If Grindelwald had defeated Dumbledore and locked him in Nurmengard, would he be able to escape?

 

Considering we know absolutely nothing about Nurmengard and its defenses, or indeed the full slew of Dumbledore's abilities? Entirely up to interpretation.

Keep asking pointless questions.

 

We're never really told what magical defenses Nurmengard has, but I assume Fawkes would be able to teleport him out. Then again, I also doubt that Grindewald wouldn't have found a way to neutralize Fawkes if he was planning on imprisoning Dumbledore.

(If Grindewald had won he would have killed Dumbledore imo.)

 

Grindelwald was said to be just as smart as Dumbledore so if he didn't escape after 60+ years then it's a good bet that Albus would not have done it either.

 

after reading the Harry Potter series I'm led to believe that many forms of magic escape acts would require a wand at the very least. Also book five leads us to believe that escaping from a prison require outside help. So given all that evidence in order to escape Azkaban or Nurmanguard you either need a wand, a phoenix, or outside help. Considering Dumbledore's notoriety I'd say someone would at least help Dumbledore if he where to ask for help.

 

He wouldn't have been able to ask for help if he was imprisoned, and I find it incredibly unlikely that in the fifty odd years that Grindelwald was in Nurmengard that there were no attempts to liberate him, either by dark wizards hoping to use him for their agenda or by his followers that weren't captured/killed.

 

Dumbledore was pretty confident he could escape Azkaban, that's the closest we can judge.

 

Perhaps Dumbledore himself put enchantments upon Grindelwald's cell to make it as secure as possible? I doubt Azkaban would ever be as fool-proof as it would have been if Dumbledore had been enlisted to put the security measures in place.

 

I highly doubt that a wizard deprived of his wand can escape any reasonably well-enchanted prison, let alone Nurmengard. Obviously, this does not take into account the fact that it would be more likely for people to break Dumbledore out of jail than Grindelwald, so escape likely wasn't impossible.

 

Sirius escaped from Azkaban, and I don't recall him being remotely close to the league that Dumbeldore or Grindelwald were on.

I don't doubt that Dumbledore contributed to the protections. Considering that Grindelwald was the one who built the prison, if anything it'd be easier for him to figure out how to escape than Dumbledore.

 

I meant: I think Azkaban would have been safer IF Dumbledore was in charge of the protections rather than the Ministry.

 

As far as Grindlewald in Nurmengard goes, the impression I got was that at least part of why he hadn't escaped Nurmengard was due to not trying. Basically, his big final battle with Dumbledore left him a broken man.

Even if he did escape Nurmengard, what would come next? A rematch with Dumbledore? The same Dumbledore he couldn't beat even with the Elder Wand? And now Dumbledore has said wand, making him even stronger than before.

 

All he has to do is take off his robe and wizard hat and pretend he's actually Michael Gambon.

*BOOM* The guards are apologizing for the mistake as they let him out the front door.

​

 

It is a possibility because of is Phoenix. Little is known of their powers bu they seem to be able to ignore magical wards at Hogwarts. Maybe it could just poof in and get him out?