Remember

like i saw a fic the other day where snape woke up as a portrait after dying and whilst it was very sweet that he got to have a closure conversation with harry, i couldn't help but think of the feeling of being trapped in one place - usually one room, if you even get a room in your background and not a plain bg - for a possible eternity, on full display, with next to no choice about who your neighbours are hanging beside you, who comes to stand in front of you, who enters your portrait, who wakes you up and when, nowhere to hide, unable to do anything or have any significant power over the real world, and yet (by all appearances) being fully sentient, needing to sleep, wanting to party and go places, wanting to defend your home and who enters it, as if you were still alive

[Image ID: The Destiel confession meme edited so that Dean answers 'The European Central Bank has a survey where you can vote for the new Euro banknote designs!' to Cas 'I love you'. /End ID]

Since people were asking me for this, just based on the BOOKS and disregarding the films, as a writer, here's what I would have done with Grindelwald's actual movement/policies:

this is not a Pureblood movement, that's just shorthand to tell anyone who only knows about Voldemort that this is a Bad Guy, makes no sense for Gellert to have those same viewpoints.

Instead, I would have set him up as a champion of "all magical blood is precious, all Muggles are the enemy"

his REAL enemy would be the International Statute of Secrecy

this would appeal to Albus; his sister was harmed because neighborhood boys were terrified of her magic, and his father went to Azkaban for attacking them in turn. If a Muggle harms a wizard, they have no recourse, because the concept of bringing the Muggles down in such numbers is too frightening and overwhelming for wizards to deal with, even with magic (any wizard can still get shot with a gun or get their throat slit). This is what drove them underground in the 1500s/1600s in the first place.

it's always been fascinating to me that the real reasons given for the Statute is that wizards were aware how MANY more Muggles there were and they were afraid of being persecuted (like Nearly Headless Nick), but these days they teach that witch burning was ineffective and kinda funny AND that they went underground because "everyone would be wanting magical solutions to their problems," which is a really (imho) effective way at showcasing the propaganda that wizards have been telling themselves for centuries. We're not afraid, even though we're outnumbered massively! We're just....shy!

One of his biggest aims would be to increase the number of wizards, which is understandably difficult given, er, inbreeding coefficients, and the fact that it's obviously difficult for most wizards to interact with Muggles (and therefore meet/mingle/procreate). We know of several mixed marriages, but all of them involve some degree of lying, subterfuge, and fear. if there were way more wizards, that wouldn't be so much of an issue.

The Statute ALSO makes it very dangerous/difficult for wizards to reproduce. If they aren't able to be THEMSELVES in a relationship, how could it get to the point of having kids? How do you court someone if you're hiding everything about yourself? if wizards aren't afraid to show their true colors, they would be able to date/marry/have kids with whoever, without fear that they'll split the family (if some kids are magical and some aren't, or if the Muggle spouse rejects them or any magical children).

he should/would be a CHAMPION of Muggleborn wizards - that's proof that magical blood will triumph over Muggle blood! If you want to give him someone to detest and discriminate against to show that he's Evil, give him Squibs.

His ultimate aim is to be in charge of the world, obviously!!! but that should be about empowering and centralizing wizardkind, because he sees the senseless waste and war and chaos that Muggles bring as unacceptable.

I see Albus and Gellert as ideologically aligned in the sense of "The Statute drives wizards into secrecy which encourages Pureblood ideology to fester and spread, leading to not only wizardkind being hunted and persecuted, but also the mistreatment and marginalization of young witches and wizards."

i.e. Merope Gaunt (driven into secrecy, unable to leave the house, brutalized by her father and brother), Sirius Black (tormented and bullied by his parents and house-elf until he ran away), Harry Potter (discriminated against and abused for his magic and magical heritage), Severus Snape (abused by his father), definitely lots of others who we don't know about who have suffered because underage witches and wizards have nowhere to go, no recourse, no way to ask for help. If they try to escape, they aren't able to use magic (because of the Statute) so they're essentially forfeiting an essential part of themselves.

The biggest ideological difference, therefore, would be - Albus follows a first-do-no-harm, only intervene when asked, you do NOT know better than everyone else and they all deserve autonomy even if you disagree with their choices, Prime Directive outlook, whereas Gellert sees himself as a veterinarian saying "i don't care if you don't like the pill you don't know the pill is GOOD FOR YOU and yes if i have to wrestle you into submission i'm going to make you TAKE THIS PILL because you are a kitty and you don't have a framework for 'pill makes my infection go away'

I realize this kind of turned into a rant about the Statute. but.

He was headmaster while Dumbledore was a student and he would’ve known about his father being arrested. Dumbledore was Head Boy and Phineas chose him for that role. Furthermore, he was headmaster until 1925 so he was the one who hired Dumbledore to teach. (I know he dumped most of his work onto his deputy, but I think that choosing the Head Boy and Girl and hiring staff are things he’d do himself, or, at least, would require his direct approval.)

I believe torturing two aurors until they literally lose themselves in their own minds is not easy to achieve. On the surface, it does tell us about the extent of the sadism and cruelty, but when you take Bellatrix's love for Voldemort into account, I think it says a lot more about her grief.

She believed he'd return, but that doesn't mean Bella wasn't grieving his disappearance for months (I'd guess at least four months since people were starting to feel safe again).

Also, Voldemort had been in power for a decade and I'm sure that court had heard about plenty of horrible things committed by the captured Death Eaters. And yet one of the worst crimes was committed by Bellatrix while she was grieving Voldemort...