Every single Dumbledore we've seen (Albus, Aberforth, Ariana, and Credence) were all extremely powerful. They're extremely powerful in how much magical energy they can produce, dueling, inventions etc.
Dumbledore = For obvious reasons.
Aberforth (in the movies at least) = Produced arguably the largest patronus we've ever seen, combating multiple dementors at once. Just like Harry's incredibly rare feat in the forest. Given his immense dueling abilities, he was also able to hold his own in a 3-way duel with 2 of the most powerful wizards of all time, at age 15. This is something nobody would be able to boast about.
Ariana = Was hinted to be an Obscurial (which express their magic in such extreme ways) as a result of suppressing her magical abilities due to trauma. In contrast, Merope Gaunt's magic didn't turn her into an Obscurial when she repressed it due to trauma from her familiy. It made her magic weak/poor, to the point her father called her a squib. This strongly points to Obscurus cases only happening if the child was natural very powerful, whereas if their magical power was average or ordinary, it would be greatly weakened.
Credance aka Aurelius = A very powerful Obscurial who also used magic to fight Album in such a way we never saw anyone in the first 7 books/films use magic (expect the most powerful wizards in the HP universe). I mean, he would have been able to take on several death eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts and make quick work of the fight (based on what they showed us).
And why do they have a strong connection with phoenixes? Is it just unique to them? Is it like with the Slytherine bloodline that have a strong connection with snakes? Does this mean every wizarding bloodline have a special connection to a specific animal (magical or not)? Or is this just reserved for the most powerful bloodlines?
EDIT: Adding reasons why I think they're so powerful for each one.
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TLDR: probs not a founder descendant, probs not a Peverell. Perhaps Merlin? Or nothing? Or with a tiny population, everyone is a descendent of everyone? I guess I mean that they are the ‘representative’ of that ancestor in a sense as for any descendent there will be many other wizards who share that same heritage.
On the one hand, not everybody needs to be descended from a house founder or Peverell brother etc
Similarly, a big theme of Harry Potter is that blood doesn’t matter and it’s your choices that make you who you are.
Despite this, there does seem to be a consistent trope in Harry Potter. That people have famous ancestors whom they somewhat represent. Sometimes this is on a long time scale a 1000 years (Tom Riddle- Salazar Slytherin) or sometimes just one generation (Malfoy).
Anyway, for dumbledore the obvious guess would be Godric Griffindor but somehow that doesn’t fit. Dumbledore doesn’t entirely fit. Yes he stands up for muggleborns and is brave but he’s not really the hot head nor does his relationship with Voldemort mirror the founder. Dumbledore is associated with the Phoenix not lions.
I wondered if maybe Merlin is a better fit? Merlin was in Slytherin but a good wizard. Perhaps the greatest ever. They even look a bit similar which is another recurring theme.
Or maybe ravenclaw?
The families that have been linked to the founders are:
Gaunt 🐍 McClaggen (theorised) 🦁 ? 🐦⬛ Smith 🦡
As for Peverell brothers, Dumbledore is widely thought of as Death rather than any brother. The brothers are Voldemort, Snape and Harry. We don’t know if Snape is descended from a brother but the other two are descendants (albeit Voldemort not representing the brother he descends from).
nearly all families have children in the next generation, it only seems like the dumbledores have the 3 siblings and thats it.
so my question is, will there be any dumbledores left, after the possible death of Aberforth?
Also, who is Aurelius, and whats going to happen to him in the future? sine the franchise is finished now, please SPOILER MEEE, ty.
So the line by Grindlewald is, I think, pretty widely accepted to be a lie. Albus is not a biological brother of Credence, the timing makes this impossible. AD's mother Kendra was dead for 7 years when Credence was born and his father Percival had been in Azkaban for at least 14 (if he hadn't died already). And we know he died there, because he didn't escape (Sirius Black was the first one to ever do that in HP3), and if it sentence had been commuted, it would have been mentioned by someone in HP7 or in one of his biographies. So unless the Dementors allowed two prisoners to fall in love and have sex in Azkaban (which seems not like a very Dementor thing to do), there is no way that Percival could have fathered a child after sitting in Azkaban for over 10 years.
Moreover, if Credences "real" name was Aurelius (i.e. he had actually been given a Dumbledore name at birth), GG would have known the age and sex of the child in FB1, so GG would have never gotten confused which of the two children (Chastity or Credence) was the obscurial he was looking for. Further evidence is how GG says "I give you the name that is your birthright: Aurelius Dumbledore", not "the name you were born with" or something similar, he is actually giving him a new name in that scene.
