Hey guys,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Draco Malfoy, Voldemort, Harry Potter, and the possession
of the elder wand.
Now, if you don’t know what the elder wand is, then I don’t know what books you’ve
been reading or movies you’ve been watching. But, here’s a brief introduction to the
elder wand, for the videos sake.
The Elder wand was the first hallow created, made by Death himself, and it was said to
be the most powerful wand that ever existed. The Elder Wand is made of elder wood, and
it’s core is the tail hair of a Thestral. It’s 15” long and has carvings down its
length that resemble clusters of elderberries. With the elder wand, witches and wizards are
able to effortlessly produce intensely powerful magic that others could only dream of. Possession
of the wand also meant that you could produce magic which was not otherwise possible, this
includes mending other wands that could not normally be repaired through magic. It’s
insanely powerful, particularly in the hands of an equally powerful witch or wizard.
We see the elder wand pass hands on numerous occasions in the harry potter books and films,
but there seems to be some misconceptions floating around about how the ownership of
the wand is actually earned or transferred. Without going too far back in to the wands
ownership, it belonged to the following owners:
Mykew Gregorovitch, thern Gellert Grindelwald, then Albus Dumbledore, then Draco Malfoy,
and then Harry Potter.
We’re lead to believe that the wand also belonged to both Snape and Voldemort, but
this was never the case. They had the wand in their possession, but they weren’t the
true owners. The wand hadn’t chosen them.
So, if acquiring it and having it in your possession doesn’t necessarily mean that
the elder wand is yours, then, how do you claim ownership of it? How does the wand CHOOSE
you? Let’s first take a look at how the wand was acquired by each of the above.
We don’t actually know how Mykew Gregorovitch obtained the wand, but we do know that Grindelwald
became the owner by stealing it from him. Dumbledore later defeats Grindelwald in a
duel, and becomes the rightful owner of the wand himself. Many many years later, Draco
Malfoy disarms Dumbledore, and becomes the new owner. Then, Harry Potter trods along,
and snatches the wand for himself. Harry Potter only has the wand in his possession for a
short period, before disposing of it.
So, we can see here that the wand transfers ownership in a couple of different ways. Where
it was previously thought, particularly by Voldemort, that gaining ownership of the wand
required murder- all of the above contradicts this. And this was one of Voldemort’s fatal
errors in his battle against Harry. Just because he had the wand in his possession, it didn’t
show allegiance to him- it showed allegiance to Harry.
Many believe that because Grindelwald STOLE the elder wand from Gregorovitch, rather than
killing him, he was never the true owner. This would mean that Dumbledore, who acquired
the wand after defeating Grindelwald, wasn’t the true owner either. But this doesn’t
work with the story at all, as it would mean that no one after Gregorovitch was actually
a true owner of the wand. That’s why the notion of murdering to acquire it makes absolutely
no sense.
In order to acquire the wand, you need to ‘best’ or ‘defeat’ the current owner
of the wand, but that isn’t limited to murder. That means that you can disarm them, or do
whatever it is that you need to, to obtain the wand. No killing is necessary, and that’s
why something as simple as a disarming charm or stunning spell can work. We see Grindelwald
do just this:
And now Harry was hurrying along a dark corridor in stout little Gregorovitch’s wake as he
held a lantern aloft: Gregorovitch burst into the room at the end of the passage and his
lantern illuminated what looked like a workshop; wood shavings and gold gleamed in the swinging
pool of light, and there on the window ledge sat perched, like a giant bird, a young man
with golden hair. In the split second that the lantern’s light illuminated him, Harry
saw the delight upon his handsome face, then the intruder shot a Stunning Spell from his
wand and jumped neatly backward out of the window with a crow of laughter.
Defeat isn't limited to death, which means that you can gain ownership by just overpowering
the current owner. JK Rowling expanded on how the elder wand chooses ownership in an
interview:
"The Elder Wand is simply the most ruthless of wands in that it will only take into consideration
strength. One would expect a certain amount of loyalty from one's wand. So even if you
were disarmed while carrying it, even if you lost a fight while carrying it, it has developed
an affinity with you that it won't give up easily. If, however, a wand is won, properly
won in an adult duel, then a wand may switch allegiance ... However, the Elder Wand knows
no loyalty except to strength. It's completely unsentimental. It will only go where the power
is. So if you win, then you've won the wand. You don't need to kill with it. But ... almost
inevitably, it attracts wizards who are prepared to kill and who will kill. And also it attracts
wizards like Voldemort who confuse being prepared to murder with strength."
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content please be sure to like the video
and subscribe to the channel. Until next time,
YER A WIZARD ARRY