Gandalf vs. Dumbledore

## Description

*The time has come to decide which of these two wizards is the greatest of all.*

## Interlude

Hiro: Fantasy has been a staple of both literature and film since the days of mythology. But since then, numerous archetypes of fantasy have been created, including the old wizard. He acts as a guide to the heroes on their journey, and continues to give words of wisdom.

**MBStarscream: And not since Merlin himself have names defined wizardry like these two.**

Hiro: Gandalf, one of the wisest of the Istari from Middle-earth.

**MBStarscream: And Albus Dumbledore, one of Hogwarts' greatest headmasters from Harry Potter.**

Hiro: I'm Hiro Hamada.

**MBStarscream: I'm MBStarscream.**

Hiro: And it's our job to examine both warriors' strength, abilities, weapons, and weaknesses to see who would win in a fight.

## Gandalf

Hiro: Before the world of Arda was even shaped, the supreme deity Eru Ilúvatar created a Maiar named Olórin, who was accounted as the wisest of them. He served under 4 of the Valar:  Nienna the Weeper, Manwe the Wind-King, and Vara the Star-Queen. Once the Valar sent an order of the Istari to Middle Earth itself, they sent five wizards in order to oppose the Dark Lord Sauron, with Olórin being one of those chosen.

**MBStarscream: Once he arrived on Middle-earth, Olórin took the name "Gandalf" and** **walked among the elves as a stranger as he learned their ways and taught them his. After revealing himself as one of the Istari, he joined the White Council to investigate a dark power within Dol Guldur.**

Hiro: Galadriel wanted Gandalf to be the leader, but Saruman ended up leading and forcing Gandalf into second-in-command. Despite Saruman being more powerful and more knowledgeable regarding the matters of Sauron and the Rings of Power, he grew jealous of Gandalf, and even began fearing that the Grey would betray him.

**MBStarscream: Eventually, Gandalf became part of the Fellowship of the Ring and helped the group fight their ways onto the Mines of Moria, but the Balrog known as Durin's Bane snagged him, resulting in an intense battle between the two. After 10 days of non-stop fighting, Gandalf finally slew the Balrog, but died of his wounds soon afterwards. However, he was brought back to help the Fellowship once more as Gandalf the White, and he helped the Fellowship aid Frodo Baggins in completing his mission to destroy the One Ring.**

Hiro: Gandalf is one of the wisest and most knowledgeable beings in Middle-earth, having learned from the greatest of teachers since the dawn of time. He has extensive knowledge of many languages and writing systems used in Middle-earth, as well as in the history and customs of several of its peoples.

**MBStarscream: His vast intelligence allows him to accurately guess the thoughts of others, and makes him perhaps the preeminent architect of Sauron's defeat.**

Hiro: Gandalf has shown to be stronger than the average man, being able to grapple a Balrog, and is swift enough to pass through enemy flanks unhindered. As Gandalf the Grey, he was capable of taking extended punishment from a Balrog and only fell after multiple days of injuries. Upon resurrecting as Gandalf the White, he became impervious to non-magical attacks and weaponry, making it even harder to put him down.

**MBStarscream: Gandalf has proven to be very proficient at sword and staff combat, being able to strike down an army's worth of foes on his own without being hindered by his elderly appearance. And being a Wizard, Gandalf can cast various spells for a variety of magical effects.**

Hiro: Illumination produces a light from Gandalf's staff, allowing him to see in dark places. This spell also has an enhanced version fittingly called Blinding Light that allows Gandalf to strike his foes with a blast of light resembling a magnified sunbeam, blinding them for a period of time.

**MBStarscream: Gandalf can control most people with his voice, as he did with Saruman the White when he found himself being turned as if he was being dragged against his own will. Magical Kinesis allows Gandalf to telekinetically push back his foes with his staff, and he can summon** l**ightning bolts from the sky, such as when he killed several goblins whilst escaping their horde in The Hobbit.**

Hiro: Gandalf can counter any magical spell to negate its effects, cast a lightning bolt projectile at his enemies, and read people's minds in an attempt to access their memories. He can even control people's minds and make them complete tasks against their own will, like he once did with Gimli.

