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The Elder Wand was one of three magical objects that made up the fabled Deathly Hallows, along with the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. According to The Tale of the Three Brothers, it was the first Hallow created, supposedly made by Death himself. It was bestowed upon Antioch Peverell after he requested, as his bounty, a wand worthy of someone who had outsmarted Death. According to legend, whoever united the wand with the other two Hallows (the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility) would become the Master of Death.^[1][2]

It was said to have been the most powerful wand ever to exist, able to perform feats of magic that would normally be impossible even for the most skilled wizards,^[1][2] such as mending another wand damaged beyond normal magical repair.^[4] The Elder Wand’s core was the tail hair of a Thestral, a potent yet tricky substance to master; only a witch or wizard who was capable of accepting death could do so.^[6]

Description

The wand was made of elder wood,^[2] was 15 inches^[7] and contained a Thestral tail hair core.^[2][8] This type of wood that contained powerful magic was the rarest of all wand woods, but was said to be deeply unlucky and trickier than any other to master. Only a highly unusual person who was the superior of their company would find their perfect match with this wood. The Thestral core was «a tricky substance that only wizards that mastered death can control«.^[9]

Despite its legendary reputation and immense ability, the Elder Wand was an unassuming object. Appearing at face value to be a wand like any other, it had a smooth, unadorned shaft and a handle formed from two conjoined spheres.

The Elder Wand gave its loyalty to whoever could win it from its previous master. Most people believed that meant one had to kill the Elder Wand’s master, but this was not actually the case. One simply had to disarm the master of the Wand, either by knocking it out of their hand with a spell or simply grabbing it out of their hand. It did not have to be the Elder Wand that the master was disarmed of for its loyalty to change, the change in loyalty also happened if the master was disarmed of their own wand, as long as they were disarmed and even if they did not have the Elder Wand with them at the time. Normally, a wand still had a connection to its original master, even when its loyalty changed, but this was not the case with the Elder Wand, its change of loyalty was complete and total.

History

Mythic origins of the Elder Wand

According to The Tale of the Three Brothers (as compiled in The Tales of Beedle the Bard), three brothers — suspected to be Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell — were out travelling when they came to a treacherous river that had been known to claim the lives of many that had attempted to cross it.^[2] Taking no chances, the three brothers pulled out their wands and conjured a bridge out of thin air. However, halfway across it, they encountered a tall, hooded figure blocking their path. It was Death himself, dressed in a simple long black cloak. Death felt cheated that the three brothers had outsmarted him and had not drowned in the river, as many others had.^[2][1]

While pretending to congratulate them for their triumph, Death schemed against them. He offered each brother their choice of gift as a reward for outsmarting him. Antioch, the eldest, went first, and being a combative man he asked for a wand that would defeat all others. Death went to a nearby elder tree and created a wand from its wood, which he handed to the eldest brother. The second brother, Cadmus, who wanted to humiliate Death even further, asked for an object that would recall the dead and was given the Resurrection Stone. The youngest brother, Ignotus, was much wiser than his brothers and was sceptical of Death’s intentions. He asked for an object that would allow him to live his life without the fear of Death following him. Reluctantly, Death handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.^[2][1]

Antioch Peverell’s possession

Albus Dumbledore thought it was unlikely that the Elder Wand was actually made by Death, and assumed that it may have been created by the eldest of the three Peverell brothers, Antioch. However, Antioch did not possess the Elder Wand for very long: After killing a rival wizard in a duel shortly after creating the wand, Antioch drunkenly boasted of the wand’s powers. He was murdered in his sleep that night by another envious wizard who slit his throat and took possession of the wand.^[2]

Known owners

Over time, this powerful and mysterious wand passed through various hands, usually by violent means, and acquired names such as «the Deathstick» and «the Wand of Destiny».^[1] Several of the wand’s owners are well-known to wizarding history, as the «bloody trail» wrought by the wand was recorded in numerous historical accounts.^[2][10] Many owners were killed by their successors in a lust for power, and over time the inaccurate legend grew that murder was necessary in order to attain mastery of the Elder Wand.

Emeric the Evil

Emeric the Evil was a short-lived but exceptionally belligerent wizard. He was the first historically known master of the Elder Wand after Antioch Peverell’s killer, though it is possible that others possessed the wand before him. Emeric terrorised the south of England in the early Middle Ages and was eventually «slaughtered» in a ferocious duel against Egbert the Egregious.

Egbert the Egregious

Egbert the Egregious became Master of the Elder Wand after defeating and killing Emeric the Evil in a duel. What became of Egbert after mastering the Elder Wand is unknown. What is known is that century later, Godelot is recorded to have obtained mastership of the wand.

Godelot

Godelot is known to have become Master of the Elder Wand around a century after Egbert the Egregious. Godelot considered the Elder Wand an instructor, and used his knowledge of the Wand’s powers to write Magick Moste Evile, a book containing information on Dark magic (including a passing reference to Horcruxes in its introduction). Godelot perished in his own cellar after he was locked in there by his son, Hereward, who did this to gain ownership of the Wand.

Hereward

Hereward mastered the Elder Wand after defeating and killing his father, Godelot. He succeeded in this by locking his father in his own cellar to die and stealing the wand afterwards.

Barnabas Deverill

Following Hereward, the next known Master of the Elder Wand was Barnabas Deverill. In the early eighteenth century, he used it to carve out a reputation as a fearsome warlock until his reign of terror was ended by Loxias, who murdered Barnabas and gained mastery of the wand.

