Info -

[greatestgood]

Name: Gellert Grindelwald
Age: Early twenties (twenty-two to be exact). He was born in 1883, so the year is 1905 for him.
Quotes About Past: "Educated at Durmstrang, a school famous even then for its unfortunate tolerance of the Dark Arts, Grindelwald showed himself quite as precociously brilliant as Dumbledore. Rather than channel his abilities into the attainment of awards and prizes, however, Gellert Grindelwald devoted himself to other pursuits. When Grindelwald was sixteen years old, even Durmstrang felt it could no longer turn a blind eye to his twisted experiments and he was expelled."

—The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore describing Grindelwald's school days.

"Grindelwald. You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me. Muggles forced into subservience. We wizards triumphant. Grindelwald and I, the glorious young leaders of the revolution. Oh, I had a few scruples. I assuaged my conscience with empty words. It would all be for the greater good, and any harm done would be repaid a hundredfold in benefits for wizards. Did I know, in my heart of hearts, what Gellert Grindelwald was? I think I did, but I closed my eyes."

—Dumbledore recounting his relationship with Gellert.

"...while I busied myself with the training of young wizards, Grindelwald was raising an army. They say he feared me, and perhaps he did, but less, I think, than I feared him... It was the truth I feared. You see, I never knew which of us, in that last, horrific fight, had actually cast the curse that killed my sister... I think he knew it, I think he knew what frightened me. I delayed meeting him until finally, it would have been too shameful to resist any longer. People were dying and he seemed unstoppable, and I had to do what I could."

—Dumbledore's description of Gellert's reign.








Abilities: "Grindelwald was outstandingly talented even while still a student at Durmstrang, though he did not, like Dumbledore, channel his abilities into attaining awards and prizes. As an adult, Grindelwald became an exceptionally powerful and accomplished wizard, feared by much of the wizarding world during his reign of terror and being considered by many to be one of the most powerful and dangerous dark wizards of all time with Lord Voldemort, who arrived years later, being the only one capable of possibly rivaling, if not, surpassing him. As a former master of the Elder Wand, Grindelwald's already formidable magic was further enhanced by the artefact's legendary powers, allowing him to perform extraordinarily powerful spells that would normally be magically impossible to perform. Even while utilising Percival Graves's wand to maintain a disguise (with it being unclear whether or not he had properly won said wand), Grindelwald was still extremely powerful and dangerous, performing feats that required immense magical power.

Magical Mastery: Grindelwald was noted to be extremely talented and prodigiously skilled while still a student of Durmstrang Institute, and his magical mastery was considered to match that of Albus Dumbledore, which induced the two young men to quickly befriend one another in their youth. As an adult, Grindelwald was considered to be one of the most powerful Dark Wizards of all time (with only Voldemort, who emerged years later, being deemed to be able to possibly surpass him) and feared by most of the wizarding world. With the Elder Wand enhancing his already tremendous ability, Grindelwald successfully terrorised much of wizarding world, defeating so many in his reign of terror that Dumbledore eventually was deemed the only wizard who could possibly stand any chance of defeating him. In the end, Grindelwald's power proved to be great enough that Dumbledore, despite his strong desire not to engage Grindelwald, was eventually forced to take action. While he was ultimately defeated by his old friend in a duel of legendary proportions, it must be noted that he had proven capable of holding his own well against Dumbledore, with Albus himself later admitting that he had been only "a shade more skillful" than Grindelwald and admitting that in terms of power, they were both evenly matched.

Dark Arts: Grindelwald was exceptionally talented in the Dark Arts and possessed a passion for it even from a young age. Even when he was still only a student of Durmstrang, Grindelwald's experiments in the Dark Arts were already very dangerous, even nearly fatal to the fellow Durmstrang students he attacked; eventually his "twisted experiments" became too dangerous for even Dumstrang's tolerant outlook on the Dark Arts, resulting in his expulsion. While seventeen, Grindelwald was already adept at casting the extremely powerful Cruciatus Curse, which was one of the three Unforgivable Curses and required a considerable level of magic, notably using it against Aberforth Dumbledore. By the time he became an adult, Grindelwald was widely considered to be the most powerful Dark Arts practitioner in history, with the wizarding world considering Voldemort to be the only one who can possibly surpass him in the Dark Arts, having perfected many aspects of the Dark Arts. While impersonating Percival Graves, Grindelwald displayed the abillity to cast a curse that emitted a bolt of lightning that inflicted deep pain on those who were hit by it, which he used to torture Newt Scamander.

