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Tom Riddle : Welcome to the "Fuck Dumbledore" club where we talk about how much we hate Albus Dumbledore

Gellert Grindelwald: *sweating* I have misunderstood the nature of this club

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forever yearning

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SAT voice: lesbians are to once upon a time as gay men are to bbc merlin

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The complaint about Dumbledore being gay when he didn't "act gay" or "show any signs" is objectively really funny because just wait until you finally go outside and discover real people.

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so basically,

albus about gellert: i can fix him *makes him worse*

gellert about albus: i can make him worse *fixes him*

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Grindelwald rant incoming…

In my grindeldore fic, Gellert knew and planned purposely to get kicked out of Durmstrang since he knew he would get sent to live with his aunt in Godric’s Hollow.

He intentionally did this to be neighbors and soon befriend and manipulate the shit out of Albus Dumbledore because he realized he needed him on his side if he were to carry out his plans for revolution.

Early on during that summer, while Gellert’s schemes and manipulation were all coming to plan, what he didn’t plan was to fall in love with that very same boy. That was 1000% accidental.

So now (currently where I’m at in my fic), Gellert is confused on whether to continue to manipulate him or just ditch the cruel plans altogether and stay happily together with no revolutionary agenda because he kinda feels bad for lying and tricking his love.

At the same time, Gellert had influenced Albus so much that now he is the one coming up with inhumane ideas, leaving Gellert both impressed and a little scared.

We know though in the end (I plan to keep this fic canon compliant) that Albus realizes his mistakes and backs out, leaving Gellert to finish the revolution, no matter how cruel and inhumane, by himself. Let’s just say (for Gellert at least) going to Godric’s Hollow was a waste.

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It wasn’t love at first sight for Gellert, it was curiosity at first glance.

He saw this scrawny auburn-haired boy who he’s heard about in the papers but nothing more. Except he wanted to learn more and every little thing about him, like a subject to study and dissect.

Intrigued upon first encounter.

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At the airport, saw a fine brown man with glasses, red converse, baggy jeans, and a t-shirt. Literal James Fleamont Potter variant.

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Historical context for my grindeldore fic

TW: homophobia

Credits to bloodpxct and witchy-detective

As a university student studying history, I wanted to make my fic historically accurate when best possible.

I knew going into this fic, I was going to have to cover homophobia in British history, and most importantly, I realized when writing this fic, that it is impossible to talk about young Dumbledore (or more specifically 1899 Dumbledore) without talking about Oscar Wilde.

Despite being a wizard, Albus Dumbledore would’ve known some basic muggle entertainment and politics. He might not have liked Wilde’s plays or novels, but he definitely would’ve known who he was. He was a celebrity, one of the most popular British writers at the time, even gaining traction and popularity in France and the U.S. too.

The Oscar Wilde trials were very public. As there was no social media then (obviously), whatever was on the front page of the paper was your news and entertainment. Think back to how popular the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trials were, how everyone was consumed with the next bit released. With being one of Britain’s most popular celebrities at the time, Wilde wasn’t convicted of fraud or murder, no. He was convicted of a crime so scandalous and dirty that no one proper dared speak of — homosexuality.

There’s no better way to put this but to ask you to put yourself in Dumbledore’s perspective. He was 13-14 when the Oscar Wilde trials were happening. Imagine, you’re going through puberty, possibly just discovering stuff about yourself, more specifically, your sexuality, all for you to constantly hear the news of a celebrity getting sentenced two years of hard labour for the very same thing you were just discovering about yourself.

I wouldn’t doubt Dumbledore was proud and patriotic of his country, even the muggle part. All for that very same country and government to turn their backs on someone like him. Flash forward to 1897, now Dumbledore is 16 when Wilde gets released. By then, he probably knew more about himself.

When reading the Harry Potter books, watching the movies and Fantastic Beasts movies, if there are a few words I and the fandom can use to describe Dumbledore it would be secretive, private, and kept to himself. That was a subplot in the beginning of Deathly Hallows, when Harry was having a quarter life crisis over what Dumbledore kept from him. Heck, there’s a whole movie titled “Secrets of Dumbledore”.

I think that Dumbledore’s secretiveness started at age 13-14, when Wilde was convicted. That’s where it began. We know the wizarding world approached homosexuality differently than the muggle world, but at the time, I doubt it was much different. If who he was criminalized, perhaps Dumbledore pushed his academic side forward since he knew people would accept and tolerate that. His sexuality was one of the very first secrets he kept.

Now I’ll talk a bit about Dumbledore’s clothing style. In the Harry Potter movies, we see Dumbledore wearing velvety robes and matching hats, whereas in FB, we see him wearing suits and vests of greys and neutral colors, very contrasting to HP. I think this stylistic choice is a direct reflection of the criminalization of homosexuality in the UK.