Loxias

Loxias became Master of the Elder Wand following his defeat of Barnabas Deverill. Loxias gave it the name «the Deathstick» and used it against anyone who displeased him. It is unknown who defeated and/or killed Loxias, as — according to Dumbledore — many claimed to have finished him off, including Loxias’s own mother. From Xenophilius Lovegood’s understanding of history, either Arcus or Livius seemed to have killed him, as he believed one of them to be the next Master of the Elder Wand.

Arcus or Livius

According to Xenophilius Lovegood, it is debated whether Arcus and Livius became the Master of the Elder Wand after Loxias’s death, as tracking the wand’s history any further than this point becomes difficult.

Recent history

Mykew Gregorovitch’s possession

At some point during the nineteenth or early twentieth century, the Elder Wand came into the possession of wandmaker Mykew Gregorovitch. Upon realising that it was the most powerful wand in existence, Gregorovitch spent many years experimenting to try and duplicate its powers. Gregorovitch, somewhat foolish by nature and hoping it would improve his business, even started a rumour detailing that he possessed the wand and his efforts to replicate its properties. This would eventually lead to his undoing; sometime between 1899 and 1926^[11], Gregorovitch heard someone breaking into his workshop one night. He promptly ran inside and saw that an intruder had taken the wand: a blonde haired young man, who promptly shot a Stunning Spell at Gregorovitch to acquire mastery of the wand,^[12] before leaping out the window. Gregorovitch never discovered the man’s identity.

Gellert Grindelwald’s possession

Gellert Grindelwald was one of the most dangerous Dark wizards of all time, with only the more powerful evil Lord Voldemort being deemed to be his superior. He was educated at Durmstrang Institute, but was later expelled. Grindelwald’s great-aunt was the famous magical historian Bathilda Bagshot, and following his expulsion he lived with her in the village Godric’s Hollow for a summer. During this time he struck up a friendship with a young Albus Dumbledore, and the two made plans to find the Deathly Hallows. They believed that possessing the Hallows would allow them to create a world in which Muggles, out of necessity and for the greater good, would be subservient to wizards and witches. This partnership fell apart after the two were involved in a vicious three-way duel with Albus’ brother Aberforth, which resulted in the accidental death of his sister Ariana.^[12]

After his falling out with Dumbledore, Grindelwald delved into his research of the Deathly Hallows and uncovered the location of the Elder Wand. Rumours had been circulating that the renowned wandmaker Gregorovitch had the wand and was trying to duplicate its properties. Grindelwald broke into the wandmaker’s workshop, and succeeded in claiming ownership of the fabled wand by waiting until Gregorovitch came and then casting a stunning spell at him, making himself the rightful owner.

Over the years, Grindelwald raised an army and began a reign of terror that spread through several European countries and resulted in the murder of many wizards and Muggles for many years. He never attempted to seize power in Britain, though, due to his fear of his former friend Dumbledore, who was «a shade more skilful» than he was. During his reign, Grindelwald built the Nurmengard prison to hold any enemies or objectors, all while claiming that everything he did was «for the greater good«, which was the phrase he inscribed above the entrance of Nurmengard.

In 1927, Grindelwald used the wand in his escape. Later on, Aurors infiltrated the rally in Lestrange Mausoleum on Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to conjure a circle of protective fire around himself, and added an enchantment designed to test the loyalty of his followers: those who entered with complete fidelity and believed in his cause would survive; those who did not, would be engulfed and perish. Abernathy, Vinda Rosier, Credence Barebone, and Queenie Goldstein joined Grindelwald into the circle and Apparated. Grindelwald proceeded to use the wand to quickly dispatch many Aurors, manipulating the ring to cast columns and balls of black fire that slayed even Aurors in mid-Apparition. Ultimately, about half a dozen of the fifty Aurors Theseus Scamander had brought along accepted his offer and joined him in the circle as well. Then Grindelwald, mocking Newt Scamander by asking whether he thought Dumbledore would mourn for him, attacked him and Theseus and would have succeeded in burning them alive had he not been distracted by Leta Lestrange, who screamed to him to stop. Grindelwald did so, manipulating the black fire to act as a wall to prevent Theseus from doing anything, and in response, offered her to join his ranks. She refused, however, and cast the Stunning Spell at him that missed and blasted Vinda Rosier instead, causing her to drop it, smashing his skull-hookah into pieces, with Grindelwald killing Leta with the flames, incinerating her. Having struck down Leta, Grindelwald let out his fury over losing such a valuable tool by fully unleashing the dark fire, with the intent on destroying the entirety of Paris, and all of those present along with it, before he Disapparated. Just in time Nicolas Flamel arrived and instructed Newt, Theseus, Tina Goldstein and Yusuf Kama to form a ring around the mausoleum, plant their wands in the ground and use the General Counter-Spell. The effect was the creation of a counter-spell so great that it forced the black fire back into the mausoleum where it ended its effects.^[13]

In 1932, Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to remove Yusuf Kama’s memory about the murder of his sister, Leta Lestrange. Later, during the walk of the Qilin in Bhutan, Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to torture Jacob Kowalski with the Cruciatus Curse. When Newt Scamander, with the help of Credence Barebone and Bunty Broadacre, discovered Grindelwald’s deception about the enchantment of a dead Qilin, a furious Grindelwald cast a green spell at Credence with the intention to kill. Albus Dumbledore and Aberforth Dumbledore blocked the Killing Curse with their own spells, which caused in destroying the blood pact between Albus and Grindelwald. As a result, Dumbledore and Grindelwald fought a fierce duel that ended in stalemate. Wizards present at the ceremony wanted to capture Grindelwald, but he cast a Shield Charm around himself, then added that he had never been an enemy of the Dumbledores, then or now, and then Disapparated.