**MBStarscream: And with that Ring of Fire on his finger, Gandalf can produce a magical flame of varying colors. He most notably used this in the Hobbit, where he lit pine cones ablaze which could be thrown as explosive projectiles. As Gandalf can produce green, red, or blue flames, his fires can range anywhere from 327° to 1,600° Celsius. Man, this guy likes to turn up the heat.**

Hiro: To defend himself from physical or magical harm, Gandalf can produce a transparent dome around him powerful enough to temporarily hold off Sauron and Durin's Bane's attacks. But all these spells pale to his most powerful one: Raising his staff into the air and slamming it down on the ground to create a massive shockwave. Gandalf has control of the overall effects of this particular spell, being able to produce any effect from destroying a stone bridge to knocking back entire legions of orcs, destroying them in the process.

**MBStarscream: Gandalf always carries his wizard staff in hand. It acts as a conduit for many of Gandalf's spells and he is capable of wielding it simultaneously with an Elven sword called Glamdring that he found in a troll cave. He also wears the Ring of Fire, also known as Narya, that can enhance the wearer's willpower, hide them in a magical cloak, slow their aging, and grant them fire resistance, allowing them to shrug off fire-based attacks.**

Hiro: It can also enhance his attacks with fire-based magical properties, and allows Gandalf to dispel any magical flame thrown his way. His most deadly weapons, however, are his... fireworks.

**MBStarscream: Gandalf has a variety of these such as Squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, Dwarf candles, Elf fountains, Goblin barkers, a flash of birds, green trees that transformed into possibly Mallorn trees, and a red and gold dragon. Created and designed by Gandalf himself, these fireworks can stun his opponents for an extended period of time.**

Hiro: Gandalf has definitely proved to be one of the most powerful beings to tread Middle-earth. He's killed a Balrog and fellow Maia after 10 days of fighting non-stop, defeated Sauron himself in hand-to-hand combat, fought in the Battle of the Five Armies in the midst of the conflict, and killed the Great Goblin, a massive orc. But as surprising as it may be, Gandalf does have weaknesses.

**MBStarscream: Gandalf conducts much of his magic through his staff, so if the staff is removed from his grasp or destroyed, the wizard may lose much of his spellcasting power. And because of his defending nature against all evil, Gandalf is more prone to defending himself from attack rather than taking the initiative himself, usually placing himself in a reactive position where his strategic options are much more limited. His attacks are also somewhat slow and leave him open to counterattacks.**

Hiro: Still, Gandalf is one of the most impressive wizards there is.

*Gandalf: YOU SHALL NOT PASS!*

## Dumbledore

Hiro: In 1881, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was born in the mainly wizarding village of Mould-on-the-Wold in western England, to Percival Dumbledore. The early years of Dumbledore's life were marked by tragedy when his younger sister, Ariana Dumbledore, was attacked by a group of Muggle boys, who saw her performing magic and were frightened by what they saw.

**MBStarscream: Ariana was quite messed up after that, and Papa Dumbledore set out in search of his own brand of justice. Once he found those boys, he gave 'em all what for, and got sentenced to Azkaban where he later died, choosing the sentence over explaining why he had attacked the boys as it would have meant Ariana being taken away. What a dad.**

Hiro: To escape the accusing eyes of the wizarding world, Kendra Dumbledore moved her young family to the village of Godric's Hollow which, like Mould-on-the-Wold, was a mainly wizarding village. Kendra rebuffed all her neighbours, with the eventual exception of Bathilda Bagshot, preferring to be left alone: and Albus learned not to mention his sister or father in public.

**MBStarscream: Dumbledore started attending Hogwarts in 1892 and excelled in class, becoming very well known as a result. After graduating in 1899, Dumbledore planned to take the traditional "Grand Tour" of the world with his friend Doge, but tragedy struck when his mother Kendra Dumbledore was killed by an outburst of Ariana's uncontrollable magic, leaving Albus the head of his own broken family and now in charge of his younger siblings.**

Hiro: Things got better for him when he befriended a wizard named Gellert Grindelwald and the two searched for the Deathly Hallows  to become "immortal" and invincible. This led to his sister's death when he and Gellert was dueling and a curse accidentally killed Ariana.