Duelling: Gellert Grindelwald was a duellist of tremendous, almost unrivalled skill. Having received thorough training in duelling and all manner of martial magic during his schooling at Durmstrang, Grindelwald was able to hone his skills to match his extraordinary high potential, becoming a fully confident, focused, disciplined and versatile master of combative sorcery, his reactions "marvelous, astounding". Though quite capable of performing magic of immense and destructive power as seen in how he made short work of the five European Aurors who were searching for him, he generally seems to prefer to engage his adversaries in a more traditional and formal manner and defeat his foes in a more "fair fight", showing a surprisingly defensive duelling style compared to the agressive duelling style of Voldemort, deflecting his opponents' efforts to subdue him and slowly advancing upon his foe before delivering the crushing blow in order to take in the owe with which they observe the immensity of his power. Even as a teenager, Grindelwald was already highly proficient in martial magic, having effortlessly overpowered and Stunned Gregorovitch efficiently enough to master the Elder Wand in an instant and held his own against Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore simultaneously during their three-way duel when they were in their late teens. As an adult, armed with the Elder Wand, Grindelwald's duelling skills made him look almost undefeatable in a duel, as he defeated and killed many powerful witches and wizards during his reign of terror in wizarding world. He also overpowered the extremely accomplished Percival Graves, so he could disguise himself as him and infiltrate MACUSA. While impersonating Graves, Grindelwald still displayed tremendous duelling skill, winning every single one-on-one duel (swiftly besting and torturing Newt Scamander, and easily fending off former Auror Tina Goldstein), and upon being unmasked, Grindelwald not only fended off more than twenty highly-trained MACUSA Aurors with relative ease, seamlessly switching between offense and defense to both repel and attack his opponents, but he also quickly started to overwhelm his opponents with little difficulty (quite possibly he would have eventually defeated them all had Newt not restrained him from behind). Ultimately, as a testament to his immense duelling skills, Grindelwald was even able to go toe-to-toe with Albus Dumbledore, indeed, their legendary duel has entered history as possibly the greatest duel ever fought between two wizards, although he was ultimately defeated, which ended his reign of terror and led to his final imprisonment in his own prison, the fortress of Nurmengard.

Charms: Grindelwald was extremely skilled in charms. Albus Dumbledore claimed that when he was still seventeen, Grindelwald could already cast a Disillusionment Charm strong enough to effectively render himself invisible without needing to use an invisibility cloak, which is a tremondous feat. As such, the Cloak of Invisibility would be the Hallow that Grindelwald was least interested in, and continued his search for it only because the Cloak completed the trio of legendary artefacts. Grindelwald also displays outstanding mastery over the Shield Charm, easily able to repel a barrage of spells fired at him by around twenty-four Aurors simultaneously.

Healing magic: Grindelwald had a high understanding of healing charms, being able to heal the cuts on Credence Barebone's hands by simply touching them.

Transfiguration: Grindelwald was exceptionally proficient in the field of Transfiguration, and his ability and knowledge on the area of Human Transfiguration was sufficient to transform himself into an exact replica of Percival Graves for an extended period of time without his disguise fading.

Apparition: Like most adult wizards, Grindelwald was able to Apparate. However, he is capable of Apparating with greater speed and precision, allowing him to avoid the violent attacks of Credence's Obscurus with relative ease.

Occlumency: Grindelwald was an incredibly accomplished Occlumens, being able to fully conceal his true thoughts from the exceptionally talented Legilimens Queenie Goldstein while in his Percival Graves disguise. Even in his older days and having been imprisoned for several years, Grindelwald remained very proficient in the art, as even Lord Voldemort himself, who was reputed to be the most accomplished Legilimens alive, was unable to penetrate Grindelwald's mind to gain information in his search of the Elder Wand.