In 1945, at the height of Grindelwald’s power, Albus Dumbledore finally felt compelled to confront his former friend due to the public outcry. Despite Grindelwald’s mastery of the Elder Wand, as well as putting up a fight, Dumbledore defeated him in what became known as a legendary duel. Grindelwald was subsequently incarcerated in his own prison, Nurmengard, where he remained for decades. He was eventually slain there in 1998 by Lord Voldemort, who was in search of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald, however, refused to divulge any information about the wand, defying Voldemort in a last attempt to find redemption.

Albus Dumbledore’s possession

When Albus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945, mastery of the Elder Wand passed to him.^[14] Under his ownership, the wand was largely used for good, unlike many of its former masters. Dumbledore performed great magic with this wand, furthering his reputation as the world’s most powerful wizard. Among that magic was the ability to produce Gubraithian Fire, a flame which has been enchanted to burn forever without dying. It is quite an advanced piece of magic, as few wizards were capable of it. Dumbledore provided Rubeus Hagrid with a branch of this fire as a diplomatic gift for the giants.

During the 1994-1995 school year, Dumbledore used the wand to stun Dolores Umbridge, Cornelius Fudge, John Dawlish, and Kingsley Shacklebolt as he made his escape when the Ministry tried to take him to Azkaban.^[15] When he arrived at the Ministry to aid the Order of the Phoenix in the battle against the Death Eaters, he engaged in a ferocious duel with Lord Voldemort, using his wand to enchant the statues from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to protect Harry. Dumbledore was able to maintain the upper hand in the duel, countering Voldemort’s attacks. While the Dark Lord was able to counter or dispel Dumbledore’s hail of assaults, he was ultimately forced to flee.^[16]

During Harry’s sixth year, Dumbledore and Harry set out to the Cave where Dumbledore believed a Horcrux resided. When Harry dipped a goblet into the lake to provide water for Dumbledore (who was incredibly weak and thirsty after drinking the Drink of Despair to reach the Horcrux), all the Inferi that resided in the lake grabbed at Harry and attempted to drag him down and drown him in the lake. Dumbledore recovered enough to conjure a firestorm around them to ward off the Inferi, but remained very weak.^[17]

When they returned to Hogsmeade, Madam Rosmerta informed them that the Dark Mark had been conjured over the Astronomy Tower. In the tower, Dumbledore told Harry not to interfere in the events that were about to take place there, and, to ensure this, placed him in a Body-Bind Curse under his invisibility cloak. Hidden, Harry was unable to intervene as Dumbledore (now extremely weakened by the potion) was Disarmed by Draco Malfoy. The wand flew from Dumbledore’s hands over the battlements,^[18] but was clearly found later, as it was placed in Dumbledore’s grave alongside his corpse.^[19]

Dumbledore was conversing with Draco about the plot to assassinate him when several other Death Eaters entered the tower and tried to persuade Draco to finish his task as well as Dumbledore. The present Death Eaters included Thorfinn Rowle, Corban Yaxley, Gibbon, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow and Fenrir Greyback. Dumbledore briefly exchanged words with Bellatrix and Grayback. When Draco hesitated, Severus Snape appeared and performed the Killing Curse on Dumbledore himself. Harry learned that, in order to save himself from a more agonising death, and to prevent Draco from tarnishing his soul, Dumbledore had instructed Snape to kill him, of which Snape himself had reluctantly agreed to.^[18]

Unbeknownst to Snape, Dumbledore had also done this to ensure that when Snape killed him, Dumbledore would not unintentionally be «defeated» (as they had agreed to it beforehand, the Elder Wand’s power will end with Dumbledore, who was ready to accept death) and thus the mastery of the Elder Wand would disappear. However, not all went according to Dumbledore’s plan, since Dumbledore was disarmed and thus was defeated by Draco Malfoy. Without his knowledge, Malfoy thus became the next master of the Elder Wand.^[12]

Lord Voldemort’s search

During the summer of 1997, Voldemort held a meeting at Malfoy Manor with his Death Eaters, in which he revealed that, in order to defeat Harry, he would need to borrow another person’s wand because of the connection that his own wand shared with Harry’s. He finally settled on Lucius Malfoy’s wand as a way of punishing the Malfoy family, but that wand was destroyed by Harry’s during the Battle of the Seven Potters. After this, a furious Voldemort tortured Garrick Ollivander into revealing more solutions to defeat Harry, eventually leading Voldemort to know of the Elder Wand’s existence. Although originally desiring another wand only to defeat Potter, upon hearing the wand’s legendary powers he sought its mastery in order to not only to conquer Harry Potter, but also to secure his desire as the ultimate wizard in the world, which he believed would make him invincible.^[12]

He devoted the latter half of 1997 (and into the spring of 1998) into a relentless and murderous search for the Elder Wand.^[12] He killed many people who stood in his way, including an innocent Muggle woman and her two small children. He eventually traced the wand’s recent history, murdering both Gregorovitch and Grindelwald in the course of his search. It was after breaking into Grindelwald’s cell in Nurmengard that Voldemort tracked the wand’s ownership to Dumbledore, despite Grindelwald’s efforts.^[12]

