More thoughts on the Elder Wand subplot - Owner?
pippin_999
foxmoth at qnet.com
Mon Jul 20 14:23:59 UTC 2009
No: HPFGUIDX 187374
> bboyminn:
>
> Slight flaw in that though. I suspect in its very long history,
> the Wand must have lost its owner in ways other than defeat. Yet,
> eventually the wand transferred its allegiance to the new
> possessor of the Wand.
Pippin:
Dumbledore believed that the Elder Wand could only pass by conquest, which does not necessarily mean killing. He expected that if the owner could manage to die undefeated, the wand's bloody history would come to an end at last.
But Dumbledore couldn't be sure that his theory of the Elder Wand was correct. If the Elder Wand could not be disabled, as he thought, then at least it would be in the hands of someone who was unalterably anti-Voldemort, thoroughly acquainted with Dark Magic and yet averse to using it, and, as an exceptionally skilled healer, could at least impart to the wand and its subsequent masters a talent for something besides combat.
Personally, I'd have to be deathly ill before I'd let anyone experiment on me with a wand that had chosen so many murderers as its master. And if it were in the hands of an amateur like Harry... ::shudders::
Healing charms are a lot more complicated than "reparo" and things can go wrong even if the wand and its owner have good intentions.
But if Eggplant's theory of the wand is correct and it has no more innate malice than a car or a gun, no desire to tempt its master to acts of cruelty or bloodlust or domination, then I see no reason why there shouldn't be thousands of wizards who could own and use it safely. Law-abiding gun owners do not suddenly become criminals if they get a bigger gun, and I see no reason why law-abiding wand owners should behave differently.
In that case, maybe the best thing Harry could do is pick a fight with a short-tempered but not extremely violent healer and hope, but not plan, to lose. Snape would be ideal, if he weren't dead. :)
Pippin
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