Evidence suggests that Albus Dumbledore could have an Obscurus as well in the Fantastic Beasts movies. In 2018, David Yates’ Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald introduced a younger Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) into the Harry Potter franchise, and it’s become clear that him and his family have become key parts of the Fantastic Beasts story arc.
As the second installment in the Fantastic Beasts series, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was naturally filled with exposition and even contained some surprising connections to the overarching Harry Potter franchise, such as Ezra Miller’s Credence Barebone being Ablus Dumbledore’s brother. That twist came in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’s ending, and it could’ve been difficult to believe for some fans, which is why some fans believe it’s possible Johnny Depp’s Gellert Grindelwald lied to Credence about his Dumbledore connections.
With Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald setting up an even bigger movie in Fantastic Beasts 3, it stands to reason that Albus Dumbledore and his family will play an integral role in the upcoming sequel as well as the rest of series. But that could also mean the twists aren’t over yet. Taking everything into account, it’s plausible Albus Dumbledore himself was an Obscurial.
- This Page: Albus Dumbledore’s Brother & Sister Both Have Obscurials Page 2: Credence Learned to Channel His Obscurus & Dumbledore Could Have One As Well
Albus’ Brother and Sister Were Both Obscurials
In Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts canon, an Obscurus is a dark, parasitic magical force that can develop in a witch or wizard if they are forced to consistently suppress their powers, usually due to shame and/or fear. By supressing their magical powers, a witch or wizard then becomes an Obscurial, and if they lose control, their Obscurus can be unleashed as a separate force; that force can wreak havoc around them, as shown in the first Fantastic Beasts movie. Obscurials are very rare and very dangerous, although it has been suggested that an Obscurial can be healed by working through the negative emotions that led to the development of their Obscurus in the first place.
In Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, it was revealed that Credence Barebone is an Obscurial; he was raised by a woman with a hatred of magic, and he unwittingly let his Obscurus loose on New York. It seemed that this might’ve been the end to Credence’s story, but the sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald, ended with a major twist. Credence and Grindelwald were holed up in Grindelwald’s mountain home, which is where Grindelwald revealed Credence’s real name - Aurelius Dumbledore. Furthermore, Grindelwald says that Credence/Aurelius is Albus Dumbledore’s brother, and then gifts his young protégé with a wand, which he’s able to use to create a spell of such force it takes out a chunk of the mountainside.
Since learning more about Obscurials in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, fans have theorized that Credence/Aurelius might not be the only Dumbledore family member with this condition; the specifics seem to fit Dumbledore’s sister, Ariana, too, who was briefly seen in a painting in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.
In the Harry Potter series, audiences learn that Dumbledore had a younger sister, who was kept hidden away from the wizarding world. At the age of six, she was set upon by a group of muggle boys who caught her doing magic (in the uncontrolled way that most magical children do), and was so emotionally scarred by the experience that she became too afraid to use her magical gifts. Instead, her magic “turned inwards” and began to explode out of her when she was upset or angry. In the end, these explosions ended up killing their mother, and eventually, Ariana herself was killed after becoming involved in a magical duel between Albus, their brother Aberforth, and Grindelwald.
Everything checks out for Ariana to have been an Obscurial too; magical power that was suppressed and twisted out of fear and trauma, and that power becoming unstable, uncontrollable, and bursting out of her when afraid or angry. This has led fans to question whether it’s likely that there could be some kind of genetic component to the development of an Obscurus; if two people from one family (both Ariana and Aurelius) have developed this incredibly rare condition, might a third have it as well?
Page 2 of 2: Credence Learned to Channel His Obscurus & Dumbledore Could Have One As Well
Credence Learns To Channel His Obscurus Into Powerful Magic
There seems to be something else going on here when it comes to Obscurials and their inability to control their magic. Originally, Credence doesn’t understand what’s happening to him in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and so he has no control over his powers. Ariana, emotionally scarred, is also incapable of understanding or controlling her Obscurus. However, once Grindelwald explains to Credence what’s happening and introduces him to the wizarding world, Credence seems to develop more and more control over his powers. When he’s given a wand at the end of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, he’s able to control his gifts to the extent that he can channel that power to destroy a mountain.
The power of an Obscurus is related to the innate power of the witch/wizard hosting it, and Grindelwald has seen just how much of that raw power Credence has. If he truly believed that the young Aurelius Dumbledore was utterly incapable of controlling it, he wouldn’t risk inviting him into his own castle. The fact that he brings Credence to his side, and gives him a wand, suggests that it’s possible for an Obscurial to learn to control their powers, at least to an extent - and if that’s the case, it would make anyone with an Obscurus under control an extremely dangerous wizard.
Dumbledore’s Great Power Could Come From His Obscurus
Albus Dumbledore is recognized as one of the greatest and most powerful wizards of all-time. And while some of a wizard’s power comes from their studies, a lot of it is innate. It’s possible that Dumbledore is naturally an incredibly powerful wizard and a terrific magical scholar, but it’s also possible that there is a genetic predisposition to developing an Obscurus, and some of Dumbledore’s power comes from his own.
While Dumbledore doesn’t have the kind of traumatic childhood that Credence and Ariana did, he certainly does have plenty of trauma in his life that could contribute to an Obscurus. His sister was attacked and traumatized, he lost his mother, his father was imprisoned, and he then watched his sister die in a duel that he blames himself for causing. Dumbledore may also blame himself for killing her, as he says that he doesn’t know who cast the killing curse.
Fearing that his own magic may have killed Ariana was enough to prevent Dumbledore from accepting any position of power offered to him - such as Minister Of Magic - but it could also have caused him to turn a portion of that power inward. However, it’s been theorized that Ariana’s Obscurus transferred to Albus at the moment of her death. In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander was able to keep an Obscurus alive after its host died, which suggests it could be possible for an Obscurus to find a new host. Grindelwald, under the guise of Percival Graves, indicated that he wanted to use the Obscurus, so at least the dark wizard believes it can be done.
If this is the case, and Dumbledore has an Obscurus that he’s able to control, as well as use to channel and strengthen his own magic, this may become part of the infamous duel that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is headed towards. Grindelwald may be planning to use Aurelius’s Obscurial power to try and defeat Dumbledore, forcing Dumbledore to draw on the power of his own Obscurus in the duel. It would be an interesting twist for the character, and would explain why Rowling decided to create the Obscurial concept and make it such a huge part of the first film in the franchise.
Of course, Rowling may not have a master plan quite that complex, or that Credence isn’t actually Dumbledore’s brother, and Grindelwald is lying. Grindelwald may simply be attempting to use Credence’s powers against Dumbledore because the young wizard is so strong… or there may be something else going on here entirely. Audiences will have to wait until Fantastic Beasts 3 releases in 2021 to find out exactly what’s in the works for the wizarding world.