Lord Voldemort’s possession

Voldemort broke into Dumbledore’s grave and robbed it of the wand, which had been buried with its former master. However, unbeknownst to Voldemort, the former owner of the Elder Wand, Albus Dumbledore, had been disarmed by young Draco Malfoy. He believed that Severus Snape was the true owner of the wand after he realised the wand was not living up to its full potential, as Voldemort thought that Snape had been the one to kill Dumbledore, not taking into account the fact that Draco had disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. As a result, Voldemort got his pet snake and Horcrux Nagini, to murder Snape.^[5] He believed he was now the Elder Wand’s true master, but in the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter, his young adversary, revealed to Voldemort that the wand had not belonged to Snape, but to Draco, and, after defeating Draco himself, Harry Potter.^[4]

Harry Potter’s possession

Nearly a year after Draco had unintentionally become the wand’s master, Harry Potter had taken Draco’s wand by force during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, thus making him the new and final master of the Elder Wand.^[12] Late in the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry, who had learned that he had been accidentally made into Voldemort’s Horcrux when he was a year old, walked into the Forbidden Forest to sacrifice himself to Lord Voldemort.^[12] Voldemort cast a Killing Curse on Harry using the Elder Wand. The wand seemingly worked because Harry intended to die at Voldemort’s hand, much as Dumbledore had planned his death with Snape. Harry had entered a limbo state, portrayed as King’s Cross Station, from which he could choose to return.^[12] When he did return, Voldemort cast the Cruciatus Curse on Harry’s «dead» body but caused no pain. At this point, Harry realised that he was, in fact, the master of the Elder Wand.^[12]

Only in his final encounter with Harry at the Battle of Hogwarts was Voldemort told that he had failed to win the true allegiance of the wand, as he did not gain ownership by defeating its previous owner. Despite this, Voldemort used the Elder Wand to cast his final Killing Curse against Harry’s Disarming Charm. However, because the wand’s allegiance was to Harry, Voldemort’s spell backfired and killed him, once and for all.^[12]

Harry’s decision

With Voldemort defeated, and Harry now the true and final master and possessor of the Elder Wand, he used it to repair his damaged original wand of holly and phoenix feather, which he said he was «happier with».^[12] After the repair, Harry told Dumbledore’s portrait that he would place the Elder Wand back in Dumbledore’s tomb, and when Harry died a natural death, the wand’s power would be broken as Dumbledore had intended. The portrait of Professor Dumbledore approved.

Delphini

After using a Time-Turner to go back to 31 October 1981, the night of Lily and James Potter’s murder by her father Tom Riddle, Delphini engaged in a duel with Harry Potter. During the duel she disarmed Harry, and later on, Hermione bound Delphini.^[20] It is unknown if these actions had any effect on the allegiance or ownership of the Elder Wand.

Alternate timelines

In an alternate reality inadvertently created by Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, in which Voldemort maintained his immortality when his final Horcrux was not killed, Voldemort successfully killed Harry Potter and dominated the wizarding world, meaning he has successfully attained mastery over the Elder Wand. This alternate world was eventually undone by Scorpius.

Known masters of the Elder Wand

• Antioch Peverell
• Antioch Peverell’s killer
• Emeric the Evil
• Egbert the Egregious
• Godelot
• Hereward
• Barnabas Deverill
• Loxias
• Arcus or Livius (possibly)
• Mykew Gregorovitch
• Gellert Grindelwald
• Newt Scamander (possibly)^[21]
• Yusuf Kama (possibly)^[22]
• Albus Dumbledore
• Draco Malfoy
• Harry Potter
• Delphini (possibly)^[23]
• Hermione Granger (possibly)^[24]

Power

The Elder Wand was the most powerful wand in existence. Its owner could have used it to cast spells more powerful than any believed to be magically possible.^[12] For example, Harry Potter was able to repair his regular Phoenix feather wand using the Elder Wand in 1998, even though broken wands were held, by experts such as Garrick Ollivander, to be damaged beyond magical repair, and Harry did so despite not having any training in wandlore. Additionally, when Grindelwald used the Cruciatus Curse on Jacob Kowalski in Bhutan in 1932, the effects of the spell continued to affect Jacob even after he stopped pointing the wand at him. Conversely, when Voldemort used his own regular wand to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry Potter in Little Hangleton, the effects of the spell ceased the instant Voldemort stopped pointing his wand at him. Both Ollivander and Voldemort believed that the wand’s legendary powers is the only one capable of overpowering the bond between the latter and Harry, which created such an effect that Harry managed to overcome Voldemort’s attempt to kill him.^[12]

However, there does exist limitations in the Elder Wand’s power, appearing to merely able to improve pre-existing spells to perform the seemingly impossible but not actually able to perform the impossible. Dumbledore himself was incapable of curing the petrified victims of Salazar Slytherin’s Basilisk or nullifying the curse on Marvolo Gaunt’s ring entirely, and neither was he able to overcome the enchantments upon Voldemort’s Drink of Despair with the wand amplifying his own magic. In addition, while most of the times where the Elder Wand shifted allegiance was not in a fair fight but by cunning assassination, it does not entirely guarantee victory against others, as displayed by Dumbledore’s ability to defeat Gellert Grindelwald despite him having mastered the Elder Wand, while Egbert the Egregious was known for having actually defeated Emeric the Evil in a duel to claim the wand. This can be attributable, however, to the fact that in these circumstances, the proper counter-charms or counter-potions weren’t known to the master of the Elder Wand at the time. Moreover, not all spells have a counter-spell, but instead, a counter-potion. These scenarios are comparable to when Neville in his first few years studying at Hogwarts was cursed by Draco Malfoy many times, such as being bounded by the Leg-Locker Curse, which only Hermione in their year, was able to undo the effects of. Neville himself was unable to undo the Leg-Locker Curse’s effects on him, but Hermione was, highlighting the fact that knowledge of the curse, its effects, and counter-curses or counter-potions are important in removing the effects of curses and other dark magic.

