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Voldemort and Grindelwald were both the darkest wizards of their day, but which Harry Potter villain was the most powerful in their prime?
In Harry Potter, the two most powerful dark wizards of all time only briefly came into contact. At the time, Gellert Grindelwald was older and didn’t stand a chance against Lord Voldemort. But what would have happened if they fought a proper duel when they were both in their primes? The argument about who is more powerful is fraught with fans on both sides. Like many things in life, it comes down to love and hate. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is certainly feared, but Grindelwald’s followers love him, and love is more powerful in the world of Harry Potter.
Voldemort, while indeed powerful, fails to achieve the same level of success as Grindelwald. He also fails to show the same mastery over the dark arts. Grindelwald can conjure intense flame, withstand Voldemort’s Legilimency, camouflage himself to match his surroundings, handle dark magical creatures, be particularly skilled with healing magic and cast spells without a wand or words. Even Voldemort can’t achieve some of these skills. His true power lies in his ability to terrify his opponents, and that can only go so far.
Grindelwald, the main villain of the Fantastic Beasts series, achieves a goal Voldemort never does. He convinces scores of followers to join his crusade to rule over the Muggles, and he gets them to be genuinely loyal. Voldemort, while strong enough to kill both Lilly and James Potter in one fell swoop, commands his followers through fear. As seen in the Deathly Hallows, many of his followers are prone to leaving. Voldemort also makes the mistake of trusting his followers to obey him. Grindelwald ensures his followers are loyal to the cause by literally making them walk through fire. There’s no fooling the man to betray him later as Snape does to Voldemort.
In addition to his better standing with his followers, Grindelwald maintains control of the Wizarding World for nearly two decades. Voldemort is only in power for about a year. Grindelwald also takes control over areas across the globe, while Voldemort only holds the UK under his grasp. Gellert swayed more people to join him, making him especially devious and charismatic. These traits can make any dictator more successful. When combined with master dueling skills, what follows is a leader who can wreak extensive havoc.
Speaking of dueling, Grindelwald not only defeated almost all of the people he went up against, but he also took total control of the Elder Wand. Of Voldemort’s many weaknesses, not wholly controlling the Elder Wand is significant. The most powerful wand gives the user unmatched abilities. When it doesn’t truly belong to the wielder, those abilities can’t be fully realized. Also, Grindelwald’s major defeat against Dumbledore likely had a lot to do with their feelings for each other. It’s easy to imagine Gellert pulling his punches a bit since he cared for the future Hogwarts Headmaster.
One of Voldemort’s greatest flaws that costs him everything is his arrogance. While the two dark wizards are certainly both guilty of this, Voldemort’s arrogance is paramount. It leads him to split his soul several times, making the magic unstable, and he chooses famous items as the Horcruxes. If they had been ordinary items, it would have been much more difficult for Harry to find them all and destroy them.
A final nail in the coffin for Voldemort is the fact that his arrogance causes him to be duped by a 17-year-old-boy playing dead. He believes he’s the best and brightest wizard alive. No one could possibly trick him in his mind, and of course, this leads to his undoing as Harry defeats him and reduces the wizard to nothing but ash.
Gellert Grindelwald had more power in the Wizarding World up till the final moments of his life. He had more followers who were intensely loyal to him. He conquered more of the globe and could perform more advanced forms of magic. He might still be controlling much of the world if it weren’t for his greatest weakness — his feelings for Dumbledore. Not only is Grindelwald more powerful than Voldemort, but he’s also a more compelling villain, which is why audiences will be seeing more of him in Fantastic Beasts 3. Watching such a strong wizard fall prey to the most human emotions is a great story and reinforces the theme of both the books and the films: love conquers evil.
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