So how is Credence related to the Dumbledores? Through Ariana, or rather: Ariana's Obscurius. The Obscurius that was created by Ariana's suppression of her magic (due to the associated trauma) is the same one that later attached itself to Credence. But as I pointed out above, there is 7 years between the birth of Credence and Arianas death, how could an Obscurius live that long without a host? After all in FB1 we learn that Obscurii can't live long without a host...
My theory is this: AD and GG researched terrible things during their summer together in 1899. And there is one very prominent thing that matches a lot of the symptoms we have seen and matches a lot of "throwaway" lines by GG. The most terrible thing that we know of in the world of Harry Potter is the creation of Horcruxes. But as a topic of research it would make perfect sense for AD and GG: They were looking into means of immortality (The Deathly Hallows), were willing to do terrible things for "The Greater Good" and (at least in the case of Albus) had someone close that was immediately threatened by a terrible death (Ariana Dumbledore). So they decided to create a Horcrux for her. They prepare everything but get interrupted by Aberforth, who mistakes the situation and thinks they want to sacrifice Ariana to create a Horcrux for one of them. A fight breaks out and Dumbledore (by accident of course), slays Ariana. This completes the Horcrux ritual and a Horcrux of Dumbledore is created. The Horcrux attaches to the closest thing around that isn't a full blown wizzard flinging spells left and right: Ariana's freshly released Obscurius. The fight ends in shock, Grindlewald leaves, Dumbledore goes to Hogwarts to teach and Aberforth moves to Hogsmead to cuddle goats.
We actually know that accidental creation of Horcruxes is possible (Mister Potter is a prominent example) and that the wizzard that created the Horcrux is not necessarily aware of it (as was the case with Voldemort not realising that Harry is a Horcrux). We know that both living and inanimate things can be Horcruxes (Nagini and Harry are living Horcruxes, 4 are inanimate objects and the diary is a weird intermediate thing).
The Obscurius is being kept alive by the piece of Dumbledore's soul, attached to it and can now roam the earth to find other victims, eventually settling on Credence (why it chooses him, I don't know, but it probably comes down to something connected with the LeStranges).
GG eventually figures out what happened: His erstwhile lover and now greatest adversary has an accidental Horcrux running around in the world somewhere. If it wasn't for the Horcrux, he could probably defeat Dumbledore in a straight up duel: He has the Blood-Oath-Thingy-Majigg and could find out to how to destroy it at an opportune time to allow him to assault Albus directly and he has the Elder Wand, so is virtually undefeatable in a magical duel. Except that Dumbledore can't be slain, while his Horcrux is around. He finds the Horcrux and settles on a plan to set Albus and the carrier of the Horcrux against eachother. If Albus kills his Horcrux, he can step in and fight and kill a weakened (and now mortal) Dumbledore. If the Horcrux kills Dumbledore, he has made him a loyal follower already. Can you say two birds one stone?
GG even tells us, that nobody could kill Dumbledore, except for Credence (just like Voldemort couldn't be defeated by anyone but his last Horcrux: Harry Potter): "Credence is the only entity that can kill Albus Dumbledore."
It also explains Credence' connection to Phoenixes (similar to Harry knowing Parselmouth).
Lastly, it explains how Dumbledore could (70 years later) diagnose the Voldemort/Potter situation so quickly and precisely: The exact same thing had happened to him (although inadvertently).
TL/DR: Dumbledore accidentally created a Horcrux in the form of his sister Ariana's Obscurius, which now resides in Credence Barebone. Grindlewald needs Credence to kill Albus of his own will, or else the Horcrux would keep Dumbledore alive.
Even though the Fantastic Beasts delved further into the Dumbledore family I really wanted more. Like from such a mysterious and powerful Wizard family the fact its down to Albus and Aberforth as its last living members is tragic. Especially the connection with Phoenix's and their family which shows a powerful magically connection.
I really hope we get some further back story into the family's History and maybe unknown members still alive that we never knew of. From Fantastic Beasts it showed Aberforth was very good and had a level of ability just Albus was extraordinary.
With the success of Fire & Blood for George R R Martin maybe a Dumbledore Family History book could be successful.
Hello my fellow potter heads, I just started reading harry potter books a few months ago. I am not an expert on the series. But I just want to ask a small question regarding Dumbledore family ...
So Albus, Ariana and Aberforth's, parents died when they were young, then Ariana died accidentally during the duel, Albus died by hands of Snape and We know that Aberforth also died sometime after 1998. None of them had any kids.
EDIT - I know about Credence but he is an obscurial, he must have died very soon after Secrets of Dumbledore
So essentially, Is this means that Dumbledore family completely ended after the series ??