While it is stated that a wand will not give up its master so easily if it is attempted to be won, the Elder Wand seems to do this time and time again. However, this might not be referring to its willingness to give up its master, but rather to the amount of effort it took to defeat the wielder of the Wand. As the wand, like the eldest brother in the Tale, embodied the conceit that «Might is Right», greater power would, from its perspective, indicate superiority. Ron has noted that he would choose the wand of the three Hallows, but argued that he would do so while not proclaiming his ownership of it, reasoning that the wand was only dangerous to the first brother because he bragged about owning it rather than the wand being dangerous on its own.

When Lord Voldemort used the Elder Wand without mastering it he claimed that the wand only unleashed his regular (albeit immensely powerful) level of magic and not the unbeatable effects it was rumoured to possess. It’s unknown if the wand would work this way for another who hasn’t mastered it though, as Voldemort has used the wands of others in the past with no handicap, it’s likely that this is his own power rather than that of the Elder Wand.

It did have one redeeming quality like all other wands, however: it refused to harm or kill its master nor those under sacrificial protection.

Symbolism

In the Deathly Hallows symbol, the Elder Wand was shown as the vertical line that went right through the middle of the circle and the triangle; it represented the aspects of power and invincibility of the Hallows as a whole, the tent pole, as it were, of the entire edifice.

Other elder wands

While the «Elder Wand» (capitalised) referred to one of the Deathly Hallows, other wands had been made from elder wood,^[2] such as Lottie Turner’s wand.^[25] In general wizards seemed to eschew elder wands, due at least in part to the sordid history of the Elder Wand itself, favouring wands made from various other woods, such as holly, willow, vine, and oak.^[2] Ron repeated an old wizarding saying, «Wand of elder, never prosper» after Hermione read The Tale of the Three Brothers, to illustrate how wizarding lore might be passed from generation to generation.^[12]

See also

• Peverell family
• Deathly Hallows
• Cloak of Invisibility
• Resurrection Stone
• The Tale of the Three Brothers

