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I'm no expert on palm reading, but when they cut their hands, isn’t Albus tracing the heart/sun line, and Gellert the fate/life line? If that is the case, it fits perfectly (though it does hint menacingly at their motives for making a blood pact...there’s Albus out of love + happiness, and Gellert with ulterior motives...)

‘both such brilliant young boys, they got on like a cauldron on fire’

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Bohemian Rhapsody

I can completely see Credence/Aurelius singing Bohemian Rhapsody.

(until that guitar comes in-- then it’s Albus at Gellert, all the way). 

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Albus Dumbledore; Alan Turing

Albus Dumbledore reminds me of Alan Turing so, so much. I mean, let’s just look at the similarities:

- Brilliant, talented geniuses, far ahead of anyone else in their fields

- Did huge amounts to progress a vast range of subjects at a very young age

- Wore the same iconic suit, identical style tbh 

- Very gay + lost their first loves under tragic circumstances

- Both called Al, lived in Britain, same era 

- Absolutely instrumental in ending the wars in their respective worlds

The parallels are intense. And the treatment of Alan Turing is a horrible reminder of attitudes towards homosexuality in the early/mid-20th century, in the Muggle world at least-- despite genius, brilliance, talent, everything. 

But...can you imagine if these incredible minds had met? 

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Spread this info far and wide! :)

For those, like me, who were a bit thrown (but thrilled!) by the inclusion of a young Minerva McGonagall in CoG, this article makes some excellent points about why she has every right to be there. Thanks to @katiehavok for finding the link.

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It’s in the movie.

Change my mind.

(Not made by me. Just sharing.)

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The Dumbledore Family: Blood and Names-- A Theory

Kendra is a Dumbledore by marriage, not blood. She’s Muggle-born. The phoenix-summoning ability comes from Percival. So even if Kendra is Credence’s mother, it doesn’t explain the phoenix appearing. It’s possible that Grindelwald summoned the phoenix as a result of the blood pact, rather than Credence summoning it. But...

Here’s a theory. We’ve had the patriarchal nature of family trees hinted at already, with the Lestrange family tree, and the importance of even distant ancestry hinted at with Nagini’s blood curse. This is intriguing-- what if a female Dumbledore married into another family at some point, losing the Dumbledore name, but not the blood, power, and phoenix-summoning ability? Then she, or more likely one of her descendants, could be Credence’s mother/father. “Your brother” could be someone entirely different to Albus, perhaps someone we already know. Perhaps there are lots of people with Dumbledore blood walking around, because of female Dumbledores marrying into other families and losing the surname. The film soundtrack even plays a song called ‘Restoring Your Name’ whilst Grindelwald conducts the Dumbledore-reveal. Perhaps that’s because the Dumbledore name was lost decades/centuries ago by marriage-- and now it’s finally being restored! (That’s why it’s Aurelius Dumbledore, rather than Aurelius <<something else>>).

(A side note: maybe it’s significant that we have Jewish characters and that Jewish families are matriarchal, because this could help the Jewish characters figure out what’s happened. Would be a nice shoutout to the benefits of multiculturalism. Also, it’s be very topical and feminist to bring up the innate sexism of women taking men’s surnames upon marriage. J.K. Rowling herself uses Rowling in her career and Murray in private, and was told to use initials rather than ‘Joanne Rowling’ to disguise her gender, so it’d make sense for her to bring up women and names).

In order for Credence to be part of the Dumbledore family, with the ability to summon a phoenix, he must be descended from someone with Dumbledore blood-- not the name.

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Very interesting...

Aurelius Dumbledore - Theory Explained

Okay so just hear me out: a lot of people have said that there’s no way Credence could be a Dumbledore because he’s dark-haired and the other Dumbledore children had light colored hair, right?

Kendra - Dumbledore’s mother - had black hair.

“Jet black hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones” - sounds like Credence

Now, according to DH, Kendra died in 1899, and Credence wasn’t born until 1901 at the earliest (going by the screenplay - if we go by the birth certificate, 1904)

Dumbledore supposedly received an owl informing him of Kendra’s death. Kendra supposedly died after Ariana had lost control of her magic, aged 14. However, given that this is Rita Skeeter’s book, it’s arguable as to whether or not it’s 100% factual or just juicy gossip since I can’t see Albus or Aberforth publicly saying that.

I wondered if it was perhaps possible that Kendra ran away? Maybe she grew tired/frustrated at being Ariana’s caretaker? Maybe she couldn’t take it anymore… And then Albus/Aberforth said she died to cover the fact she had run away - we know Ariana was a secret, right? We know Albus was very private about his life, and it would have been a major shock.

At the time, Aberforth were at Hogwarts; Albus was preparing to go away with Elphias Doge. Given that Albus was finished with his education, and Aberforth still had a few years left to go, it would have made sense for Albus to take over as caretaker - I think at some point it’s mentioned that he wanted Aberforth to finish his schooling.

If Kendra ran away, Albus would have known about it before Aberforth presumably, since he’d left Hogwarts by this time. Perhaps Albus fabricated the story for Aberforth’s sake.

But what if Kendra in fact ran away? What if she ended up pregnant out of wedlock somehow (a fling? Prostitution perhaps? Hell, forcefully?) and that’s how Aurelius/Credence was born in 1901? Because if she wasn’t remarried or whatever, perhaps she then used the last name Dumbledore for him? She’s never seen again, which could mean she possibly died in childbirth with Credence.

