Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’re going to be taking a deep dive into what COULD have happened to the Wizarding
World and the lives of the witches and wizards we now know so well IF Gellert Grindelwald
had been the winner of his infamous duel with Albus Dumbledore.
As many of you will know, in 1945, Albus Dumbledore at long last challenged the dark wizard Grindelwald,
defeating him in a duel, which ended Grindelwald’s reign of terror over the Wizarding community
and put a stop to his frightful rise to power.
This duel, of course, came decades after the two men had formed an intense bond in their
youth.
In fact, according to Dumbledore’s own admission, Albus was in fact in love with Gellert as
a young man.
Their relationship was initially built upon a foundation of shared hatred towards Muggle-kind,
and they dreamed of a world in which witches and wizards would conquer the non-magical
world and make them into a subservient people.
Fortunately, for the greater magical community at large, Albus Dumbledore’s reverie of
this dystopian version of the world was obliterated when his younger sister, Ariana, was killed
in a misguided argument between himself, Gellert, and Aberforth, Albus’ younger brother, turned
fatal.
After this tragic incident, the two young wizards parted ways, as their ideologies began
to diverge drastically.
Many years later, Gellert began his infamous rise to power in pursuit of making the world
he’d once envisioned alongside Dumbledore a reality.
It’s at this point in their shared history, that we discovered that Grindelwald and Albus
had made an unbreakable vow with one another never to oppose the other.
This was done at a time when they both believed they wanted the same thing: domination over
the human race.
Unfortunately, this vow prevented Dumbledore from putting a stop to all the evil things
Grindelwald did for decades.
BUT, as I mentioned at the start of this video, there eventually came a time in which Albus
was able to overcome the vow, challenge Grindelwald, and ultimately defeat and imprison him.
The question I raise with you now is: What would have happened if Albus Dumbledore had
NOT won this fight?
What would the Wizarding World have looked like if the winner had, in fact, been Gellert
Grindelwald instead?
Indeed, there are a many number of questions that this alteration to the past brings about.
First, and foremost, to any great fan of Harry Potter anyways, the question that comes to
mind is: What would’ve happened to the great and powerful Albus Dumbledore?
What would’ve happened to Albus Dumbledore?
If Dumbledore had lost the duel to Grindelwald, a dark and some may even say monstrous wizard,
it’s not too far out of the realm of possibility to consider that perhaps Gellert would’ve
simply killed Albus.
After all, this would have put an end to the only wizard who had ever been powerful enough
to be his equal.
And for those of you who have watched any of the Fantastic Beasts films, you know that
Grindelwald certainly wasn’t aversed to casting fatal spells when met with resistance
or a challenge.
HOWEVER, with Albus, there is the question of their love for one another.
Yes, they no longer fundamentally agreed with one another’s views of the world and they
wanted completely opposite things for the people who populated the earth.
But, could Grindelwald truly just ERASE his feelings for Dumbledore?
I don’t think so, and this leads me to believe that Gellert wouldn’t have killed Albus.
There’s also the possibility that perhaps he COULDN’T.
If you think about it, we don’t really know yet how Dumbledore breaks the unbreakable
vow between the two wizards.
For all we know, perhaps he was just able to weaken it to the point that he was able
to challenge Gellert to a duel but not fully break it to the point that he could take Grindelwald’s
life…
There’s also the possibility that if Grindelwald won the duel, perhaps he would have spared
Dumbledore’s life with the hope that he would be able to bring him back around to
their once-shared life’s purpose of enslaving Muggles.
After all, since Grindelwald was the one breaking the law, he certainly wouldn’t have handed
Dumbledore over the authorities.
They simply would’ve free him, since he had gone up against Grindelwald with the intention
of stopping him from terrorizing the Wizarding World.
So, maybe he would’ve kept him in captivity, slowly luring him back to joining him on his
crusade of the “greater good”.
And if he had held him in captivity for long enough, and Dumbledore’s feelings still
burned even ever so slightly for Grindelwald, perhaps this plan just might have worked…
This leads us to the question of: What would’ve happened to Europe and the world as a whole?
What would’ve been the fate of the world?
Now, if Gellert Grindelwald had not been stopped by Dumbledore in 1945, and he had instead
defeated Albus, who later became known as one of the greatest and most powerful wizards
of all time, there likely wouldn’t have been anyone else to stand in his way.
In fact, if Grindelwald was successful in swaying Dumbledore back over to his anti-Muggle
views, he would have been seen as quite unstoppable.
Grindelwald and Dumbledore against the world?
The world likely wouldn’t have stood a chance.
And so, Gellert and Albus would’ve led their followers – or acolytes as they were known
– across the globe in their crusade of the “greater good”, taking over civilization
one community at a time, until eventually they had control of the entire world.
This new world would’ve been one in which non-magical folks served their more powerful
magical masters.
There likely would’ve been distinct classes of witches and wizards, with those who had
opposed Grindelwald serving those who had followed him and believed in his vision.
I see it as somewhat of a caste system- a social stratification.
There would’ve been purebloods at the top who completely bought into the idea of blood
purity and Muggles being “less than”.