Behind the scenes

• The filmmakers’ first design for Albus Dumbledore’s wand was conceived for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 by Pierre Bohanna,^[26] but its first appearance wasn’t until the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, years before it was revealed to be the Elder Wand, or indeed what the Elder Wand even was, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007. Fortunately, the wand they created happened to be unique and immediately recognisable among all the wands in the film series: the prop was made of English oak, with a small bone inlay inscribed with runes, and outcroppings of nodules running down its length^[27] — which even resemble clusters of elderberries.
• Dumbledore’s commentary on The Tale of the Three Brothers notes that all known masters of the Elder Wand had been men, with no woman even claiming to have possessed the artefact.^[2]
• The wand has been available to purchase on the Noble Collection website while contained in an Ollivanders Wand Shop box. This implies, incorrectly, that the wand was made and sold at the shop by Garrick Ollivander. (Though this could be due to the fact that the Noble wand was released before Dumbledore’s wand was revealed to be the Elder Wand)
• Those to whom the Elder Wand isn’t loyal can perform feats of magic equivalent to owning a regular wand. In the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort remarked about this to Severus Snape and reasoned that, since he believed Snape to be the master of the Elder Wand, Voldemort would have to kill him to claim true mastery of it. The only thing that it has been shown that the Elder Wand can’t do (or, rather, won’t do) is harm its own master if it finds itself in the physical possession of another. Unfortunately for Voldemort, Harry Potter was the master of the wand, as Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him, and Harry had since disarmed Draco in the Malfoy Manor.^[12]
• At the end of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Elder Wand is seen lying on the headmaster’s desk, instead of being buried in the White Tomb. This scene must take place before Dumbledore’s burial (which isn’t seen on film), given that in the next film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the wand is buried with its former master.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Albus Dumbledore claimed he would make it easy for Draco Malfoy and allowed Malfoy to disarm him, though he could have defended himself. Therefore it seems as though he wanted Malfoy to have the Wand; however, it should be noted that the Elder Wand was said to only switch allegiance if it was removed from its master against his will. However, it’s possible that Dumbledore truly hadn’t expected Draco to attack him, even if only to disarm him, and was therefore genuinely caught off guard. Also, because he was in a very weak and slow state from drinking the Potion, it’s likely that he was just too slow and weak to defend himself.
• If Dumbledore had managed to keep his wand and not be disarmed by Draco Malfoy, then he would have presumably been disarmed by one of the Death Eaters before Snape came, if they saw him. However, they didn’t attack him directly, as they knew that Draco needed to kill him, so it’s possible that Dumbledore could have kept his wand. It’s unknown how Severus Snape would have reacted if he had seen Dumbledore with the wand, but most likely, given the ravaging effects of the curse which Dumbledore was already suffering, he would have killed him anyway.
• It’s unknown what would have happened to the Elder Wand if Dumbledore had been killed by the Inferi in the Horcrux Cave. It might be that its loyalty would have passed to their master, as Voldemort seemed to believe would be the case when he instructed Nagini to kill Snape.
• Albus Dumbledore and Egbert the Egregious are the only known wizards to have defeated a master of the Elder Wand (Gellert Grindelwald and Emeric the Evil, respectively) in a wizarding duel.^[14] Other masters of the Elder Wand obtained mastery through deceit, stealth (as when Grindelwald stole it from Gregorovitch),^[12] foul play (the murder of Antioch Peverell in his sleep),^[2] happenstance (as when Draco Malfoy disarmed Albus Dumbledore, who was concurrently casting a Full Body-Bind Curse on Harry Potter)^[18] or beating the current master while he doesn’t physically possess the wand (as in Harry Potter’s disarming of Draco Malfoy).^[12] This is another testament to Dumbledore’s innate magical skills, which he references to Harry when the latter is in limbo by admitting that although both he and Grindelwald were near evenly matched, he was a shade more skilful. The Elder Wand, therefore, bears a certain resemblance to the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s «The Lord of the Rings», as an instigator of murder and mayhem.
• In the film adaptation for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 and 2, it seems that the Elder Wand has a much darker colour; this may be a change the film makers employed to make the wand fit better with Voldemort’s «dark and evil» personality.
• The curse that killed Lord Voldemort came from the Elder Wand. As Voldemort thought that Snape was the master, Voldemort killed him. Draco, however, was the true master, as he had disarmed Dumbledore, and then Harry disarmed Draco. So, when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the Wand wouldn’t harm its master, and so turned the spell back on Voldemort. Although this does make one wonder why it didn’t backfire on Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, as Harry was already the master of the Elder Wand by then. Perhaps it was because Nagini, a Horcrux, was still alive, or it may have been because Harry intended to die, much as Dumbledore did when facing Snape in the Astronomy Tower. Alternatively, it may have been that, since Harry didn’t fight back, he couldn’t be defeated. Alternatively, it’s possible that the curse did indeed backfire because it destroyed the piece of Voldemort’s soul that was in Harry’s forehead.
• Though Harry hoped to break the power of the wand by dying a natural death, he would need to do so without ever being defeated, even by simply being disarmed. Unless the aggressor knew that Harry was the Elder Wand’s master, and was attempting to defeat him in order to become master of the wand (in which case, Harry would simply need to allow himself to be defeated intentionally to retain mastery) then it’s unlikely the victor would ever know to take control of the wand, so its mastery would become increasingly difficult to trace if they were defeated in turn, and the probability of their dying a natural death while undefeated would become more and more likely. Further, so long as Harry succeeded in subsequently defeating anyone who defeated him, the allegiance of the wand would return to Harry. This was emphasised when Delphini disarmed Harry without figuring out she attained mastery of the wand.
• The Noble Collection wand is also not painted correctly. On the film prop, the shaft is goldish bronze and the knobs are black, but the Noble wand is all black.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, when Voldemort tries to unleash the Elder Wand’s capabilities upon the shield surrounding Hogwarts, he seems to feel a slight pain in his arm carrying the wand, similar to the effects of the Horcrux being destroyed. The wand as well cracks under the strain.
• In Part 2 of the film adaptation, Harry simply destroys the Elder Wand by snapping it in half and throws it away as opposed to the seventh book where he repairs his original one. This is justified as the Elder Wand was too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands again.
• When asked which of the Deathly Hallows they preferred, Hermione Granger chose the Cloak of Invisibility, while Ron chose the Elder Wand, and Harry chose the Resurrection Stone.^[1]
• In a interview with Melissa Anelli in the enhanced edition of Harry a History Rowling said that she and her American editor Arthur had an interesting conversation during the editing of book seven — the moment when Harry takes Draco’s wand: «Arthur said, God, that’s the moment when the ownership of the Elder wand is actually transferred? And I said, that’s right. He said, shouldn’t that be a bit more dramatic? And I said, no, not at all, the reverse. I said to Arthur, I think it really puts the elaborate, grandiose plans of Dumbledore and Voldemort in their place. That actually the history of the wizarding world hinged on two teenage boys wrestling with each other. They weren’t even using magic. It became an ugly little corner tussle for the possession of wands. And I really liked that — that very human moment, as opposed to these two wizards who were twitching strings and manipulating and implanting information and husbanding information and guarding information, you know? Ultimately it just came down to that, a little scuffle and fistfight in the corner and pulling a wand away.»^[28]
• It’s mentioned in Dumbledore’s (not entirely honest) commentary that rumours of an unbeatable wand are preposterous. For example, Grindelwald had mastered the «unbeatable» Deathstick, and yet was still defeated by Dumbledore in 1945.^[14] However, it’s more probable that only one who has mastered the wand by becoming a Master of Death (which is required to truly unlock the wand’s full power) will be unbeatable with it.
• The Elder Wand is now also available to buy at the ‘Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour’ in London, where it’s known as Professor Dumbledore’s wand.
• It has never been clearly defined what it means when it is said that the Elder Wand’s power will break if its current master dies a natural death. It could mean that its powers would be diminished to the point of it becoming a regular wand, or it could mean its powers being utterly obliterated, as it is known to happen to some wands.
• In an alternate reality in which Neville Longbottom never killed Nagini, Voldemort managed to kill Harry, suggesting that the Dark Lord had used his immortality to help him overcome the rebounding curse and mastered the wand.
• There is a distinct possibility that Newt Scamander, had Grindelwald already obtained the Elder Wand’s allegiance by that time, may have temporarily become master of the Elder Wand in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film, as the Elder Wand switches allegiance when its master is overpowered. Since Newt, with the help of his Swooping Evil, overpowered Graves to the point of being unarmed, beyond resistance, it’s possible the Elder Wand perceived Scamander as a superior level of (real) power. If Newt did in fact become the Elder Wand’s master, then, following the events of the saga, Grindelwald would have to directly (or indirectly) gain the Elder Wand’s allegiance back, before his final duel with Albus Dumbledore.
  • If this switch happened, it means that, analogously, Hermione becomes the master of the Elder Wand after the duel in Godric’s Hollow in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as she binds Delphini, the last master, very similarly to how Newt Scamander binds Graves/Grindelwald.
  • It seems unlikely that Newt Scamander was the master of the Elder Wand as Grindelwald could use Protego Diabolica to nearly kill him in the Lestrange Mausoleum without the black fire backfiring on him like Voldemort’s Killing Curse did to Voldemort in his final duel with Harry Potter.
• It is also possible that, Yusuf Kama, should Newt Scamander obtained and mantained the Elder Wand’s alleagiance by that time, may have temporarily become master of the Elder Wand in the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald film, as the Elder wand switches allegiance when its master is overpowered. Since Yusuf Kama, by disarming and imprisoning him, overpowered Newt beyond resistence, it’s possible that the Elder Wand perceived in Kama a superior level of (real) power. If Kama did in fact become the Elder Wand’s master, then, following the events of the saga, Grindelwald would have to directly (or indirectly) gain the Elder Wand’s allegiance back, before his final duel with Albus Dumbledore.
• The Elder Wand is part of the Wizarding World franchise logo and represents the connection between the Harry Potter saga and the Fantastic Beasts saga.^[29]
• It was suggested that even if Voldemort was aware of the Deathly Hallows, only the Elder Wand would pique his interest.
• It is most likely possible, for a skilled enough wandmaker, to create an exact replica of the Elder Wand.

