How Dumbledore Became Owner of the Elder Wand - Harry Potter Explained

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.

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."


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