The Sexual Offences Act was passed in England in 1967. We see Dumbledore in SoD in 1932 wearing the same grayish suits and vests, but we also see a slight shift in 1938 when Dumbledore visits a young Tom Riddle, with him wearing a purple suit and matching patterned scarf. The first time we see Dumbledore wearing a Merlin-like robe is vaguely in 1981 in the original Order of the Phoenix photo. So, somewhere between 1938 and 1981, something changed and Dumbledore decided to dress more wizard-like, more flamboyant, and perhaps more like himself / how he wished to dress. I think the shift in style might have happened around the 1960s, perhaps close to 1967.

That’s it for the post, sorry if it was long I just had a lot to share. Some of these ideas were directly inspired by posts and comments (accounts credited in beginning). I love doing research (a history major here), and this post just combined my interest for HP and history, so ty for reading along if you made it this far.

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A genuine question I have and have wondered for years. Would teenage Albus have internalized homophobia? ( If he did he would not when he is older I don't think ) however, one of the most scandalous things to happen in the 1890s while he was growing up was... you guessed it... the Oscar Wilde trial. I very highly doubt older Albus would have internalized homophobia, but do we think teenage Albus would? I mean, his relationship with Gellert happened fairly shortly ( a few years ) after anyway. Growing up when that trial happened would have been very distressing, if Albus even knew he like men by the point it had happened or even after the trial.

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DUMBLEDORE'S FASHION AS SYMBOLISM

The contrast of Albus Dumbledore's fashion sense in the original Harry Potter movies and in the Fantastic beasts movies are something I wish to give actual reasoning behind. The change in fashion is drastic- however I do think we can give it meaning.

This is my personal interpretation of this and is in no way canon by the way :)

The last Fantastic Beasts movie takes place in 1932. Dumbledore still wears period appropriate clothing with dull colors. In 1938 He visited Tom Riddle at the orphanage - in which we meet him in rather flamboyant and bright clothing.

My perception of his fashion changes has very much to do with his character and personality and overall character development. And so here they are :

TEENAGE YEARS :

Mostly stereotypical Victorian fashion of the age. I believe that the Oscar Wilde scandal made him afraid to dress flamboyantly and I also think it probably also had a rather big psychological impact on him and would affect how he dressed ( as Oscar Wilde is also regarded as flamboyant in style ) Mostly just hand-me downs from Percival, or whatever they could find as they were also rather poor, meaning that would play a rather large factor into how he dressed too.

DURING PARIS / UNDER FLAMELS WING :

I think that due to his grief after the events of 1899, he would, at first, not experiment. However during the very later years under Flamel’s teachings, would experiment, however would still use dull colors. I think perhaps more flowing clothes would be worn, much more oversized clothing ect. He would have money from Flamel so his clothing would be more expensive than in his teenage years and would not look so worn.

ROARING 20s :

Would begin to wear more ‘ odd ‘ clothing pieces, however they could still pass off as period appropriate muggle clothing. Probably also around this time he had been teaching at Hogwarts for some time ( or just started ) and perhaps felt that he could be more so himself without danger and judgement.

THE THIRTIES ( before 1932 )

We know Secrets of Dumbledore takes place in 1932, so I assume that Albus’s fashion came to its full extent after his duel with Gellert in Bhutan / after the bloodpact breaks. This is symbolic of him finally being free of Gellert in the sense that he can oppose him, it is also symbolic that the ‘ albus ‘ Gellert thought he knew that summer was long gone, the same with Albus for Gellert. I suppose I view his fashion as a rebirth for him.

I think especially after 1945 he stopped caring what people thought of him; he had been pressured and gaslighted into fighting Gellert by the Ministry, so to him, by this point it would seem silly to not dress however he sees fit that makes him happy, as he did not care for keeping a public image like he had during his childhood ( to escape the stigma surrounding his father )

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Breaking Down Dumbledore's Outfits - Crimes of Grindelwald Edition

In the Fantastic Beasts prequels, Dumbledore's clothing gets a complete reboot. Instead of long sweeping robes, he dons a variety of tweed suits. The one problem with all of this is that it is a touch muggle looking, but as someone who adores muggle dress clothes, his outfits are still pretty great. Here is a breakdown of his outfits in Jude Law's first outing as Dumbledore.

1. London (1927)

When we first meet Dumbledore in Crimes of Grindelwald, he is standing on a roof looking out over interwar London. Dressed in a snazzy wide wale corduroy blue coat with the collar popped. The coat is double breasted and in true gentlemanly style he has not buttoned the bottom most button. The sleeves are polished off with squared off button tabs. He is also wearing a fedora with a slightly pointed crown (to make it look more wizardy) and rather narrow brim. The hat is a dark blue that matches the coat but has a pale gray ribbon around the crown. Always dressed for the occasion this outfit is Dumbledore at his most spymaster - dark and mysterious. Though a touch of whimsy still comes through in all his clothing (after all, does James Bond ever wear double breasted corduroy coats?).

