Hey everyone, welcome to Harry to Potter Theory.
Lord Voldemort and Gellert Grindelwald are the two most powerful dark wizards of modern
history.
And their lives were eerily similar.
Both of them shared a common foe: Albus Dumbledore.
And both of them shamelessly butchered their fellow wizards and witches in pursuit of power.
But when you look at the pair of dark wizards, you might be surprised to find out that there’s
quite a bit that separates them.
From their individual manifestos, to their actual magical powers, Voldemort and Grindelwald
couldn’t have been more different.
Today, we’re going to shed some light on those differences, and find out what divided
these two wizards.
9.
Voldemort’s a Loner
To put it simply, Lord Voldemort is a loner.
Now, that obviously doesn’t mean he was technically alone all the time.
From the first day he attended Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Tom Riddle demonstrated
his remarkable charisma, and cultivated a cult that followed him around from class to
class.
But those students…
many of whom would evolve into murderous Death Eaters… were simply followers.
Voldemort never considered them his peers, and certainly not his friends.
And it makes sense, if you think about it.
Lord Voldemort was conceived while his father was bewitched by a love potion.
According to lore, the offspring of such unions were incapable of love, and if they ever reached
adulthood, could be considered sociopaths.
By contrast, much of Gellert Grindwald’s early life was defined by love and passion.
His partnership with Albus Dumbledore is what drove Grindelwald to pursue the Hallows, and
push for the end of the magical laws that restricted wizards and witches.
Even after all of his fights, when Grindelwald was over a hundred years in age, he likely
looked back at his life with regret, and probably wished he could have done it all differently.
8.
Threat Level
After seeing the vicious battles that Harry Potter and his friends endured, it’s hard
to imagine that Voldemort was anything less than a global threat.
But if you actually look at the details of the Death Eaters and their campaigns, the
group limited their activities to Great Britain.
For the most part, Voldemort was interested in overthrowing the Ministry of Magic, and
revamping the wizarding world in the UK.
He probably had greater interests, and wanted to waltz into France and continental Europe
after securing England, but during the events of the Harry Potter books, Voldemort was firmly
fixed in the British isles.
And when we compare this to Grindewald, we’ll see that Tom Riddle’s campaign of terror
seems far smaller by comparison.
Grindelwald's revolution stretched across the globe: from the shores of the United States
to the streets of the French capital.
Gellert wanted to overthrow the international wizarding order, and so he staged a multi-front
campaign to do so.
7.
Their Reign
During the Second Wizarding War, Lord Voldemort managed to claim power for just about a year.
During that time, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermoine Granger tried to finish what
Albus Dumbledore had started: hunting and destroying all the remaining Horcruxes.
At times, it seemed like the three Hogwarts students would never find the evil relics
that held Lord Voldemort’s soul, but in the end, they succeeded.
After only a few months, Voldemort was not only overthrown, but he was killed.
Voldemort’s single year of rule paled in comparison to Grindelwald.
Although Voldemort’s control of the ministry during his reign might have been stronger,
Grindelwald, and his acolytes, were active for over two decades.
During that time, the dark wizard led political and guerilla campaigns against his fellow
wizards.
Unlike the Death Eaters, who only represented a small, affluent group of pure-blood families
within Britain, Grindelwald's followers were far more vast.
Gellert was almost like a political party of his own, with thousands of supporters around
the globe.
6.
Who was MORE Evil?
To be honest, most wizards would admit that Lord Voldemort was just about the most evil
sorcerer in existence.
When Hagrid, Dumbledore, or any number of Harry’s mentors talked about Voldemort,
they often claimed that he was more than just simply evil… as if there were no words that
could describe the depravity that Tom Riddle had reached.
Even though Gellert Grindelwald was no angel..
By any stretch of the imagination…the crimes he committed were reasonable by comparison.
Grindelwald's goals, after all, were once shared by Albus Dumbledore.
And they were far more political than Voldemort’s own, selfish desires.
Grindelwald wanted to free the wizarding world from the rules that kept them hidden.
He believed that the wizarding world should be the most powerful society on the planet,
and that muggles, and their own governments, should exist beneath them.
While on the surface, that sounds like something Voldemort would agree with, Tom Riddle’s
methods were far more craven.
He never showed compassion, and would never have displayed regret, as Grindelwald seemed
to do at the end of his life.
5.
Horcruxes vs Hallows
One of the biggest differences between these two dark wizards was the way they sought power.
