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 match that of Albus Dumbledore, which induced the two young men to quickly befriend one another in their youth. As an adult, Grindelwald was supposed to be the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time (with only Voldemort, who emerged years later, being deemed to be able to possibly surpass him) and feared by most of the wizarding world. With the Elder Wand enhancing his already tremendous ability, Grindelwald successfully terrorised much of the wizarding world, defeating so many in his reign of terror, that Dumbledore eventually was deemed by the British Ministry of Magic to be the only wizard who could possibly stand any chance of defeating Grindelwald, with even Torquil Travers, who despised Dumbledore, adamantly attempting to persuade him to fight Grindelwald as a result. Indeed, Grindelwald believed himself to be the only wizard capable of killing Dumbledore, had it not been for the past blood pact between them. In the end, Grindelwald's power proved to be great enough that Dumbledore, despite his strong desire not to engage Grindelwald, was eventually forced to take action. While he was ultimately defeated by his old friend in a duel of legendary proportions, it must be noted that he had proven capable of holding his own well against Dumbledore, with Albus himself later admitting that he had been only "a shade more skilful" than Grindelwald, and admitting that in terms of power, they were both evenly matched, which could imply that Grindelwald was even more formidable than Voldemort and only less evil.
• Intellectual genius: Grindelwald was not only a great wizard but also possessed an incredible level of intellect, as he was considered to be as intelligent as Albus Dumbledore, who was considered the most brilliant student in Hogwarts's history when both of them were seventeen. 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. As an adult, Grindelwald 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 number of followers and being able to unstoppably rise to power steadily, with only Dumbledore's mechanizations preventing him from conquering the wizarding world but even then, over time Grindelwald forced Dumbledore to resort to personally confront him as he steadily began overwhelming his former friend's indirect attempts. Displays of his uncanny ability to create complex and carefully woven plans to achieve his goals was shown when he managed to think his way out of his blood pact with Dumbledore by having Credence kill Albus for him 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 was also an outstandingly skilled orator, having complete calmness and full capability in delivering convincing speeches to others to persuade them to join his cause and being fully capable of applying persuasively terrifying provocations, as shown by how in his rally, Grindelwald succeeded in convincing almost all who attended his speech into joining his cause and even Jacob Kowalski, a veteran of First World War, still found Grindelwald's speech to be extremely powerfully persuasive.
• 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 Fthe or 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 like 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. During his time in prison, the MACUSA had to cut 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 an 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, having led a vast army of allies and acolytes during a horrific For the Greater Good revolution that sparked the Global Wizarding War across much of continental Europe. While disguised as Percival Graves, Grindelwald demonstrated his leadership expertise 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 without even President Picquery suspecting anything.
• 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 Durmstrang'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.[18] By the time he became an adult, Grindelwald was widely considered to be the second most powerful Dark Arts practitioner in history, with the wizarding world considering Lord Voldemort to be 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.
• Elemental Magic Mastery: Much like his former friend Albus Dumbledore, Grindelwald was extremely accomplished with the manipulation of the elements. While fighting off 5 European Aurors sent after him, Grindelwald incinerated them with a white, fiery blast. In his brief duel with Newt Scamander, Grindelwald repeatedly used lightning-based spells to quickly overwhelm his foe, 
• first casting a shockwave of blue electricity capable of collapsing the ground, and then rendering Newt helpless with several consecutive bolts of blue lightning. While escaping his flying prison carriage, Grindelwald generated massive lightning bolts to shoot down all of the broomstick-mounted Aurors and drowned Spellman in a vast amount of water, quickly killing him. Later, when fending off Theseus Scamander and his Aurors, Grindelwald conjured a large ring of tremendously powerful blue fire, which he was that he was able to easily manipulate with pinpoint precision, precisely casting several columns of blue fire to easily kill many Aurors, even slaying them mid-Apparition. Indeed, this blue fire, while similar to Fiendfyre, far surpassed the latter's power, as it would have destroyed the entirety of Paris had it not been contained just in time.
