How did Dumbledore beat Grindelwald if he Grindelwald had the unbeatable wand?

Question

JKR describes the Elder wand to unbeatable. So, how exactly did Dumbledore beat Grindelwald? It says that they dueled. Unless, D slit G's throat when he was asleep (which he didn't, because G was alive), I see no reason why D could win over G. After all, the wand is unbeatable.

Answer 1

Dumbledore I guess, got a lucky shot and disarmed Grindelwald while they were dueling.

I hope this clears it up.

Answer 2

A wand works with the wizard. Wand alone would not help with everything, I think it just gives the extra power. So I'm assuming that Dumbledore is a greater wizard than Grindelwald. He's more powerful.

Answer 3

idk if grindelwald had the wand at the time that they dueled. but if he did, i guess the best explanation would be that dumbledore is just a much better wizard.

i guess griindelwald mustve had the wand because thats how dumbldore inherited it right?

ugh now i wanna go look it up but im too lazy. thats going to bother me.  

Answer 4

Hmmm...Very good question!

I think it is important to remember that the elder wand doesnt automatically guarantee that you'll win every duel! We all know that Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard of Modern times (with or without the elder wand)...I think that, as you said, it was a great Battle! Remember the battle between Dumbledore and Voldermort? I assume it was probably something on that scale! as I said, the elder wand doesnt necessarily guarantee success. It depends on the wand AND the wizard! And if the Elder wand was unbeatbale...then certainly no-one would ever lose it? But that isnt the case because Most possesors of the elder wand, die...meaning the wand isnt unbeatable...it is merely very powerful!

Answer 5

Are you questioning the amazingness of Dumbledore?

Answer 6

First of all, didn't Dumbledore have the deathstick? And if he didn't it was because Dumbledore was the true master of the wand.

**Spoiler Alert**

Besides it was Dumbledore's for most of his very long life. I mean

***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED IT DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING*** ***SPOILER ALERT***

he was buried with it. So come on.

Answer 7

um man im trying to think.. are u sure that G had the wand at the time? i thought they were trying to find it together? or was that snape. noo.... d**n  i really dont remember sorry =[

Answer 8

the wand itself is unbeatable not the wizard, if you remember it had changed hands many times mostly through deaths. however if Dumbledore had disarmed Grindelwald in a moment when Grindelwald wasn't paying complete attention, then it would have changed allegiance just like it did with Draco.

Answer 9

According to mugglenet.com, which is a very thorough and reliable fansite...they list this as a mistake in Book 7.  Here is the exact link...

http://www.mugglenet.com/books/mistakes/...

Answer 10

G killed D's sister with the unbeatable wand. After that G fled.

I think  

Answer 11

I've messed around with this problem SOOOO many times and I've only come up with one valid solution.

First of all, I highly doubt that this is simply an "oops" on JKR's part....I mean, that is a really big mistake. You don't simply just shrug something like that off to the side.

Secondly, obviously at the point of the duel Dumbledore was NOT true master of the Elder Wand. I'll explain:

As far back as we know, Gregoravitch, the wand maker, owned the wand. The wand was stolen (without murder) from him by Grindelwald. Now, we know that in order for a wand to transfer ownership, the previous owner need not be killed, only defeated (think of the way Harry stole Malfoy's wand, rendering him the owner in DH). Grindelwald clearly defeated Gregoravitch.

Therefore, when it came time for the duel between Grindelwald and his old friend, Dumbledore was at a serious and lethal disadvantage. But a lot of unfinished buisness was left in the air between the two and it was clear, by Dumbledores' reluctance to fight him, that the two still cared for one another.

In this case, the most likely explanation for the outcome of the duel in 1945 is that the two resolved not to destroy eachother and Grindelwald accepted defeat. This isn't totally crazy either because later in life, Grindelwald was said to have great remorse for most of what he had done.

I hope this helps clear some things up for you as it had for me...a friend and I went over the possibilities for forever until we finally came upon this; the simple and likeliest conclusion.

Answer 12

Its a book...so JKR used deus ex machina and said D beat G and so it is and so it shall be.

Answer 13

Its not the wand but how its wielded.