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"And there was an argument ... and I pulled out my wand, and he pulled out his."
Aberforth Dumbledore[src]

The wand of Gellert Grindelwald was of an unknown length, wood, and core material. He likely obtained it prior to starting his education at the Durmstrang Institute, and used it throughout his school career, and beyond. Grindelwald's wand remained in its master's possession in the months following his expulsion from Durmstrang, however, Grindelwald eventually set it aside upon attaining mastery of the Elder Wand.

History[]

Creation and early usage[]

Gellert Grindelwald school portrait

Grindelwald holding his wand

While at Durmstrang Grindelwald gained a reputation as a brilliant student, with an unfortunate fascination with the Dark Arts. Eventually Grindelwald's experiments in Dark Magic escalated to the point where he came close to killing a number of his fellow students.[1] After this incident Grindelwald was expelled from Durmstrang, but not before he carved the Sign of the Deathly Hallows onto one of the castle's walls.[2]

Later usage[]

After his expulsion Grindelwald set out on an expedition to find the Deathly Hallows, which he had long been obsessed with. His journey took him to Godric's Hollow, where he sought to investigate the grave of Ignotus Peverell.

While in Godric's Hollow Grindelwald struck up a romance with an eighteen year old Albus Dumbledore. Together the two boys dreamed of a world in which wizards would rule over Muggles, and sought to find and use the Deathly Hallows to help them achieve this goal. At some point during this time the two young lovers forged a blood pact to ensure they could never move against one another. After two months of scheming Dumbledore and Grindelwald were all but ready to put their plans into action, and were preparing to depart on their quest for the Hallows, with Albus's younger sister Ariana to accompany them. Unfortunately Ariana was in no fit state to travel, and it was Dumbledore's other sibling Aberforth who informed them so, refusing point blank to allow them to take Ariana abroad with them. Grindelwald became enraged and inflicted the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth, instigating a three way duel, in which Ariana was killed. Fearing retribution for his part in the incident, Grindelwald fled the country, on what was now to be a solo quest.[3]

Final usage[]

Working alone from this point on, Grindelwald pursued rumours of the Elder Wand, one of the three Hallows, which was said to reside with the noted wandmaker Gregorovitch. Grindelwald located Gregorovitch's place of business, and broke into his workshop stealing the Elder Wand from its rightful master. Gregorovitch burst into the room, intent on apprehending the thief. Grindelwald then drew his wand for what may have been the final time. He incapacitated the wandmaker with a Stunning Spell, and made his escape, the world's most powerful wand now in his possession. It is unknown what Grindelwald did with his original wand after obtaining the Deathstick. It is possible he retained it as a backup, set it aside in storage, or disposed of it entirely.

Behind the scenes[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

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