In the world of Harry Potter, heroes and villains were often largely black and white, as those who wished to harm innocents usually had a malignancy in their beliefs and would do anything to achieve their goals. For years, the best example of this has been Lord Voldemort, whose dreams of immortality and Pure-Blood superiority pushed him to kill and torture for a future he believed in. That said, before Voldemort, other dark wizards were pushed by their own motivations, such as Gellert Grindelwald.
Unlike Voldemort, Grindelwald wasn’t one to seek out immortality. In fact, his desires were far more tangible: He believed that the wizarding world should be in control of the Muggle world, as their ability to use magic made them inherently superior. While believing this is largely harmless, his choice to act on his beliefs made him a threat, as he would kill and manipulate to push his dream into the realm of reality. But one Harry Potter theory by Reddit user PhantomRoyce posited that Grindelwald’s efforts weren’t evil in nature but more from a place of protection.
In the Harry Potter prequel film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the dangerous wizard used his newfound freedom to slowly build up an enclave of followers that allowed him to properly overthrow the Muggle world. But he knew that dismantling an established system would take coercion and proper motivation. As a result, he chose to use fear as he led a small collection of magic users in a speech where he laid out his aspirations. What resulted from this was a visual premonition of World War II that showed the bombings in Europe and the use of the atomic bomb. But even though his intent was malicious, the theorist believed that he was actually driven by a desire to protect.
Grindelwald stated that he didn’t hate those that didn’t use magic. Instead, he felt their lust for power made them a dangerous threat to his kind, and his premonitions proved it. While these visions did come to pass, there was much more to the larger picture that wasn’t shown. But in the case of Grindelwald, it’s believed that he only wanted to take over to prevent a larger danger from eradicating both worlds entirely. Granted, his efforts would’ve likely achieved this dream, but Grindelwald’s own hidden aspirations showed a flaw in his desire to protect.
In reality, Grindelwald’s motivations were likely to ensure a superior place for those that used magic in society. His desire to avert a potential global catastrophe was also highly likely, as he couldn’t succeed if his allies didn’t survive. But there was likely nothing about him that was heroic in nature, as he was so twisted by his dream that it made Grindelwald unpredictable. For example, the speech he used to pull more allies was also a master ploy that showcased his ability to manipulate and persuade. From the innocents he had gathered to other lost wizards like Credence, Grindelwald was likely to utilize a person’s strength for his own cause and not care for their well-being. As a result, while it could be believed he was a dark hero in Harry Potter, making hard choices, he was much more selfish.
Harry Potter’s Gellert Grindelwald showed many that words could have little meaning if the actions behind them proved the opposite. In his case, this meant that even though he sounded as though he fought for the best interest of Muggles and magic users, it was all a lie. Grindelwald was willing to pervert the nature of life and death to achieve his goals and ultimately wouldn’t stop until he was forced to stop by another, like Dumbledore. As a result, even if he didn’t want another war, he wasn’t afraid of Muggles coming for wizards so much as a war hindering his larger plans.