Why are the Ministries of Magic in all the wizarding countries so afraid of Grindelwald and want to capture him as soon as possible?
It's not just Grindelwald's power — the most important factor is his ability to influence and inspire.
In addition to his hardcore supporters, many wizards were initially neutral, like Newt.
But if this continued, more and more of these neutral wizards would gravitate toward Grindelwald.
As time went on, when Grindelwald's following exceeded the number of ordinary wizards in the magical world, the way the Ministries of Magic made and enforced their laws would be completely overturned.
This, in turn, would lead to a war between wizards and muggles.
Just like Queenie Goldstein, Tina's sister — she was neutral at first and even a Ministry of Magic worker — but the Statute of Secrecy kept her from openly loving Jacob, a muggle. So in the end, she chose to side with Grindelwald.
Because once Grindelwald wins, the Statute of Secrecy will be abolished, and she will be able to be with Jacob openly and without shame.
"Fainted!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Offensive spells flew from the Aurors' wands and rushed toward Grindelwald.
But Grindelwald simply raised his wand and effortlessly rebounded all the Aurors' attacks in an instant. Then he turned and walked toward Chairman Picquery.
Picquery's eyes widened in shock when she saw how powerful Grindelwald truly was. The last time the Magical Congress of the United States tried to capture him, Percival was the one who went, and Picquery hadn't gone in person — now she was seeing it first-hand.
It made her realize just how formidable Grindelwald was.
Usually, bouncing back a single attack is challenging enough; it requires perfect timing in the casting, precise movements, and immense control.
But Grindelwald was reflecting nearly twenty attacks at once — all without even needing to chant — and with energy to spare.
"Move quickly!"
At that moment, Carl sprang into action. He pointed his wand at the iron bench Grindelwald had tossed aside and used a Displacement Charm to send it flying back toward him.
When battling a wizard of Grindelwald's power, ordinary attacks are less effective; physical attacks sometimes create an opening.
Sensing danger from behind, Grindelwald raised his left hand while still casually bouncing back Auror attacks with his right. He effortlessly halted the flying bench in its path, without even turning around.
Not only could Grindelwald perform silent, nonverbal magic, but he could also cast with both hands at the same time.
"Enough. There's no point in this." Grindelwald sighed quietly. "Now it's time to expose wizards to muggles and let's see how you intend to keep up your Statute of Secrecy."
With a casual wave of his wand, Grindelwald hurled the iron bench toward Picquery and the Aurors, interrupting their attack. Then, pointing upward and downward in a dramatic arc, he forced all the Aurors into submission — lifting them off the ground briefly, then slamming them back down — their hands bound by invisible chains and their wands gone.
This scene shocked Picquery and the members of the International Confederation of Wizards. Some high-ranking officials may be powerful in their own positions, but when it comes to pure magical prowess, many of them hadn't kept their skills sharp.
After disabling more than twenty Aurors in an instant, Picquery and the rest fell back in fear, unwilling to attack again.
Grindelwald glanced once more at Carl, then walked into the magical elevator, kicked the goblin operator aside, and pressed the button for the ground floor.
"Grindelwald might attack muggles and cause chaos. I'm going after him. You all find a way to bring in reinforcements!"
With that, Carl rushed into the adjacent elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.
With his current magical prowess, he was no match for Grindelwald directly — not without using his ninja techniques — and it was a huge risk. But it didn't matter; he wasn't alone, and it wasn't his job to destroy Grindelwald. His main mission was to delay him.
The key was preventing Grindelwald from escaping the Magic Congress building. Once outside, Grindelwald could Apparate and disappear in seconds. That would make the situation much more difficult to control.
Because of the alarm, the entire Magic Congress was now on high alert.
So when Grindelwald — a wanted criminal across the world — appeared in the main hall, most of the wizards there drew their wands and attacked him immediately.
Other than the Aurors, many ordinary wizards were not particularly powerful and were easily defeated by Grindelwald. Nonetheless, their resistance delayed his progress just enough for Carl to dart forward and reach the main entrance first.
Carl quickly put his box down and opened it, then called Newt and Tina out.
While neither of them was a match for Grindelwald on their own, Tina was a first-rate Auror, and Newt was an extraordinary Magizoologist who could summon creatures to aid him.
With their help, there was at least a chance to delay or undermine Grindelwald — hopefully enough to allow reinforcements to arrive.
"What's going on?" Newt asked, confused, as soon as he and Tina hopped out of the box at the entrance of the Capitol building.
"To put it simply, I bumped into Percival Graves immediately after I left the office — but it turned out to be Grindelwald in disguise." Carl nodded toward Grindelwald, who was striding directly toward them. "Our mission now is to stop Grindelwald from getting outside and causing a terrorist attack!"