J. K. Rowling has discussed how the Elder Wand behaves slightly different from other wands in its loyalty:

«The Elder Wand is simply the most ruthless of wands in that it will only take into consideration strength. One would expect a certain amount of loyalty from one’s wand. So even if you were disarmed while carrying it, even if you lost a fight while carrying it, it has developed an affinity with you that it won’t give up easily. If, however, a wand is won, properly won in an adult duel, then a wand may switch allegiance … However, the Elder Wand knows no loyalty except to strength. It’s completely unsentimental. It will only go where the power is. So if you win, then you’ve won the wand. You don’t need to kill with it. But … almost inevitably, it attracts wizards who are prepared to kill and who will kill. And also it attracts wizards like Voldemort who confuse being prepared to murder with strength.«^[30]

«The secret of the elder wand is that it’s more sentient than any other. It can identify the caster of any spell that touches it and keeps tally of which wizard has beaten which, giving its allegiance to the one it judges the victor. Physical possession is irrelevant.»^[31]

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First identified as Elder Wand)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Appears in flashback(s)) (Appears in vision(s))
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game) (Appears in flashback(s))
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore — The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy

Notes and references

Known owners of the Deathly Hallows

Elder Wand

Death (manufacturer) · Antioch Peverell · Antioch Peverell’s killer · Emeric the Evil · Egbert the Egregious · Godelot · Hereward · Barnabas Deverill · Loxias · Arcus or Livius · Mykew Gregorovitch · Gellert Grindelwald · Albus Dumbledore · Draco Malfoy (master only) · Tom Riddle (owner only) · Harry Potter · (Interred)

Resurrection Stone

Death (manufacturer) · Cadmus Peverell · (generations of Gaunts) · Marvolo Gaunt · Morfin Gaunt · Tom Riddle · Albus Dumbledore · Harry Potter · (Lost)

Cloak of Invisibility

Death (manufacturer) · Ignotus Peverell · Ignotus Peverell’s son · Iolanthe Potter · (generations of Potters) · Henry Potter · Fleamont Potter · James Potter I · Albus Dumbledore (owner only) · Harry Potter · James Potter II · Albus Potter

The Elder Wand was one of three magical objects that made up the fabled Deathly Hallows, along with the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. According to The Tale of the Three Brothers, it was the first Hallow created, supposedly made by Death himself. It was bestowed upon Antioch Peverell after he requested, as his bounty, a wand worthy of someone who had outsmarted Death. According to legend, whoever united the wand with the other two Hallows (the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility) would become the Master of Death.^[1][2]

It was said to have been the most powerful wand ever to exist, able to perform feats of magic that would normally be impossible even for the most skilled wizards,^[1][2] such as mending another wand damaged beyond normal magical repair.^[4] The Elder Wand’s core was the tail hair of a Thestral, a potent yet tricky substance to master; only a witch or wizard who was capable of accepting death could do so.^[6]

Description

The wand was made of elder wood,^[2] was 15 inches^[7] and contained a Thestral tail hair core.^[2][8] This type of wood that contained powerful magic was the rarest of all wand woods, but was said to be deeply unlucky and trickier than any other to master. Only a highly unusual person who was the superior of their company would find their perfect match with this wood. The Thestral core was «a tricky substance that only wizards that mastered death can control«.^[9]

Despite its legendary reputation and immense ability, the Elder Wand was an unassuming object. Appearing at face value to be a wand like any other, it had a smooth, unadorned shaft and a handle formed from two conjoined spheres.