**MBStarscream: Can this guy catch a break?**

Hiro: Following this, Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts to become Transfigaration teacher and found the young Tom Riddle in an orphanage, growing weary of the boy's growing power even after he had left school. Dumbledore later tracked down his former friend and defeated him, taking the powerful Elder Wand in the process.

**MBStarscream: After that, Dumbledore got promoted to Headmaster status and founded the Order of the Phoenix. When Harry Potter arrived, Dumbledore took a personal interest in him and aided him many times during his years at Hogwarts.**

Hiro: Unfortunately, after coming into possession of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, the cursed ring of Marvolo Gaunt, he became fatally cursed. As he about to die, he planned his own death with Severus Snape. He even appeared in Limbo where he told Harry how he masterminded Voldemort's defeat by taking advantage of Voldemort's mistake by taking Harry's blood for his resurrection.

**MBStarscream: Though Dumbledore was no longer alive at the time, it was through his machinations that Voldemort was ultimately defeated and peace was restored to the wizarding world, meaning his death was not in vain. Now onto his abilities.**

Hiro: After his first year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was already known to be outstandingly talented and prodigiously accomplished in the magical arts, and seen by some as nothing less than the most gifted student the school would ever see, winning many awards and prizes that required magical capability beyond his age. As an adult, Dumbledore was considered by many to be the greatest wizard in history, and he lived up to this title on many occasions with his exemplary mastery of magic.

**MBStarscream: Even at his older days, where on his own admission, his capabilities had reduced and even his mastery of the Elder Wand not bringing him back to his full power, Dumbledore was still such a tremendously powerful and accomplished wizard that even the incredibly powerful Lord Voldemort himself feared him, with the former being the only wizard that Voldemort truly feared.**

Hiro: Albus was highly proficient at both non-verbal and wandless magic, both of which were highly advanced and difficult to perform. Fully capable of performing both simultaneously, although he does not make frequent use of this ability, Dumbledore could bypass Voldemort's defenses without a wand and conjure hundreds of beds without saying a word.

**MBStarscream: Dumbledore's signature trait seems to be water and fire magic, which he can use for trapping and destructive use respectively. He can also teleport in combat with enough focus and invade your mind while protecting his own, with the power of two incredibly confusing words.**

Hiro: Dumbledore was not only a great wizard, but also possessed an exceptional level of genius intellect. He was easily the smartest person in the whole Harry Potter series, considerably superior to even Lord Voldemort and even if only a little, slightly more intelligent than Gellert Grindelwald, with even those who could deceive him being unable to do so for long, and being particularly brilliant at guessing, hypothesising, and predicting.

**MBStarscream: While not famous for his abilities as a manipulator, due to Dumbledore's exceptional amount of emotional intelligence, he was nevertheless exceptionally skillful at manipulating others, which he was perfectly willing to do for the greater good, apparently even better than Voldemort due to his much calmer and more persuasive with no secret offense as well as greater knowledge of the psyche, able to effectively use a person's characteristics to his advantage to get them to do what must be done with ease. Unlike Voldemort, Dumbledore always sought and used the best within people to get them to do his good-intended bidding and used his charisma to get many to the side of good instead of evil.**

Hiro: And although his appearance would suggest otherwise, Dumbledore was arguably the greatest duelist of all time. He proved this by easily outmatching Voldemort while angry, and has defeated numerous other duelers, like Grindelwald, who wielded the Elder Wand at the time.

