Dual-core wands? (was Elder Wand ownership (was Dual-core wands?))

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 181551

Colleen wrote:
> 
> I still think that somehow there is a relationship between the
strength of the wizard and the strength of the wand.  <snip> Given
that wands are sentient, I reiterate my earlier point that there seems
to be some sort of synergy between the inherent strength of the wizard
and the wand.  I see it as the wand recognizing "hey, this person
holding me knows their stuff, I'm going to work much more effectively
for this person".  So the magical power of the wizard is amplified by
the wand, and three wands would provide more amplification.  I think,
too, that the wand choosing the wizard matters - the wand that Ron
found and gave to Harry didn't work very well, but the wands he took
by force worked much better.  I think the wands he took by force
recognized his power and perhaps even saw him as their new master,
therefore they responded appropriately.

Carol responds:
Except that he only directly took one of those wands, Draco's, from
its owner. Ron had already Disarmed and (effectively) defeated the
now-dead wormtail, and that wand seems to have accepted him, not Rin,
as its master. Bellatrix's wand, which I think was quite powerful (and
evil, thanks to the symbiotic relationship it had developed with its
owner) was probably in a state of flux. Harry had Disarmed Bellatrix,
but the wand was rescued by Draco to be returned to her, and then
Harry used it. I agree that wands are sentient, and it may have been
trying him out as its master. (I think it would ultimately find him
unsuitable.)

In any case, he was using one wand of which he was the indisputable
master (and which was reasonably compatible with him; he has no
difficulty using it); one wand that may have been considering
transferring its loyalty to him (but since it ultimately went to
Hermione and she felt a distinct loathing for it, I think it remained
loyal to Bellatrix); and one of which his friend Ron was the new
master. So even if Bellatrix's and Wormtail's wands only performed
about half as well as they would have for their true (or former)
masters, they would still, in combination with the hawthorn wand that
*did* recognize him as master, have at least the effect of a double
spell. (I think we have one strong spell and two weakish ones.) Of
course, Harry wasn't thinking about the wands not working for him as
he did with the Snatcher's wand, which was neither compatible with him
nor taken by force from its master, at least not by Harry. (I've
forgotten the exact circumstances in which Ron obtained the wand and
the wood it was made of, but neither is relevant here.)

I wonder, though, if using Draco's wand made it easier for Harry to
cast a pair of semi-effective Imperius Curses and an effective Crucio
later in the book. Budding DE Draco seems to have Imperio'd Rosmerta,
and he was forced to Crucio Ollivander, IIRC, so the wand would have
had experience with both those curses.

I also wonder whether Bellatrix's wand sensed Hermione's skill and
even though it wasn't compatible for her personality-wise, it at least
worked for her, far better than the Snatcher's wand worked for Harry.
Similarly, the Elder Wand worked just fine for Voldemort, enabling him
to kill a lot of people and conjure a bubble-cage for Nagini. Just why
he thought it wasn't working to its potential is unclear. Certainly,
after having been first Grindelwald's and then DD's, it would
recognize him as another wizard of extraordinary strength and skill. I
guess the plot required him to think that he had to kill Snape, but I
don't see any indication, at least until, Harry brings up the history
of the wand's ownership, for him to doubt its effectiveness. It only
begins failing to perform for him after Harry's willing self-sacrifice
(which I agree with Pippin counts as the role of Love if we're looking
at three-stage alchemical symbolism, to refer for a moment to a
different thread).

Carol, working out explanations for herself rather than trying to
persuade other posters