Both were obsessed with increasing their magical abilities, and both set out on quests to gather
the Deathly Hallows.
But Grindelwald limited himself to those magical relics, and eventually, became the second
most powerful owner of the Elder Wand.
That hallow, which Voldemort desperately tried to claim for himself, would be the dark lord’s
undoing, when he tried to use it to kill Harry Potter.
But, unlike Voldeomrt, Grindelwald didn't’ dare undergo the complex procedure to split
his soul, and create horcruxes.
And if you think about why, there’s really only a handful of answers.
Some historians might suggest that Grindelwald simply didn’t possess the knowledge to create
these dark enchantments.
But considering that Gellert Grindewald’s magical abilities, and expertise, was only
narrowly surpassed by Albus Dumbledore, this historical take seems pretty unlikely.
In this case, the more obvious case appears to be true…
Grindelwald didn’t create horcruxes because he didn’t want to.
Perhaps he simply wasn’t evil enough to even consider the selfish murder of another
person in order to split his soul.
Or, maybe he thought he’d be more powerful without horcruxes.
Although, there could be another reason…
4.
Attitude Towards Death
Compared to Voldemort, Grindelwald showed almost no fear of death.
This might be another reason why the famed dark wizard never created horcruxes of his
own.
When Tom Riddle stared into a Boggart, the magical creature that showed you your own
greatest fear, the dark wizard was shocked to find his own corpse.
He didn’t see a massive spider, like Ron Weasley, or the death of a loved one, like
Albus Dumbledore.
No…
Voldemort saw his own demise in the Boggart.
Lord Voldemort split his soul 7 times, and sought to master the dark arts, because he
feared his own death.
And Grindelwald…
didn’t.
By the end of his life, when Lord Voldemort snuck into his jail cell, Grindelwald laughed
in the younger dark lord’s face, and encouraged Riddle to kill him.
Although Grindelwald was well over 100 years in age by that time, so he might have welcomed
the idea of passing.
Still…
It's hard to imagine Lord Voldemort ever achieving such a state of Zen when it comes to his own
mortality.
3.
Schooling
It might shock you to know that Gellert Grindelwald and the famed co-founder of Hogwarts, Salazar
Slytherin, bear no relation at all.
Throughout the medieval and modern eras, many of the most terrifying dark wizards passed
through the Slytherin house at Hogwarts: school of witchcraft and wizardry.
In fact, it’s almost hard to imagine a dark wizard or witch could exist without first
having been sorted into Slytherin first.
But not only was Grindelwald never enrolled in Hogwarts, he attended a completely different
school: the Durmstrang Institute, a place he was later expelled from for performing
twisted and dark experiments on fellow students.
2.
Parseltongue
Speaking to serpents is almost a prerequisite when it comes to being a dark wizard.
But unlike Herpo the Foul, and Lord Voldemort, Gellert Grindewald never showed an ability
for parseltongue.
That skill, which was such an heirloom for the heirs of Slytherin, was only one of a
few that Grindelwald never managed to master.
Although, considering how much the dark wizard achieved, his inability to converse with snakes
wasn’t that big of a deal.
1.
Duelling
Do you think Gellert Grindelwald was a better duelist than Lord Voldemort?
That might seem like a foolish question to ask, especially when you recall the exact
circumstances of Grindelwald's death.
He WAS executed by Lord Voldemort, after all.
But… that wasn’t really a fair showdown.
Gellert was at least 115 years old at the time, and he was completely unarmed.
Although wizards and witches lived unusually long lives, Grindelwald was still several
decades past his prime.
When we compare Lord Voldemort’s own dueling achievements, against those of a prime Gellert,
it’s surprising to see just how much Grindelwald shines by comparison.
Both of these dark wizards shared Albus Dumbledore as an adversary.
But Voldemort never seemed to get the better of the Hogwarts headmaster.
Grindelwald, on the other hand, nearly defeated him, during their famous duel at the end of
the second world war.
Of course, there were reasons for Voldemort’s losses, as well as Grindelwald's near-win.
Still, most magical historians would favor Grindelwald in this comparison.
If you want a greater break down of WHO is the more powerful wizard, go and check out
my video: ‘Voldemort VS Grindelwald…Who is MORE Powerful?’.
Link in the description.
And there you have it, 9 ways in which Lord Voldemort and Gellert Grindelwald are different.
What do you think?
How do YOU think they’re different?
Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time
Remember
When we allow ourselves to be consumed by anger, the only victim is ourself.