Who are Gellert Grindlewald's Parents
Hello lions, eagles, snakes and badgers!
SO we have less than one month until the next installment of the Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them and this movie, as we know is going to focus on the previously
somewhat enigmatic character of Gellert Grindlewald.
Until now, we have only been drip fed little tid bits about the dark wizard mainly he was
dangerous and murderous and had a complicated past with Albus Dumbledore.
We know that in most cases Psycopaths are made and not born.
This is why I am wondering, Who are Gellert Grindlewald's Parents and what did they do
to produce such an evil wizard?
Before we talk about Grindelwald's parents, lets recap what we knew about him prior to
Fantastic Beasts.
First learn about Grindlewald in HP and the Philosophers stone on Dumbledore's Chocolate
Frog card, where it claims that the Hogwarts Professor is famous for his duel with Grindlewald
in 1945.We learn from the Deathly Hallows that before that, we he attended Durmstrang
and was thrown out for his twisted approach to magic.
He later came to Godrics Hollow to stay with his aunt, where he met Dumbledore.
The pair became friends, obsessed with power and we know that Dumbledore develop feelings
for the Wizard that were not reciprocated.
Grindlewald argued with Dumbledore ahead of a mission to find the Deathly Hallows which
he wanted to become invincible.
After Dumbledore's sister was killed in a duel between Grindlewald, Dumbledore and Dumbledore's
brother Alberforth, he fled the UK, stole the Elderwand from Mykew Gregorovich and then
began his mission to enforce the supremacy of the Wizarding Race by outing them to muggles.
So Grindlewald.
His name suggests he is of Germanic origin, and this is reaffirmed by his Aunt Bathilda
Bagshot.
Bathilda also being a Germanic origin name.
Whether or not his family are actually German is another thing.
Gellert is a Hungarian name and there was a rebel monk in Budapest by the same name.
Grindlewald is a town in Switzerland, but also has connotations to Grendel, an Anglo
Saxon Troll from the story of Beowulf.
We also know he attended Durmstrang, which is rumored to be in Northern Sweden although
of course he would have travelled.
From this we can safely assume the Grindlewald Lineage were Pure Blood Wizards from Eastern
Europe as we know Durmstrang only accepts purebloods.
I suspect his family, like the Malfoy's, were rich.
From what we know of Grindlewald's family, they are in Eastern Europe, with Bagshot in
the UK.
The British Monarchy, especially at the time of Grindlewald's birth, was made up of nobility
from Germany and the UK Queen Victoria, as we know, married her German cousin, and Prince
Phillip Queen Elizabeth the seconds cousin, was a Danish Prince.
JK Rowling has often said that the wizarding worlds and muggle worlds reflect one another
and I'd put my money on this being the case Grindlewald's family are an old, pure blood,
rich, well established and influential family.
His heritage seems to be reaffirmed in his looks - Grindlewald is said to have had golden
locks and a merry, wild face.
His parents were probably Aryan in appearance drawing further comparisons to the Pure Blood
Malfoys.
Grindelwald is said to have been passionate, intelligent and ruthless did he learn these
traits from his mother and father?
It is heavily suggested that Grindelwald was a psychopath If I've learned anything from
Shane Dawson's foray into Psychology it is that Psychopath's are often made rather than
born.
Were Grindelwald's parent's psychopaths too?
If nothing else, they would likely have been megalomaniacs.
Perhaps they had high powered jobs and hadn't the time to care for him properly?
Perhaps he became the way he is because he wasn't loved.
One of Malfoy's saving graces was that actually, his parents did love him even if it was in
a thoroughly messed up way.
JK Rowling told us that Grindelwald didn't return Dumbledores love, so maybe it is because
he didnt have the capacity perhaps his parents never showed it to him.
Did they even show it to each other??
Was theirs a marriage of convenience rather than love?
Grindelwald, as we know, was not a fan of the muggle power structure and wanted to overthrow
and enslave them.
Did he learn this values from his parents?
Were they racist too?
Okay, so they were from a dynasty of rich pure blood wizards in the East of Europe . What
did they do for a living?
I have a wild and unfounded theory that perhaps his father was a wizarding scientist, if such
a thing exists.
Grindelwald was known for his sick experiments at Durmstrang did he learn his curiosity for
experimentation from his family?
Certainly being a doctor or the like would be a well respected profession which could
be fitting .although perhaps they didnt have jobs, per say, and were just members of the
landed Wizarding gentry.
Perhaps Grindelwalds love of experimentation came from extreme bordem as a kid?!
I am going to make another reasonably unfounded assumption and say he was an only child.
So, rich, powerful, Eastern European, Aryan, pure blood wizards from high society why don't
we hear about them during the Wizarding War?
What happened to them when Grindelwald rose to power?!
Did he kill them, like Voldemort did his parents?
Orrr..were Grindelwalds parents even alive at the time of his power?
If they arent alive, when exactly could they have died?
A lot of paralells are drawn between Grindelwald and Adolph Hitler, who disliked his father
but loved his poor mother although both died when Hitler was a teenager.
Interesting.
Unlike Voldemort, the other known dark wizard of the Harry Potter Verse, we dont think that
Grindlewald was an orphan as he grew up.
Yes, we know that after he was thrown out of Durmstrang, after which he went to stay
with his aunt Bathilda in Gordrick's Hollow, but that doesn't mean he hadn't parents at
the time?
Perhaps they were just angry with him?
Perhaps they thought a stay in the UK would be good for him?!
Or�.did something happen to them during his time at Durmstrang � or perhaps before?!
It is likely that Grindelwalds Parents were born around the 1840s to 1850s based on what
we know about Dumbledore's parents, anyway.
If they were from Hungary, there was a revolution in 1848, perhaps they were caught up in it
as children themselves and relocated to neighboring countries?
In 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary became AustoHungary, which then was broken up after World War one.
Perhaps the muggle wars interfered with their lives and they ended up paying the price,
which is why Grindelwald wanted to overthrow muggle power?
Is he avenging their death?
If he had parents wouldn't they try and stop him?
They haven't yet been mentioned so perhaps their absence in his life speaks volumes?
If I had to hazard a guess as to who Grindelwald's parents are, I would summarize by saying that
they are high born, rich, pure blood wizards from Hungary, from a respected pure blood
dynasty perhaps connected to the founder of Durmstang themselves.
I would say that theirs was a marriage of mutual benefit and that they held similar
anti muggle beliefs but would never have been militant about their views.
I imagine they held powerful jobs and Grindelwald was left alone a lot as a child.
Whether or not his parents loved him is questionable but I definitely think they died at some point
between Grindelwald's Durmstrang years and his escape from Godrics Hollow.
JK Rowling am I right?
One final question I have we know that eventually Voldemort killed Grindelwald in the late 1990s
but, does he have any living relatives in the wizarding world today?
Currently there is nothing to suggest he had siblings, but perhaps he had cousins?
A Bagshot was seen on the Mauraders Map in 1993, after all.
Interesting !