Since Dumbledore wears his coat throughout his whole trip to London - the parts we see anyway - it is hard to get a good look at the suit he wears under it. Luckily for us, there are a number of behind the scenes shots of Jude walking around set with the coat off. These photos reveal that it is a grayish brown tweed suit. The style is very much a shooting suit - hence the four large pockets on the front that were historically used to hold ammunition. Truth be told, this is not the sort of thing that should be worn in the city but we can assume Dumbledore came straight from Hogwarts so we can forgive him this fashion faux pas. Like the suit, this is the best look we get at his tie which seems to be dark blue silk.

The suit is accessorized with with a small square watch in the style of a Cartier Tank with a brown leather band. The shoes are perhaps the most eccentric thing about the outfit. They appear to be brown suede with tiny cobwebs at the the tip.

2. Hogwarts (1927)

Next time we see Dumbledore he is in his element (at first anyway) - teaching the young minds of tomorrow and clearly loving every minute of it. Its also my favorite of the outfits we see Dumbledore wear in both movies. In these scenes, Dumbledore wears a light gray tweed three piece suit. Though it is not obvious in his classroom, when talking to Leta later that day it becomes apparent that the suit has very subtle red (almost pink) stripes on it. The jacket is a three button jacket but Dumbledore never seems to button it up. Like all of Dumbledore's suits in the films, the pants are high waisted which would have been the common cut for a pair of pants at the time.

He accessorizes the suit with a dark reddish brown tie that is from a thicker material than his blue silk one but not quite as thick as wool. Not entirely sure on the material and I am open to suggestion. The pocket square is a dark blue with a red and pink floral pattern. The most whimsical item in this outfit.

When we first see him, Dumbledore has the jacket off which gives us a good look at his shirt. Later when he is looking into the Mirror of Erised we get an even better look at a more informal (and this time vulnerable) Dumbledore. His collar is slightly longer and more pointed, which perfectly fits the style for the time period. Though the shirt looks white at times, the harder I look, the more I am convinced it is a very very light blue - almost white but not quite. He also wears small round silver cufflinks.

3. Hogwarts (1910)

When we journey back in time to witness the origins of Newt and Leta's friendship, Dumbledore is dressed even more professorially. Once again he is in brownish gray tweed (his trademark outfit for the Fantastic Beasts movies seems to be various shades of gray tweed). This one is a windowpane tweed that he pairs with a pale green sweater vest. This flashback is the one and only time we see Dumbledore in a fun little bow tie - a red one with white microdots. The pocket square for the outfit is a muted blue color with some sort of gold design on it. Dumbledore's polishes off his teaching outfit with another set of brown suede shoes. It is possible these are the same from earlier but impossible to know for sure at this distance.

4. Hogwarts Bridge (1927)

The last time we see Dumbledore in the film he is on the bridge leading to Hogwarts. Though I have tried my level best to find differences, I am almost one hundred percent sure this is the exact same outfit he wears in all his other scenes at Hogwarts. Perhaps he did not sleep the previous night while waiting to hear news from Paris? I am unsure but it sadly leaves me with little to say here. I can however provide a couple more pictures of the suit from different angles.

So that is the end of my breakdown of the Crimes of Grindelwald clothes of Dumbledore. Stay tuned sometime in the coming week for one on Secrets of Dumbledore.

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Crying in a mall bathroom I just bought my first binder!!!!

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Rambling/theory about the Blood Pact:

I realized, skimming through the Grindeldore tag yesterday, that there IS indeed a plot hole around the blood pact and the duell of 1899...

(OR IS THERE?)

The Blood Pact, we know, is supposed to activate the moment Albus and Gellert even THINK about hurting each other/fighting the other/going against each other/something that is not completely defined.

Then, shouldn't the pact have activated the moment the three-way-duel started? It HAD to exist beforehand, because Gellert fled after the duel, so there was no time for them to form the pact afterwards. 

BUT…

Here’s the thing. 

Who carried the pact the moment the duel started? Going from who KEPT the pact, it was likely Gellert. 

So in conclusion…even THEN, Gellert did not truly want to hurt Albus. Otherwise, by the logic of the pact, it would have attacked him back. There’s actually no saying if the pact could truly prevent Gellert from attacking - the only time the adverse effects of the pact are shown on screen, it hurts Albus to the point of attempting to strangle him/cut off his arm, but it’s not clear if he could still act and just pay the price for it later. And logic also says that, if Gellert TRULY wanted to hurt Albus during the three-way duel, and Ariana DIED as a consequence, then the retribution of the pact would have been severe and Gellert would not have been able to just run away afterwards. 

So, the verdict? Not really a plothole. Gellert might have wanted to hurt Aberforth, or even Ariana during the three-way duel, but definitely not Albus. Proving that the OG psychopathic dark wizard of the European wizarding world truly loved his beau, from the very beginning till the end.