• Dueling: Gellert Grindelwald was a duelist of terrifying, almost unrivaled skill. Having received thorough training in dueling 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 more traditionally and formally, and thereby defeating his foes in a more "fair fight". Grindelwald thus showed a surprisingly defensive dueling style compared to the aggressive dueling style of Lord Voldemort, deflecting his opponents' efforts to subdue him, and slowly advancing upon his foes, before delivering the crushing blow, 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 held his own 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 dueling skills made him look almost undefeatable in a duel, as he defeated and killed many powerful witches and wizards during his reign of terror in the wizarding world. He also presumably easily overpowered the extremely accomplished Percival Graves, so he could disguise himself as him and infiltrate MACUSA. While impersonating Graves, Grindelwald still displayed tremendous duelling skill, winning every single one-on-one duel (swiftly besting and torturing Newt Scamander, and easily fending off former Auror Tina Goldstein), and upon being unmasked, Grindelwald not only fended off more than twenty highly-trained MACUSA Aurors simultaneously with relative ease, seamlessly switching between offence and defence to both repel and attack his opponents, but he also quickly started to overwhelm his opponents with little difficulty (quite possibly he would have eventually defeated them all had Newt not restrained him from behind). Grindelwald later escaped from captivity, easily defeating many broomstick-mounted Aurors while simultaneously directing the Thestrals pulling his prison carriage. Grindelwald later effortlessly fended off the combined might of Leta Lestrange, Head Auror Theseus, and Newt Scamander with little effort, even deflecting a spell from Leta while he had his back to her, and then swiftly killing her. Ultimately, as a testament to his immense duelling skills, Grindelwald was even able to go toe-to-toe with Albus Dumbledore, indeed, their legendary duel has entered history as possibly the greatest duel ever fought between two wizards, although he was ultimately defeated due to being "a shade" less skilled of a duelist than Dumbledore, which ended his reign of terror and led to his final imprisonment in his own prison, the fortress of Nurmengard.
• Charms: Grindelwald was incredibly skilled and powerful in Charms. Albus Dumbledore claimed that when he was still seventeen, Grindelwald could already cast a Disillusionment Charm strong enough to effectively render himself invisible without needing to use an invisibility cloak, which is a tremendous feat. As such, the Cloak of Invisibility would be the Hallow that Grindelwald was least interested in and continued his search for it only because the Cloak completed the trio of legendary artifacts. Grindelwald also displayed outstanding 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 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 disloyal 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 even more powerful than Fiendfyre, as it would have destroyed all of Paris had it not been contained in time by the combined might of Nicolas Flamel, Newt Scamander, Theseus Scamander, Tine Goldstein, and Yusuf Kama.
• 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 lizard. Grindelwald was also able to mount the Thestrals of his prison carriage, directing them, while simultaneously defeating many broomstick-mounted Aurors.
• Healing magic: Grindelwald had an immense understanding of healing charms, being able to heal the cuts on Credence Barebone's hands endlessly and nonverbally, by simply touching them.
• Transfiguration: Grindelwald was incredibly proficient in the field of Transfiguration, and his ability and knowledge in the area of Human Transfiguration were sufficient to transform himself into an exact replica of Percival Graves for an extended period without his disguise fading, without him needing any Polyjuice Potion.
• Apparition: Like most adult wizards, Grindelwald was able to Apparate. However, he is capable of Apparating with greater speed and precision, allowing Grindelwald to dodge the violent attacks of Credence's huge Obscurus with relative ease, and to later Apparate to the bottom of his speedily flying prison carriage, while disguised as Abernathy.
• 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, and later while turning her to his side. Even in his older days and having been imprisoned for many 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 for the Elder Wand.
• History of Magic: Grindelwald had excellent knowledge of magical history and lore, with particular specialization in the portions of it that pertained to powerful magical artifacts, 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. He was also aware that to become the master of the Elder Wand, he needed to not only steal it but also defeat its previous owner.
• 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 before the Muggles started 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 endlessly 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 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 shockwaves to move and otherwise exert force on people and objects, notably being able to break apart the ground by sending a shockwave 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 prison carriage, Grindelwald simultaneously disarmed all of the accompanying Aurors inside the carriage of their wands and made all of those wands hover in the air, while pointing at the Aurors. He subsequently defeated all of the remaining Aurors by nonverbally using the Elder Wand, and during his rally, nonverbally projected Second World War images from his skull-hookah, and even nonverbally generated tremendously powerful blue fire from the Elder Wand.

Possessions

• Gellert Grindelwald's wand: Grindelwald's original wand, notably used by him to permanently carve the Deathly Hallows symbol into the wall of Durmstrang Institute, and later used in the three-way duel between himself, Albus, and Aberforth. Grindelwald's last known use of his wand was to stun Gregorovitch and attain mastery over the legendary Elder Wand.
• Percival Graves's wand: While infiltrating the MACUSA in the guise of Percival Graves, Grindelwald wielded Graves's wand against many MACUSA employees. It is unknown how exactly he acquired it, nor if he mastered the wand. He lost the wand when Tina Goldstein used a Summoning Charm to disarm him of it.
• Elder Wand: Grindelwald wielded this wand, the most powerful wand in existence, known also as the "Wand of Destiny" or the "Deathstick", and one of the Deathly Hallows. He attained mastery of it after stunning Gregorovitch, but Grindelwald ultimately lost it at the end of his legendary duel with Albus Dumbledore.
• Gellert Grindelwald's necklace: Grindelwald possessed a necklace with a pendant of the Deathly Hallows sign, which Grindelwald gave to Credence Barebone, who could summon Grindelwald by touching it.
• Gellert Grindelwald's skull hookah: Grindelwald used this enchanted water pipe. The hookah, or the drug that is smoked, enhances Grindelwald's visions of the future.