The woman on the boat with baby Credence is his aunt apparently. If it is indeed his aunt, then perhaps she was taking him somewhere safe and away from his brothers/sister because Kendra asked her to do so - perhaps she knew Albus didn’t need a baby brother on top of everything else to deal with.

But if the woman on the boat was actually Kendra herself and not an aunt, then she could have drowned when she tried to save Corvus (thinking he was Credence).

The woman on the boat has dark hair in a bun, with a high neck dress - which is how Kendra is described in a photo in DH.

This is all a reach, I know, but I’m starting to wonder.

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Grindelwald: 19th Century Flashbacks

3 things I want to know more about regarding Grindelwald:

Durmstrang: I want flashbacks to Durmstrang, because it’d be really, really awesome to see another wizarding school. I also want to see how Grindelwald got expelled. Fortunately, Albus writes “This was your mistake at Durmstrang!” in one of his letters, which suggests we will get to find out what happened, one way or another. If FB4 or FB5 was set in Europe again, it would even make geographical sense (although I doubt there’ll be another film set in Europe, and if there is one, it’ll probably be set in London. Makes sense for the finale).

Family: I want more backstory about his family. Lots of the other characters are getting really fleshed-out family stories, siblings, parents, ancestry, etc etc etc, and JKR makes family a major theme. And yet all we know about Grindelwald is his aunt. Plus, Grindelwald family backstory doubles as Bagshot family backstory. Anyhow, finding out about this side of him— his relatives, his childhood— would really help to flesh him out as a character. (Who wants to bet we get a random Grindelwald sibling/parent popping up at some point in the next films?)

1899: Okay...I don’t just want to see Albus vulnerable and lonely; I want to see Gellert like that, too. I want to see this scared and friendless 16-year-old boy who’s just been expelled from school and is all alone in the world. I want them to help each other. Make it a mutual thing. And ofc I want tons, and tons, and tons of footage of young Dumbledore + young Grindelwald. Please. Yes. I think we have to see the 1899 duel where Ariana died, just because everything is leading up to this 1945 duel. And the 1899 duel won’t make sense without the context of the summer preceding it, so we have to see some of that, too.

(All of it. Please).

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Aberforth and Gellert

It’s strange that Aberforth and Gellert were basically the same age (would’ve been in the same school year. Both 16 in 1899). It helps explain Aberforth’s suspicion of him. I mean, if you’d just finished Year 11 (for non-Brits think OoTP) and your brother had just finished Year 13 (non-Brits: DH), you’d find it a bit weird if he started dating someone your age. And the same-age thing could add to Aberforth’s envy. It’s even possible that Aberforth was a few months older than Gellert, which would make the whole dynamic seem even weirder.

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The whole thing was never in the movies, hmm?

- Grindelwald’s persistent jealousy (”now, what makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?”/”Do you think Dumbledore will mourn for you”), shown in both films

- “I cannot move against Grindelwald”/“We were closer than brothers”

-  Dumbledore seeing Grindelwald in the Mirror of Erised in a really, really sensual, homoerotic scene that showed them making a blood pact, gasping, eyes rolling back in head, breathing, staring, intertwining fingers

- Grindelwald wearing their blood pact pendant over his heart

- Their faces combined in the ending credits

Casual fans might not have heard, but I think they’ve certainly seen.

My mom, looking at the new Fantastic Beasts movie title: so who’s this Grindelwald character?

Me, about to drop the bomb of Dumbledore’s canon homosexual relationship: oh, you haven’t heard?

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You kissed the book~ 

© Melli ~ Don’t share/repost without credit please.

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This artist, guys. This artist.

Triwizard Tournament AU

© Melli ~ Don’t share/repost without credit please.

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These are the thick, woolen socks I got for Christmas, and I’m absolutely elated.

There’s Dumbledore and Grindelwald silhouetted on the back, facing each other, which is absolutely hilarious considering “I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.” And the A of ‘pick a side’ reminds me of the Deathly Hallows symbol.

This is the best gift I could ever have received. Grindeldore socks. xD

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“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” 

Grindelwald heard the full saying and took it to heart.

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Bagshot was either a Hogwarts student or an individual who visited Hogwarts Castle in the winter of 1993. His or her name appeared on the Marauder's Map. This person may have been the famous magical historian Bathilda Bagshot or a relative of hers.

Harry Potter Wiki

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Underground Finales

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them- Credence’s Obscurus manifests in the NYC Subway,

Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald- Grindelwald’s epic speech + fire showdown takes place in a subterranean mausoleum. 

Both of the dramatic finales took place underground. 

So-- what’s the potential like for Rio de Janeiro? 

[greatergrindelgood]

albus, gellert, and siblings

I headcanon Gellert as an only child because I think he misunderstood Albus’ affection for his siblings: Albus loved Aberforth and Ariana even though he moaned and complained to Gellert what a chore they, Ariana in particular, were to him and that they were holding him back. I believe one of the reasons why Gellert confronted Aberforth on that fateful day was that he took Albus’ complaints at face value, misunderstanding the undercurrent of deep love and affection Albus felt for his siblings.

Also, I think would be ironic if Albus—the bookish model pupil who would normally be made out as the only child—grew up with a younger brother and sister while Gellert, the mischievous boy with the merry, wild face and the “Fred and George-ish air of trickery about him” (quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)—a typical candidate for someone with several siblings, see Fred and George—was an only child.