Wand Lore / Luna / Alchemy

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 181700

> a_svirn:
> Dumbledore deliberately 
> put Snape in the way of two powerful wizards who might decide to 
> go after the wand. 

zgirnius:
I've been away. I think I am caught up on this thread, but if I am 
bringing up old stuff, my apologies.

Have we discussed Albus's alternatives? While it is not stated, I 
believe that the wand is NOT breakable by ordinary means, despite its 
being made of materials that, individually and with no magical 
enhancement, would be a piece of cake to break. Both Harry and 
Dumbledore express approval for the idea that the power of the wand 
must be destroyed. Both seem to think that the rather risky and 
uncertain process of living and dying undefeated, is the way to 
achieve this goal. Breaking the thing would be much easier, which is 
why I do not believe it is possible. And it is certainly possible 
that the extra amazing Death stick etc. etc. has different proertiesd 
from ordinary wands.

Also, perhaps the Odo song was intended as a clue that it is normal 
to snap a wizard's wand in two for burial. In which case
maybe 
Dumbledore's was not, because it refused to break.

To die of thr curse when his time came, or let Draco or another DE 
kill him, were all, in my view, not options. While a killing by magic 
is not necessary to pass the wand, it is a sufficient condition. If 
Albus died of the ring curse or the potion, that would make his 
killer (and therefore, the Master of the Elder Wand) Lord Voldemort. 
Otherwise, it would make Draco or another Death Eater the master – 
people it would be just as easy for Voldemort to kill or defeat for 
the wand as Snape.

The difference Snape's killing would have made, if Draco had not 
intervened, is that through their prior agreement, Snape's action 
would not constitute a defeat. To exploit this twist, which Harry 
explains to Voldemort in the final chapter, Albus had to find someone 
on his side willing to kill him. Snape was by far the clear choice, 
since he knew as Dumbledore's `doctor' that he was going to die 
anyway, and additional advantages accrued to his doing it. (Such as, 
according to Snape, Voldemort wanted him to do it in the end anyway, 
so that his doing it won him the position close to Voldemort that 
allowed him to try to protect the students of Hogwarts, and have 
access to the Sword of Gryffindor).


> a_svirn: 
> Harry because he already hated Snape with passion and would likely 
> want to avenge Dumbledore's death. 

zgirnius:
In that sense, Dumbledore put Snape in the way of the entire 'good 
side', which includes wizards considerably more formidable than 
Harry. (Harry's one exceptional power, according to Albus himself, 
was "love". Not a power I think Albus would consider particularly 
useful in attempting to murder Snape).  Minerva McGonagall tried to 
kill Snape too, and he survived that as well. 

Any other plan for Snape that left him 'out in the cold' would do the 
same, regardless of how Snape would arrange to make his (apparent) 
open declaration of loyalties. Dumbledore and Snape both knew that 
the Ministry would fall, and with Dumbledore dead, so would Hogwarts. 
They both knew Dumbledore would die, regardless of what plans they 
made. In that situation, it seems to me Snape's greater value was 
where the plan put him - at Voldemort's side and at Hogwarts. If 
Snape was a seeming traitor, I think Harry could manage to get worked 
up about him "merely" for Snape's role in the murder of his parents.

The thing that seems important to me, though, is that Snape, being 
not an entirely stupid man, must have realized this would be a 
consequence of seeming to murder Dumbledore, and presiding as 
Headmaster over a Mudblood-free Hogwarts with Death Eaters on the 
teaching staff. He took on both tasks anyway, presumably because he 
considered them worth the trouble and danger they might bring.