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Before channel. Before he was a name whispered in fear, before Nermangaard, before the Elder Wand, before

Dumbledore, there was simply a boy, a brilliant golden-haired boy born in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century, whose name

was Gellet Grindowald.

Little is recorded about Grindelwald's family or childhood, but what fragment survive describe

a wizard of exceptional promise from the very beginning.

His ancestry is believed to have been of northern European descent,

possibly linked to an old wizarding line with strong magical blood. Whether or not that family

shared his views, however, is another question entirely. From a young age, Grindewald displayed

a kind of brilliance that unsettled those around him. He was curious about

everything, but especially the boundaries of magic. Most children who show magical ability

experiment with simple enchantments or charms. Grinderwald experimented with control,

the art of bending will, power and fate to his own design. Even as a boy,

he possessed what Dumbledore would later call a dangerous gift, the power to make others see what

he wanted them to see, to make his lies sound like truth. By the time he reached schooling age,

Grindelwald was sent north to the Dermstrang Institute,

one of the most prestigious magical schools in Europe.

And while Dermstrang had a reputation for encouraging the study of the dark arts,

Grindewald's ambitions pushed even beyond what its lenient curriculum allowed.

At Dermestrang, Grinderald quickly proved himself a prodigy,

brilliant, gifted and in the every branch of magic, and dangerously fascinated by the dark arts.

...