**MBStarscream: Albus was known to be exceptionally knowledgeable, talented and accomplished in transfiguration, achieving among the most impressive feats of Transfiguration in the series and superior to even Minerva Mcgonagall. Even before his graduation, his knowledge and ability on the subject was such that he was submitted extremely high-quality papers on some fields of Transfiguration, including Trans-Species Transformation to the journal Transfiguration Today, that impressed Bathilda Bagshot enough to contact him. He could change banners with just a clap of his hands, and turn shards of glass into sand with ease.**

Hiro: Dumbledore was very proficient and knowledgeable in healing magic as he managed to control the curse from Marvolo Gaunt's ring, which was cast by Voldemort and had immense power, for a while before receiving further treatment from Severus Snape and easily healed his wound by just silently pressing the tip of his wand on it after using his blood to open the passageway when searching for Salazar Slytherin's Locket. He was also exceptionally learned and knowledgeable in the nature of love along with the magic associated with it, and showed a remarkably powerful capability to feel true love. He taught Harry Potter about its very essence, and the innate power of his ability to love his parents, which eventually helped Harry realize his destiny to kill Voldemort and protected him from Voldemort’s evil.

**MBStarscream: Dumbledore's main weapon is the most powerful wand in the Harry Potter-verse, the Elder Wand. It is truly destructive, and Dumbledore can use plenty of badass spells with it.**

Hiro: He can conjure firestorms in the shape of a whip or a shield, and use water blasts for trapping and acting as a roadblock. Arresto Momentum slows a foe down rapidly, Confringo is a massive blast that sends the opponent flying, Cruciatus puts the opponent under excruciating pain, Confundo confuses an opponent, Bombadra Maxima creates a huge explosion, and Epsikey heals Dumbledore from wounds.

**MBStarscream: That's not all. There's also Avifors, which turns you into a bird, and the Conjunctivitis Curse, which causes extreme pain to your eyes. Deprimo crushes you,** **Fiendfyre sets you on... fire, Avis sends a flock of birds at you, Alarte Ascendare sends you flying,** **Anapneo helps you out if you're choking, and the most lethal one of all, Avada Kedavra, takes you out in an instant.**

Hiro: And while Dumbledore was never seen using this weapon, it's a safe bet that he was skilled with the Sword of Gryffindor, a thousand-year-old, goblin-made magical sword owned by the famed wizard Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. Much like a wand, the sword of Gryffindor appears to be almost sentient, responding to appeals for help by Gryffindor's chosen successors.

**MBStarscream: Dumbledore certainly stands out among all the wizards in the Harry Potter universe. He became one of the greatest Headmasters in all of Hogwarts, defeated Grindelwald in a legendary duel despite the latter being in possession of the Elder Wand, and was chased off Voldemort while angry. But Dumbledore does come with his own weaknesses.**

Hiro: He often does not use stronger attacks due to either morals or the fact that he's still well past his prime, and such spells can exert him. And while he can use dark magic, he absolutely refuses to unless he has no other choice.

**MBStarscream: But Voldemort being scared of this guy should be enough to tell you that Albus Dumbledore was not one to be taken lightly.**

*Dumbledore: It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom. The Aurors are on their way.*

## Fatal Fiction

*Mario flips a coin.*

Hiro: Well, this little forest should be a nice spot for our wizards to go at it, but whose wisdom will win out in the end?

**MBStarscream: Old man fight!**

*A forest*

In the heart of this forest, the bright afternoon light of the sun shone through the canopies of the trees. Riding on horseback along the forest floor was a short, lanky wizard with a drooping gray beard. His hat plumed upwards, adding to his great stature, despite his small height. This man, **Gandalf**, was in search of someone. Someone who wielded a great weapon that would help him face the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron. The only way to obtain ownership of this weapon was to best its owner in fair combat.

Soon enough, the horse stopped in its tracks as Gandalf looked ahead and saw who he was searching for.

A tall and thin elderly man in a robe with silver hair and beard so long that they could be tucked into his belt. He had a very long and crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken at least twice. This man was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, **Albus Dumbledore**.

Getting off of his horse, Gandalf patted its side as a signal to run off and approached. "You are Albus Dumbledore?"

"You're correct." Dumbledore replied. "And who would you be?"

"I am Gandalf the Grey. I have sought you out to win the Elder Wand from you, Dumbledore."

"You'll have my wand over my dead body, fool." Dumbledore said as he took out the wand that Gandalf had challenged him for. The Grey Wizard clenched his staff in his fists as he too readied himself for battle.