History of Magic: Grindelwald had excellent knowledge of magical history and lore with particular specialization in the portions of it that pertained to powerful magical artefacts such as the Deathly Hallows and wandlore. For example, he knew that Ignotus Peverell, owner of the Cloak of Invisibility, had been laid to rest in Godric's Hollow. He also was aware that in order to become the master of the Elder Wand, he needed to not only steal it, but he also had to defeat it's previous owner.

Divination: Grindelwald was a Seer. He had a vision about the existence of a powerful Obscurial linked to Credence Barebone. However, he is not an expert in this magical field, as Grindelwald initially misinterpreted the vision, believing that Credence would lead him to the child while in fact, Credence was the Obscurial himself. It should be noted, however, that Credence is the only known Obscurial ever to have survived into adulthood, so Grindelwald could possibly not have anticipated this.

Wandless and Nonverbal magic: Grindelwald was incredibly skilled in both wandless and nonverbal magic, either of which is advanced and often difficult to perform even individually, making Grindelwald's prowess all the more impressive, as he usually performed both simultaneously. In 1926, Grindelwald Summoned Newton Scamander's wand and suitcase over to him, both with a silent wave of his hand. Grindelwald also wandlessly lifted Newt Scamander from the ground from across the room and then made him, Porpentina Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski simultaneously drop to their knees with their arms locked behind against their backs. When he interrogated Newt soon thereafter, he Summoned the protective orb containing an Obscurus by silently gesturing it forth. He later saved the life of Credence Barebone from an oncoming train in the New York City Subway by hurling him sideways off the tracks with a wave of his wand. He was even able to send an automobile flying across a street at Tina Goldstein with a silent wave of his hand. By using only silent hand gestures, he generated forceful shockwaves to move and otherwise exert force on people and objects. He was able to break apart the ground by sending a shockwave rippling through it, notably performing this on the train tracks Newt Scamander was standing on to knock him down. Grindelwald later fended off around twenty Aurors simultaneously without speaking a single incantation. Grindelwald also healed the cuts on Credence's hand by silently running his own over it.

Intellectual genius: Grindelwald was not only a great wizard, but also possessed an incredible level of intellect, as he was considered to be as intelligent as Albus Dumbledore, who was considered the most brilliant student at Hogwarts's history when both of them were seventeen. Indeed, Grindelwald and Dumbledore's intellects were so complementary to one another, that, according to Bathilda Bagshot, even after spending an entire day in intellectually stimulating discussions with Grindelwald, Dumbledore would still unexpectedly send Grindelwald messages by owl right after sudden ideas struck him, with him having to let Grindelwald know of them immediately. As an adult, Grindelwald became an exceptional strategist and tactician, with an uncanny ability to create complex and carefully-woven plans to achieve his goals, such as subtly apprehending President Picquery's right-hand man Percival Graves and infiltrating the MACUSA by assuming his identity. Grindelwald also proved to be a consummate actor, multitasker and investigator, as during his time disguised as Graves, Grindelwald was able to perfectly mimic his personality and American accent and limit his magical abilities to be only on par with him as well as convincingly and effectively carry out his many duties as an Auror, the Head of MACUSA's Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the Director of Magical Security, while also gradually managing to locate the rampaging Obscurial, all without arousing suspicion. He was also an excellent leader, as he was able to found an army of wizards and witches large enough to effectively rebel against the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy and led it so well that he came very close to conquering the Wizarding World, only stopped by Albus's timely defeat of him.

Charisma: Even as a young man, Grindelwald was highly talented in manipulating others, such that he was able to manipulate the extremely perceptive Albus Dumbledore into agreeing to his ideas of revolution and only Aberforth's timely intervention stopped Albus. As an adult, his skills in manipulating grew even further, with Theseus Scamander describing him as a "charismatic blighter" and Grindelwald succesfully convincing many wizards and witches to join his cause. He was also able to effortlessly manipulate Credence Barebone into trusting him by looking as a kind mentor to him, to the point that Credence was conpletely unaware that Grindelwald was merely using him. He was also shown to be confident that he could eventually get Credence in his Obscurus form to listen to him, which made him enraged when he was seemingly destroyed by MACUSA Aurors."

Taken from here. Anything that refers to events after 1905 obviously doesn't apply, however he has all the abilities/qualities he displays in those events. They are just examples.