The reception for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald steered largely toward negative territory, with the main criticism being the needless shift in tone from the first part’s whimsy to dark and dreary. The major plus point, though, has been the introduction of Albus Dumbledore.
His role in the film was relatively minor compared to everything else that went on, but in pure Dumbledore form, every appearance he had consisted of memorable dialogue that the fans won’t be forgetting. The younger Albus had some well chosen words that showed how he would become the wisest person in the Harry Potter universe later on, and here are 10 noteworthy quotes from Dumbledore in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
“You Don’t Seek Power Or Popularity. You Simply Ask, “Is The Thing Right In Itself?””
Dumbledore is the greatest judge of character in the series, and he has a penchant to make one feel better by finding qualities the person wouldn’t have seen in themselves. Newt Scamandar was always rather meek and quiet, but even then Dumbledore had him read like a book.
He admired how Newt didn’t seek popularity or any kind of grand rewards for his efforts, despite being at the forefront of the adventures in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Dumbledore voiced how he realized Newt had his priorities straight and didn’t waste time in things that didn’t matter.
“Regret Is My Constant Companion. Do Not Let It Become Yours.”
We’re all well aware of the tragedies Albus went through when he lost his only sister due to his own actions, but this was only communicated to Harry and the others in the far future compared to the chronology of Fantastic Beasts.
This is why it was saddening to see how Albus implored upon the idea of setting things right before they went out of hand, as only he knew just how much it hurt to live with regret all your life. His words wouldn’t have been fully understood by anyone who didn’t know his backstory, but we knew just how much truth there was to his claims.
“…Should Things At Some Point Go Terribly Wrong, It’s Good To Have A Place To Go. You Know, For A Cup Of Tea.”
If you’ve got Dumbledore talking in circles then you know something serious is about to go down. In The Crimes of Grindelwald, he had Newt warned that there would be big things in store but didn’t spell things out for him.
Instead, in true Dumbledore fashion, he concealed his warning in pleasantries, full with appropriate British style as he hinted that a cup of tea would be best had at a safehouse. For any potential eavesdroppers, this might have sounded like a simple word of advice, but it was actually a veiled warning.
“We Were Closer Than Brothers.”
The first of the hundreds or so changes JK Rowling made in the Harry Potter universe was that Albus and Gellert were not friends but lovers when they were young. This has brought a clear perspective for fans over Albus’s actions, especially when looking at his appearance in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
While the Ministry officials thought Albus merely meant he and Gellert had had a bond that exceeded that of brothers, the fans knew he was referring to their passionate days of love that were only known to Albus and no-one else.
“How, In The Name Of Merlin, Did You Manage To Get This?”
So much focus is put on Dumbledore being a complete genius and being two steps ahead of everybody else that it’s very refreshing to see him confounded on occasion. By the end of The Crimes of Grindelwald, he was just that.
Believing the mission had failed when Newt and the others arrived at Hogwarts after the loss of Leta, Dumbledore was astonished to see that Newt had successfully managed to steal the blood vial that had been part of Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s pact. It added a layer of humanity to Dumbledore to be inquisitive for once rather than have all the answers.
“If You’ve Ever Had The Pleasure To Teach Him, You’d Know Newt Is Not A Great Follower Of Orders.”
As mentioned previously, Dumbledore saw something unique in Newt the same way he saw something distinct in all his students. Everybody knows, though, that Dumbledore has a particular liking for those who don’t follow the rules.
This is why Newt had a special place in Dumbledore’s long list of allies as he remarked upon the fact that the former wasn’t one to play by the rules. As someone who was always in a position of either following orders or giving them out, there’s no doubt Dumbledore like the idea of someone running free the way Newt did.
“I Do Enjoy A View.”
If you’ve paid attention to Dumbledore over the years, you’ll have undoubtedly noticed his taste for theatricality. Whenever a film begins, you can be certain Dumbledore will be making quite the entrance. It happened again in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Summoning Newt over to the rooftops with the means of some amusing bit of magic, he admitted to Newt that getting a take of the sights was something he enjoyed wherever he was, before shrouding the city in smog so he and Newt could have a private chat.
“There’s A Story In My Family That A Phoenix Will Come To Any Dumbledore Who Is In Desperate Need.”
Truer words might never have been spoken by Albus than these ones, as we saw just this happen in both the Fantastic Beasts series and the Harry Potter films. Making this claim more special was the fact that a phoenix’s loyalty to Albus was such that we saw Fawkes extend this courtesy to Harry in Chamber of Secrets.
There’s no relationship quite like the one we’ve seen Albus have with Fawkes, and it was nice to hear that there was a deeper history that went into this. The Dumbledores really were gifted in this regard.
“…Not Learning From The First Two.”
There’s never just the one thing to learn, especially when it comes to learning under the tutelage of Albus Dumbledore. When we first saw him in Hogwarts in The Crimes of Grindelwald, he was in the process of teaching his Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Here, he reminded his student that the latter’s belief of mastering his weaknesses might not be as much of a sure thing as the student believed, and that the biggest mistake the boy made was not learning from his first two mistakes. And we saw it the next moment that Dumbledore was right on the money with his prediction.
“Your Policies Of Suppression And Violence Are Pushing Supporters Into His Arms.”
Chronologically, we heard it from Albus first over the corruption that ran deep within the Ministry as seen when officials arrived at Hogwarts to basically interrogate him. Grindelwald, while being a definite warlord, did have justification in the way he convinced people to join his side as the Ministry itself conducted on the basis of fear.
As the public saw how their demands weren’t being met by the Ministry, Dumbledore argued correctly that the Ministry’s activities were doing all bad and no good as the people were joining Grindelwald’s cause to feel “free” from the Ministry’s oppression.