"I'll get that wand from you one way or another."

**FIGHT!**

Dumbledore struck first, sending a stream of fire from his wand towards Gandalf. Gandalf blocked the attack with his staff and walked up to Dumbledore. As he got closer, Dumbledore stopped firing from his wand, allowing Gandalf to lower his staff. Gandalf then tried to strike Dumbledore with his staff, but the headmaster used his Apparition ability to teleport behind Gandalf and with a cry of "Confringo!", launched a powerful blast that struck Gandalf's back, sending him flying forward. Gandalf spun in the air before flying down, landing on the ground.

Gandalf then produced a blast of light from his staff that blinded Dumbledore, following up by telekinetically pushing his opponent back, the Elder Wand falling out of Dumbledore's hand. As Dumbledore got up and his vision cleared, he saw Gandalf charging at him with his staff and ducked as the Maiar swung. As Gandalf swung his staff at Dumbledore again, Dumbledore grabbed hold onto it and struggled against Gandalf's grasp. After a while of struggling, Gandalf managed to wrest control of his staff before slamming it onto the ground. The sheer impact caused a large shockwave that sent Dumbledore flying back.

Getting up, Dumbledore took out the Sword of Gryffindor and got into a stance. Seeing what Dumbledore was doing, Gandalf grabbed the hilt of Glamdring and charged to meet Dumbledore head-on.

Both wizards swung their swords at one another again and again for several seconds until Gandalf managed to disarm Dumbledore and swung his sword down to slice the headmaster's skull in half, but Dumbledore teleported away from Gandalf and picked his wand up from the ground. Gandalf hurled his sword at Dumbledore, but the headmaster yelled "Arresto Momentum!" and the sword stopped dead in mid-air before it could hit him. Gandalf stared in surprise at his sword, which was suspended in the air inches from Dumbledore's face. The sword then fell straight down and hit the ground, followed by Gandalf's stunned eyes.

It was official: He *needed* that wand.

Dumbledore looked up to meet Gandalf and fired another Confringo at the Grey Wizard from his wand, but Gandalf easily dodged the blast and retrieved his staff. Blocking another Confringo from Dumbledore's wand, Gandalf launched a stream of fire at Dumbledore, but his opponent countered with a blast of water. Dumbledore then wordlessly conjured dozens of beds that fell down towards Gandalf, who produced a bubble shield that protected him. More and more beds fell until Gandalf could no longer be seen in the pile of furniture. Then a shockwave sent Dumbledore and all the beds flying in different directions, some hitting trees.

When Dumbledore got to his feet, he saw Gandalf walking towards him, holding his staff. Gandalf cast the Light of the Valar at Dumbledore, but the projectile's target Apparited away. Gandalf turned to his left and cast another lightning bolt, but Dumbledore teleported again. Growling, Gandalf turned around and shot a third bolt... right as Dumbledore fired a Confringo, causing an explosion that launched the two wizards backward.

Both lay for a moment until they both got up. Dumbledore pointed the Elder Wand at Gandalf and shouted "Avis!"; instantly, a flock of birds were shot from the wand tip, accompanied by a loud blast that sounded like a gun being fired and smoke. Gandalf could do nothing but shield himself with his staff as the birds swarmed him, pecking with their beaks. While Gandalf was distracted, Dumbledore teleported behind the Grey Wizard, conjured a whip of fire, and slapped his foe with it, launching him forward as the birds flew away.

Turning around, Gandalf stumbled back as Dumbledore struck his chest with his fire whip. He produced another bubble shield to counter Dumbledore's next attack. After whipping the shield three times to no avail, Dumbledore fired a Confringo that, to his chagrin, bounced off Gandalf's shield. Gandalf then caught Dumbledore off guard with a fireball, scorching the headmaster. Gandalf launched more fireballs at his adversary until the mentor of the Boy Who Lived yelled "Conjunctivitis!"; Gandalf suddenly covered his eyes in pain as they swelled shut.

