Hey guys,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing Grindelwald, and which house he would have been in had he attended Hogwarts.
What prompted this video was some of the comments on the ‘top 5 most powerful slytherins’
video, I kept seeing people say ‘Where’s grindelwald’ and ‘Why not grindelwald?’
Well..Here’s why: Grindelwald didn’t go to Hogwarts.
We first see Grindelwald in the Deathly Hallows, when a then-much older Grindelwald refused
to give Voldemort the information that he needed regarding the elder wand. Then, we
see him again when he is much younger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, followed by
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
For those who aren’t aware, Grindelwald is THE dark wizard of his time, preceding
Voldemort as the quintessential ‘dark’ presence in the world, intent on challenging
all notions of light, and embracing all aspects of darkness. He is considered by many to be
Voldemort’s equal as one of the darkest and most powerful wizards of all time. Though
I am excited to see his full display of power in the upcoming fantastic beasts films.
Grindelwald was born in the year 1883, and in his younger years he didn’t attend Hogwarts
- he was actually a student at Durmstrang institute. Durmstrang, like Hogwarts,is a
school for young witches and wizards. However, the school is known to have a bit of a dubious
reputation, as they place a lot of emphasis on teaching the Dark Arts. We know Durmstrang
from the Harry Potter books and films because they competed against Hogwarts in the triwizard
tournament.
The school was founded in the Middle Ages by the great Bulgarian witch Nerida Vulchanova,
who served as the initial headmaster of the school. She was succeeded after her mysterious
death by Professor Harfang Munter, who established Durmstrang's reputation for emphasising martial
magic as an impressive part of its curriculum. It’s known that the school does not admit
muggle-borns, which paired with their teachings of the dark arts, makes for the perfect breeding
ground of intolerant supremacists.
Grindelwald was admitted to the school sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s, and while
he went there he demonstrated exceptional magic ability, however, his sadistic nature
also shone through. While the school was a known proponent of the dark arts, Grindelwalds
experiments proved TOO dark in nature and he was expelled for them. This really says
something about how twisted his magical escapades must have been.
Before he left the school, he was careful to carve the calling card of his obsession,
the mark of the Deathly Hallows, on to the wall of the school. Despite being expelled,
Grindelwald was the most talented student that Durmstrang ever produced.
After being expelled, Grindelwald was intent on achieving higher and higher levels of power,
this mission for power eventually landed him in Godric’s Hollow, England. Grindelwald
initially travelled to Godric’s Hollow because it was where Ignotus peverell, the first owner
of the cloak of invisibility, had been laid to rest. He thought that Godric’s Hollow
could be a good start in his ultimate goal of achieving immense levels of power. It was
during this time that he first met Albus Dumbledore.
So, Grindelwald never went to Hogwarts, but IF he had - which house would he be in? You
can probably guess the answer, but I’m going to explain why.
Hogwarts was founded in the year 990 AD by founders Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin,
Godric Gryffindor, and Rowena Ravenclaw. After founding the school, the four founders enchanted
a hat, a hat which would assign students to their Hogwarts houses based on how closely
they resembled one of the four founders.
Among other things things- Gryffindor valued bravery, Ravenclaw valued intelligence, Hufflepuff
valued hard-work, and Slytherin valued ambition.
Though Grindelwald fits all of these categories quite well, he definitely slots in to one
more than the others - and I feel that he would have made for an excellent Slytherin
student.
If AMBITION is a pivotal trait for Slytherin house, then Grindelwald is a better fit than
anyone. Grindelwald’s life goal was to find the deathly Hallows, then lead a wizarding
revolution that would effectively put an end to the international statute of secrecy, breaking
down the ‘secretive’ divide between the two worlds. This revolution would create a
global power hierarchy that would place powerful witches and wizards at the top of the food
chain, effectively giving them full control of muggles and muggle affairs. If breaking
down the divide between wizarding and muggle worlds isn’t ambitious, then I don’t know
what is.
Furthermore, in addition to being ambitious, Slytherins tend to be shrewd, cunning, strong
leaders, and achievement-oriented. These descriptors all fit Grindelwald perfectly. Grindelwald
was a calculated, cunning, gifted strong-leader that, if it weren’t for Albus Dumbledore,
would have likely been successful in his endeavours.
And that’s it for this video! What do you guys think? What house would YOU place Grindelwald
in? Do you have any arguments for why he would be a better fit in another house?
Let me know down in the comment section below.
Until next time
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live