With their upcoming battle in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, many are wondering how powerful Credence (Ezra Miller) is compared to Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law). Following the revelation that Credence is Albus’ estranged brother Aurelius Dumbledore in The Crimes of Grindelwald, many audiences have been curious about how that dynamic will be handled in the series, and about Credence’s fate. While the obvious answer for many may be “not powerful enough”, given the movies serve as prequels to the original Harry Potter franchise, there are as-of-yet unexplored layers to the characters that audiences have yet to discover.
In The Crimes of Grindelwald, it was revealed that the titular Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) wanted to recruit Credence in order to fight Dumbledore and defeat him once and for all. Since the existing blood pact between him and Albus makes it impossible for them to fight, Credence would go in his place. Whereas Dumbledore is a wizard who has been trained in the magical arts for many years at this point, Credence is an “Obscurus”, a magical being who has had his magic suppressed. According to Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in the first Fantastic Beasts, an Obscurus has a very limited life span—only a few years, in fact. Credence has lived far longer, making him an anomaly, and therefore far more dangerous than any other Obscurus that may have existed.
As the previous Fantastic Beasts entries have shown, an Obscurus is able to release bursts of energy at will due to the suppression of their innate magical abilities. In those moments, they’re capable of obliterating everything within their path—even entire cities. The mere mention of an Obscurus in the wizarding world sends fear down many spines. Grindelwald is second only to Dumbledore in terms of power, and is almost defeated by Credence himself in the first movie. Eventually, it takes a small army of wizards to stop his wrath across New York. In the second movie, while his powers are dialed down in service of the story’s slow burn, he still obliterates a building in anger. It’s clear that defeating an Obscurus like Credence will take more than the average Disarming spell should the need arise in Fantastic Beasts 3.
Conversely, Dumbledore is a learned magician who has the knowledge and skill necessary to confront a being as powerful as an Obscurus, and won’t easily shy away from that challenge. Although the story takes place years before he ever possesses the Elder Wand, he is still a worthy enough opponent capable of holding his own in a fight. However, due to the blood pact in place, he needs help from Newt in order to fight Grindelwald’s army, including Credence. It’s very likely that in moments where he faces his long lost brother, he won’t be alone. Coupled with that familial knowledge, there is also an emotional conflict between Aurelius and Albus at play that has yet to come to fruition.
As audiences may have noted, Credence can be calmed down as well, and revert to his physical self in the process. Much of its strength is also based on emotion. In the first movie, he breaks loose after a series of events, from his foster family’s breakdown to Grindelwald’s promise of him being initiated into the wizarding world proving to be false. At his core, Credence wants nothing more than to be part of a family, and given the information he learned at the end of the second movie, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to viewers if that aspect is tapped into once more by Albus. One thing is for certain: the battle between the two in Fantastic Beasts 3 will be intense and emotional.
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)Release date: Apr 15, 2022
