a whole lot of parts of the chapter discussion

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 185312

Carol earlier:
> > It can read its caster's mind and it can understand human speech,
but,so far as we know, it doesn't have long-distance ESP!)
> 
> Pippin:
> 
> Well, that's the point in dispute. But that magical objects or
beings in general can possess long distance ESP, as you call it, is
not debatable. 
> 
> Post owls and thestrals find  destinations they've never visited,
hundreds or even thousands of miles away.  Summoning charms affect
objects well out of sight. The Marauder's Map knows the name and
location of everyone at Hogwarts, even IIRC when it's not at Hogwarts
itself. If Fawkes can sense Harry's declaration of loyalty to
Dumbledore in the Chamber of Secrets, why shouldn't the Elder Wand be
able to sense its master's defeat, and know the identity of the victor?

Carol responds:

I wouldn't count owls or Thestrals, which are animals, not objects, as
is Fawkes. As for Summoning Charms, it's the charm, not the object,
that contains the magic. (You summon your quill or your books, but
that doesn't make those objects sentient.) 

The Marauder's Map is a better example since it's another sentient
object, but it's not really an example of long-distance ESP (an object
knowing what's happening far away). We have examples of wands knowing
that their master has been disarmed when he's using *that wand* or
knowing that a wizard is not their master, but none of wands knowing
that their master has been disarmed of *another* wand many miles away.

The Elder Wand does not seem to know that Harry is its master until he
says so. Otherwise, it would not have tried to kill Harry. It would
have backfired on Voldemort the first time.

Moreover, even wands that know the person who is trying to use them is
not their master don't perform consistently. Ron's performance with
Charlie's wand is no better but no worse than the average
first-year's. It's only when the wand is broken that it starts
wreaking magical havoc. Neville's performance with his father's wand
may be slightly worse than average, particularly in Transfiguration,
but his performance in Potions, which barely involves wands, is also
abysmal. How much is his having an unsuitable wand and how much is his
lack of confidence? Harry can't use the Snatcher's wand in DH, but
Hermione can use Bellatrix's. Neither is the master of that particular
wand and neither wand would, IMO, be particularly well suited to the
caster even if it had been won because the previous owner is too
unlike the new one. What's the deciding factor? Is Hermione more
powerful than Harry or more skilled at using a wand she hates? Is she
just more determined and desperate? Is Bellatrix's wand suffiently
powerful that Hermione can use it well even though she hates it and
didn't win it? Is it fooled by her disguise as Bellatrix even though
her thoughts are as far from Bellatrix's as possible? Or is JKR just
inconsistent?

How many times have Harry, Ron, and the others been Disarmed? Snape
disarms Harry using some sort of stinging hex at the end of HBP, yet
his wand remains loyal to him. But the Elder Wand is not known for
fidelity. When Harry claims to be its master, it has to choose. Does
it stay with the Dark Wizard so suited to its malicious will to power
and bloodlust (a bloodlust that seems to have been inflamed since LV
possessed it; we don't see him murdering his own followers in any
other book) or does it choose the Wizard who has twice survived LV's
AKs and claims to have disarmed the master it has never seen? Or does
it choose neither and remain faithful to Draco? (The last is unlikely
since it's never formed a bond with Draco and would consider him a
weakling.) It chooses Harry, perhaps sensing LV's fear that Harry is
telling the truth. But until then, nothing except Harry's
self-sacrifice hinders it from performing exactly as LV wants it to.
(It may, however, influence him in the way you suggest that Draco's
wand influenced Harry, who successfully casts--and enjoys casting--a
Crucio. Similarly, LV, who has always successfully Crucio'd his
followers when he's angry now indiscriminately kills them. And the
Elder Wand aids him in that killing spree, perhaps fueling his
murderous rage.)

Carol, conceding that we don't know how wands think and merely
pointing out the conflicting or missing evidence for a definitive
interpretation