This group would’ve been the upper class, so to speak, and would’ve been given land,
wealth, and power.
Then there would’ve been witches and wizards of mixed blood who may not have been super
into the idea of blood purity, considering their heritage, but who definitely believed
that they were better than Muggles.
This group would’ve been a sort of middle class if you will.
They wouldn’t have been super rich and powerful but they had a bit of land and were pretty
much left alone by the purebloods.
Below this group of witches and wizards would have been those who opposed Grindelwald and
his beliefs.
This group would’ve been seen as the absolute lowest class in society.
They would’ve been quite poor – although poor witches and wizards is still a concept
I contest!
– and they would’ve had very limited liberties.
For example, I don’t believe they would’ve been allowed to move about the world at their
will.
Instead, they would’ve been confined to a region of Grindelwald’s choosing – an
area of the globe in which he felt they could do little harm or create any resistance or
uprising against his rule.
Then, of course, there would’ve been the Muggles.
In a reality in which Grindelwald had defeated Dumbldore, I believe that all of the Muggles
would’ve been enslaved, imprisoned, or killed.
For those who put up any sort of fight at all, it’s not unrealistic to believe that
Gellert simply would’ve had them killed off.
That way, they wouldn’t have been able to create any more trouble down the line.
For the Muggles who surrendered willingly, I think he would’ve imprisoned them.
From there, he would’ve had witches and wizards he trusted watch over his Muggle prisons,
requesting reports on which ones seemed amicable to the idea of serving magical masters.
After identifying Muggles who were willing to be subservient, these people would’ve
been placed in homes of the pure blood acolyte families.
Of course, the Muggles would've only been trusted to simply obey, so a charm similar
to the magical contract put onto house elves would’ve been placed on to the Muggle servants.
Muggles who remained resistant would be left to live out their lives in the magical prisons
created by Grindelwald, or killed off if they made too much trouble within the confines
of their imprisonment.
Now all of this would’ve been the ideal outcome for Grindelwald and the vision he
had once held for the world.
But what would’ve happened if another wizard with equally as dark – but substantially
different – interests came to power years later?
Of course, I’m referring to the rise of He Who Shall Not Be Named – Voldemort.
How would Voldemort fit into this version of reality?
There of course lies the possibility that Voldemort may have never existed should such
a drastic change in history have taken place.
Since it does seem unlikely that a pure blood witch like Merope Gaunt would’ve been able
to have an affair with a Muggle such as Tom Riddle if Grindelwald had ruled the world.
However, for argument’s sake, let’s say that Tom Riddle was the servant of a pure
blood family, which provided Merope Gaunt access to him.
For similar reasons that arise in a reality in which Dumbledore won the duel, Merope Gaunt
would’ve had to give up the baby to an orphanage.
This means that little Tom’s life would’ve been just as damaging and difficult as it
had been in the reality of Harry Potter that we know – if not maybe even a little harder.
Perhaps, the orphanage would’ve known of his heritage and would’ve been abusive and
discriminatory of his mixed blood background.
It’s difficult to say whether or not Grindelwald would’ve allowed a “mudblood” like Tom
Riddle into a school of witchcraft and wizardry, such as Hogwarts.
Of course, expectations would’ve been made for the middle class we discussed earlier
in the video, since their “discretions” would’ve been seen as “uneducated”,
having taken place before Grindelwald’s rise to power.
But it’s unclear whether other not mixed-blooded witches and wizards who were born after Gellert’s
rise to power would’ve been allowed the same leniency.
This, of course, leads us to the question of whether or not young Tom Riddle would’ve
become as powerful as he did if he hadn’t attended Hogwarts.
Would he have been able to cultivate his magic outside of a traditional education?
And if he hadn’t gone to Hogwarts, would he have discovered horcruxes and developed
the same plan to split his soul?
All of this is hard to say.
Due to his intensity as a young boy, however, and his determination as a youth, I think
it’s rather likely that Tom would’ve been able to develop himself into some version
of the Voldemort that we know from the Harry Potter series.
It’s true that he may not have received a formal education in magic but, with someone
like Tom’s proclivities towards dark magic, it’s not hard to imagine that he may have
been able to acquire his learnings from a less traditional source.
I’m sure a trip or two down Knockturn Alley would have resulted in young Tom finding a
dark witch or wizard willing to overlook Riddle’s heritage and take him under their wing.
Or, knowing the deep-seated, devious nature of Tom, perhaps he would’ve just left his
ancestry out of any explanation of his identity entirely.
Alright, so if Tom Riddle was able to obtain the magical knowledge he required to become
the Dark Lord, I believe that he would’ve eventually risen to power in a similar fashion
as he did in the actual series.
Of course, in this version of reality, there would have been one MAJOR difference.
Voldemort and his Death Eaters would have had one very large rival: Gellert Grinelwald
and his acolytes.
Not to mention, Grindelwald’s right-hand man, Albus Dumbledore – because don’t
forget, in this theory, Albus was defeated by Gellert and persuaded to rejoin his cause.
This also leads to the question of how many of Voldemort’s would-be-Death-Eaters would
have already been pledged to Grindelwald as an acolyte?
Would this split of allegiances have weakened either of these dark wizards’ powers?