Dumbledore then encased Gandalf in a ball of water. Once Gandalf's vision returned, he raised his staff and slammed it down, the ensuing shockwave freeing him from the water as Dumbledore shot back. Gandalf then thrust his staff forward and an unseen force struck Dumbledore in the chest, sending him flying. As Dumbledore stood up, Gandalf rushed him and swung his staff, missing his opponent's head as Dumbledore ducked. Gandalf swung again and again, Dumbledore dodging each attack until Gandalf planted a kick in the headmaster's chest. As Dumbledore backed away, Gandalf struck his fellow wizard with his staff hard enough to knock him down.

Standing above Dumbledore, Gandalf summoned a lightning bolt from the sky that struck the downed wizard... or at least it would have had Dumbledore not teleported away, much to Gandalf's frustration. "Enough of this!" the Grey Wizard shouted. Standing right behind Gandalf, Dumbledore fired a Confringo, but Gandalf turned around and blocked the blast with his staff. Gandalf fired a bolt of lightning from his staff at Dumbledore, but the headmaster deflected it with a Protego spell. Struck by his own bolt, Gandalf flew backward and slammed into a tree.

As gravity pulled Gandalf to the ground, Dumbledore stepped forward and readied his wand for the finisher.

"Avada KEDAVRA!"

The sickly green magic flew like a bat out of Hell towards Gandalf, chilling the air and giving off a feeling of dread. Gandalf barely had time to put up a bubble shield as the Killing Curse slammed into it like a troll's club.

It was said that no defense could block the Killing Curse. But by the same token, no force had ever managed to penetrate the Shield of the Istari. And when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object, the reaction tends to be... violent.

The explosion shook the whole forest, and caused the wizards to fly back as Gandalf's shield shattered. Gandalf gave a heave and managed to make his way back to a standing position. "Not quite what I was expecting." he said.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, tried to push himself off the ground. Using that spell had taken a lot of him, being an old man and all. Seeing his weakened foe on the floor, Gandalf opened up his palms, emitting a fireball. He launched it at Dumbledore, and almost immediately, the headmaster's body was engulfed in a huge stream of flames, lighting nearby plants on fire. As Dumbledore screamed in agony, another bolt of lightning came down from the heavens and hit its target point-blank, putting its target out of his misery a lot faster.

As the burning wizard lay lifelessly, Gandalf walked up and picked up the Elder Wand from the floor. Today, Albus Dumbledore had fallen, and his legendary wand would now be wielded by the one whom had triumphed over him. Gandalf walked away from his opponent's corpse, wand in hand, as a nearby tree was caught on fire.

**FATALITY!**

## Results

**MBStarscream: Dumbledore, your victory is broken.**

Hiro: To be honest, aside from being more versatile, Dumbledore literally could not compete with Gandalf in every other category.

**MBStarscream: Firstly, with the obvious fact that we're pitting a demigod level being against a mortal wizard who so happens to have a wand that "makes the wielder unbeatable in combat". Well, here is what makes the "unbeatable" statement a load of crap.**

 Hiro: Dumbledore himself has said that while the wand is powerful, the wand and the wielder have lost hundreds of battles during its time in combat, so the claim that the Elder Wand makes Dumbledore the automatic victor against Gandalf is completely nullified here.

**MBStarscream: Next is magic. Dumbledore may have had more spells and battled the likes of Voldemort and Grindelwald, but Gandalf's fought foes that are leagues above anyone in the Harry Potter universe, putting him in a whole different league compared to Grindelwald, Voldemort *and* Dumbledore**

Hiro: Not even Avada Kedavra could give Dumbledore the win here. Not only could Gandalf negate its effects, the Shield of the Istari would be more than enough to withstand the spell, seeing how it could tank hits from the Durin's Bane, and considering that the spell has been blocked before, the claim that Avada Kedavra is unblockable is muted entirely.

**MBStarscream: In conclusion, Dumbledore's resume is nothing compared to Gandalf's, his enemies pale in comparison to Gandalf's, and his spells are not gonna do jack against Gandalf. Dumbledore just couldn't pass.**

Hiro: Gandalf wins.