More thoughts on the Elder Wand subplot

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 187339

Setting aside failings, inconsistencies, and general confusion or lack of adequate explanation (why DD wanted Snape to have the Elder Wand and what he expected to happen), it seems to me that the Elder Wand subplot does work in one respect: like Voldemort's original attempt to thwart the Prophecy, which results in his vaporization, his attempt to thwart the brother wands effect and find the most powerful wand in the world backfires on him, not only because the Elder Wand ends up killing him (Godric's Hollow all over again but with no Horcruxes to hold his battered soul to earth) but also because it diverts him from securing his hold on the British WW and extending his power a la Grindelwald, and, more important, prevents him from going after Harry immediately, which enables Harry to find and (with help) destroy all the Horcruxes but Nagini (good thing she remained alive or he might have died along with the soul bit in his scar). If LV had failed to discover who Grindelwald was (which might have happened if Harry hadn't accidentally revealed the photograph of DD's youthful friend and companion at Bathilda's house) and had given up the search after learning that Harry had been using the blackthorn wand rather than his own, LV might well have won the battle against Harrry. The Prophecy would still have come true--"either must die at the hand of the other"--only it would have been Harry who died. As it is, Voldemort's second attempt to thwart the Chosen One, along with his attempt to acquire a wand he didn't fully understand (he didn't know it was a Hallow, for one) backfired on him yet again. Nice artistry on JKR's part, allowing the plot to go full circle back to Godric's Hollow, even giving Snape, who, in a sense, started it all, a crucial role at the end (which he would not have had if LV hadn't gone gallivanting all over Europe, murdering people who were no threat to his power and allowing Harry time to find even the Ravenclaw Horcrux).

I still don't like the Elder Wand plot for other reasons (no point in repeating my objections and boring everyone), but I'm wondering what others think might have happened if, say, Ollivander had kept quiet about the Elder Wand or Harry had not dropped the photo of Grindelwald. At any rate, suppose that Harry had faced Voldemort before Voldemort found the Elder Wand and Voldemort found a way to Disarm him (or Harry's holly wand was already broken) so there was no Priori Incantatem and Voldemort was using his own yew wand, of which he was indisputably master. He'd have destroyed the soul bit in Harry, but Harry would have the shared drop of blood holding him to "life." If the true Horcruxes still existed (for example, at Godric's Hollow), would Harry have been vaporized? And if the other Horcruxes, including Nagini, had been destroyed, would Harry have been killed? (I'm pretty sure that the Love Magic would not have been activated if Harry had fought back instead of sacrificing himself, but that's a different aspect of the plot.)

Carol, thinking that the most effective element of the Elder Wand plot was keeping Voldemort sidetracked (as he was with the Prophecy in OoP), giving Harry time to hunt Horcruxes (and allowing JKR to stretch out the story for almost a Hogwarts school year)