Okay, so let’s imagine that the two dark wizards had equal followers at their disposal.
Would these two forces have gone up against each other?
Who would’ve won?
OR would Voldemort simply have kept his evil reign confined to Europe?
After all, he never really expressed much interest in expanding his rule across the
globe as Grindelwald did.
In fact, he seemed much more focused on taking down Harry Potter, than he did on conquering
the entire Wizarding World.
In contrast, Gellert’s vision was much larger.
He wanted to enslave the world’s population of Muggles and force his way of life onto
all of civilization.
When you look at this way, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that perhaps Grindelwald
may have made Voldemort one of his most trusted officials.
Perhaps Voldemort would’ve been in charge of managing the wizarding community and Muggle
population within the UK.
After all, both wizards were obsessed with blood purity and ruling over those who they
saw as inferior.
The only flaw in this theory is that Voldemort was not of pure blooded lineage.
It remains to be seen whether or not his allegiance to the cause and inclination for violence
and dark magic would’ve been enough for Grindelwald to forget Voldemort’s heritage.
Assuming that Gellert could overlook Voldemort’s ancestry, I would think that Voldemort may
have still ended up being called the Dark Lord – in which case, I think Grindelwald
may have wanted to one up him and go by something that would outrank “lord”.
Would you agree that it’s rather amusing to think that perhaps in a fit of jealousy
over the loyalty his underling received from his region, that Grindelwald may have decided
to call himself the Dark King?
Which indeed brings us to our next query: Would Grindelwald have been Supreme Mugwump?
Would Grindelwald have been Supreme Mugwump?
For those of you who have seen the most recent Fantastic Beasts film, you’ll know that
the Supreme Mugwump was the elected Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards.
This was a position that Gellert Grindelwald wished to occupy in Fantastic Beasts: The
Secrets of Dumbledore.
In the movie, the history of this elected role is revealed, explaining how, in ancient
times, the Chairman was chosen by a magical creature called a qilin in a ceremony known
as The Walk of the Qilin.
During this ceremony, a qilin, which the Wizarding World believed to be the purest magical creature
in existence – one who could identify purity of heart just by looking at a witch or wizard
– would assess the candidates and select the person they deemed worthy of the role.
As time went on, this tradition disappeared, and the Chairman was instead elected by a
majority vote from representatives of the Confederation’s member countries.
In the film, Grindelwald takes possession of a qilin and bewitches it to choose him.
As those who have seen the film can attest to, this plan doesn’t quite work out.
Instead, Grindelwald’s lie is revealed by Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore, Newt Scamander,
and their allies, proving that the qilin has been a victim of Gellert’s dark magic.
At this point, Gellert is forced to flee the ceremony, and a different, unbewitched qilin
chooses a new leader for the International Confederation of Wizards.
To align with previously discussed portions of this theory, at this point, Albus Dumbledore
would have still been a rival of Grindelwald, as this theory hinges on the idea of Gellert
winning his duel with Albus in 1945.
This particular ceremony for a newly elected Supreme Mugwump took place about a decade
before that in 1937.
HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean that Grindelwald wouldn’t have tried to occupy this position
again at a later date.
In my opinion, if he had wanted to become Supreme Mugwump after defeating Dumbldore
in the 1945 duel, all he would’ve had to do is claim the title.
With that in mind though, I’m not too sure he would’ve cared all that much, since the
only reason he was after the position in 1937 was to further his plan to reign over the
Wizarding World.
But if he was able to defeat Albus and take over the world’s population of magical and
non-magical creatures alike, all by sheer force, why would he need to be the “elected”
Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards.
I think it’s much more likely that he would’ve abolished the International Confederation
of Wizards, and declared himself king, as I mentioned before.
Conclusion: If Grindelwald had defeated Dumbledore
This brings us to the end of another video.
But before we wrap up, let’s review, shall we?
If Gellert Grindelwald had won the duel between himself and Albus Dumbledore, here’s how
the Wizarding World would’ve been impacted:
The great and powerful Albus Dumbledore would’ve been a dark wizard, rather than one of the
“good ones”, and he likely would’ve been Grindelwald’s highest-ranking official
and most trusted ally.
Everyone, from wizards to Muggles, would’ve been placed into a hierarchical caste system,
with pure blood acolytes at the top, and imprisoned, “disobedient” Muggles at the bottom.
Voldemort wouldn’t have been known as the next most powerful dark wizard, comparable
only to Gellert Grindelwald, but instead, he would’ve been one of Grindelwald’s
officials, carrying out his wishes for the “greater good” in the UK.
Grindelwald would’ve been the world’s leader, having overthrown all Muggle governing
bodies and conventions, as well as the International Confederation of Wizards.
I rather like the idea that he would’ve wanted to be known as the Dark King.
There is one last thing we didn’t get around to discussing – if Grindelwald would’ve
won the duel and defeated Dumbledore, what would that have meant for our young boy, Harry?
I guess we’ll have to tackle that in another video!
Let me know what you thought of today’s theory by sharing your thoughts in the comments
below!
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and subscribe to
the channel!
Until next time…
We want only freedom.
Freedom to be ourselves.