The Elder Wand's Allegiance (Was: CHAPDISC: DH24, The Wandmaker)

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 183662

> zanooda:
> 
> Yes, I understand all this, and for me personally Harry becoming
> the Elder wand's master works reasonably well :-). All I want to
> say is that taking a wand from somebody and becoming this wand's
> master is much, much more straightforward than taking a wand from
> somebody and automatically becoming the master of some other wand
> which is not even there. 

Mike:
I think Anne Squires's explanation is excellent. I'd recommend anyone 
who is confused by the Elder Wand thing, read it:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/183650

There is one part where I'd like to add my understanding of what's 
going on which may help some folks. [Warning: I may be getting too 
technical and/or anal for your taste. But that's me, sorry! ;-)]

>>> Anne:
5. Harry later defeated Draco and took possession of Draco's wand.
At that point all wands that owed allegiance to Draco shifted their
allegiance to Harry. That's two wands. Harry became the master of
Draco's wand and the master of the Elder Wand. Even though the Elder
Wand was never physically in Draco's possession or in Harry's 
possession. <<<

Mike:
Some have questioned how the Elder Wand could know that Harry had 
seized Draco's wand by force and had become the master of Draco's 
Hawthorn wand. My explanation is that the Elder Wand didn't know when 
Harry took Draco's wand, didn't even know that Draco was it's master. 
It only knew that the master of the Hawthorn wand was it's master 
too. So, when Harry shows up for the showdown vs Voldemort with the 
Hawthorn wand in hand, he is the de facto master of the Elder Wand.

My interpretation is that the Elder Wand is not so sentient as to 
understand people speaking. So Harry's explanation to LV was no help 
to the Elder Wand. 

But wands do recognize magic and do recognize other wands. So wands, 
including the Elder Wand, will recognize another wizard's magic when 
employed against it or against the master to which it is magically 
connected. So, when Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to stun 
Gregorovitch, the Elder Wand recognizes Grindelwald's magic being 
employed through itself to defeat it's previous master. Hence, it's 
change of allegiance. 

Wands will also recognize other wands used to perform magic, since 
that other wand is magically connected to a wizard and that wizard's 
magic. This was magic at work in the Priori Incantatum scene in GoF. 
Harry's and LV's wands recognized each other when they connected, so 
they then recognized the other's master. Then, in the "Seven Potters" 
in DH, Harry's Phoenix wand recognized LV by his magic and reacted 
independent of Harry against Harry's recognized enemy. Admittedly, 
this part is a little foggy to me, this whole acting independent 
thing. But even Dumbledore only had a guess, so I guess I'll chalk it 
up to the one-off connection that Harry has to LV through the soul 
piece.

Neither do I think the Elder Wand knew that Draco was his master nor 
that it's erstwhile master (Draco) was dispossessed of the wand that 
defeated his old master, Dumbledore. In order for the Elder Wand to 
recognize Draco as it's master, Draco would have need actually 
possess and use it and it would have to sense Draco's magic as the 
magic that disarmed Dumbledore, it's old master.

Since that never happened, the Elder wand was reduced to recognizing 
the Hawthorn wand as the *wand* that disarmed Dumbledore. Therefore, 
whosoever wielded the Hawthorn wand as master would be recognized by 
the Elder Wand as it's master. That was Harry; when Harry performed a 
spell through the Hawthorn wand the Elder Wand immediately recognized 
the Hawthorn wand and therefore immediately recognized Harry as it's 
master.

In my understanding, Harry officially became master of the Elder Wand 
when he used it for the first time to repair his Phoenix wand. Until 
that happened, the Elder Wand was still beholden to whoever had the 
Hawthorn wand. But once Harry used it, it recognized Harry's magic 
and therefore Harry; just as when Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to 
stun Gregorovitch to become it's master.