The Elder Wand gave its loyalty to whoever could win it from its previous master. Most people believed that meant one had to kill the Elder Wand’s master, but this was not actually the case. One simply had to disarm the master of the Wand, either by knocking it out of their hand with a spell or simply grabbing it out of their hand. It did not have to be the Elder Wand that the master was disarmed of for its loyalty to change, the change in loyalty also happened if the master was disarmed of their own wand, as long as they were disarmed and even if they did not have the Elder Wand with them at the time. Normally, a wand still had a connection to its original master, even when its loyalty changed, but this was not the case with the Elder Wand, its change of loyalty was complete and total.

History

Mythic origins of the Elder Wand

According to The Tale of the Three Brothers (as compiled in The Tales of Beedle the Bard), three brothers — suspected to be Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell — were out travelling when they came to a treacherous river that had been known to claim the lives of many that had attempted to cross it.^[2] Taking no chances, the three brothers pulled out their wands and conjured a bridge out of thin air. However, halfway across it, they encountered a tall, hooded figure blocking their path. It was Death himself, dressed in a simple long black cloak. Death felt cheated that the three brothers had outsmarted him and had not drowned in the river, as many others had.^[2][1]

While pretending to congratulate them for their triumph, Death schemed against them. He offered each brother their choice of gift as a reward for outsmarting him. Antioch, the eldest, went first, and being a combative man he asked for a wand that would defeat all others. Death went to a nearby elder tree and created a wand from its wood, which he handed to the eldest brother. The second brother, Cadmus, who wanted to humiliate Death even further, asked for an object that would recall the dead and was given the Resurrection Stone. The youngest brother, Ignotus, was much wiser than his brothers and was sceptical of Death’s intentions. He asked for an object that would allow him to live his life without the fear of Death following him. Reluctantly, Death handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.^[2][1]

Antioch Peverell’s possession

Albus Dumbledore thought it was unlikely that the Elder Wand was actually made by Death, and assumed that it may have been created by the eldest of the three Peverell brothers, Antioch. However, Antioch did not possess the Elder Wand for very long: After killing a rival wizard in a duel shortly after creating the wand, Antioch drunkenly boasted of the wand’s powers. He was murdered in his sleep that night by another envious wizard who slit his throat and took possession of the wand.^[2]

Known owners

Over time, this powerful and mysterious wand passed through various hands, usually by violent means, and acquired names such as «the Deathstick» and «the Wand of Destiny».^[1] Several of the wand’s owners are well-known to wizarding history, as the «bloody trail» wrought by the wand was recorded in numerous historical accounts.^[2][10] Many owners were killed by their successors in a lust for power, and over time the inaccurate legend grew that murder was necessary in order to attain mastery of the Elder Wand.

Emeric the Evil

Emeric the Evil was a short-lived but exceptionally belligerent wizard. He was the first historically known master of the Elder Wand after Antioch Peverell’s killer, though it is possible that others possessed the wand before him. Emeric terrorised the south of England in the early Middle Ages and was eventually «slaughtered» in a ferocious duel against Egbert the Egregious.

Egbert the Egregious

Egbert the Egregious became Master of the Elder Wand after defeating and killing Emeric the Evil in a duel. What became of Egbert after mastering the Elder Wand is unknown. What is known is that century later, Godelot is recorded to have obtained mastership of the wand.

Godelot

Godelot is known to have become Master of the Elder Wand around a century after Egbert the Egregious. Godelot considered the Elder Wand an instructor, and used his knowledge of the Wand’s powers to write Magick Moste Evile, a book containing information on Dark magic (including a passing reference to Horcruxes in its introduction). Godelot perished in his own cellar after he was locked in there by his son, Hereward, who did this to gain ownership of the Wand.

Hereward

Hereward mastered the Elder Wand after defeating and killing his father, Godelot. He succeeded in this by locking his father in his own cellar to die and stealing the wand afterwards.

Barnabas Deverill

Following Hereward, the next known Master of the Elder Wand was Barnabas Deverill. In the early eighteenth century, he used it to carve out a reputation as a fearsome warlock until his reign of terror was ended by Loxias, who murdered Barnabas and gained mastery of the wand.

Loxias

Loxias became Master of the Elder Wand following his defeat of Barnabas Deverill. Loxias gave it the name «the Deathstick» and used it against anyone who displeased him. It is unknown who defeated and/or killed Loxias, as — according to Dumbledore — many claimed to have finished him off, including Loxias’s own mother. From Xenophilius Lovegood’s understanding of history, either Arcus or Livius seemed to have killed him, as he believed one of them to be the next Master of the Elder Wand.

Arcus or Livius

According to Xenophilius Lovegood, it is debated whether Arcus and Livius became the Master of the Elder Wand after Loxias’s death, as tracking the wand’s history any further than this point becomes difficult.

Recent history

Mykew Gregorovitch’s possession

At some point during the nineteenth or early twentieth century, the Elder Wand came into the possession of wandmaker Mykew Gregorovitch. Upon realising that it was the most powerful wand in existence, Gregorovitch spent many years experimenting to try and duplicate its powers. Gregorovitch, somewhat foolish by nature and hoping it would improve his business, even started a rumour detailing that he possessed the wand and his efforts to replicate its properties. This would eventually lead to his undoing; sometime between 1899 and 1926^[11], Gregorovitch heard someone breaking into his workshop one night. He promptly ran inside and saw that an intruder had taken the wand: a blonde haired young man, who promptly shot a Stunning Spell at Gregorovitch to acquire mastery of the wand,^[12] before leaping out the window. Gregorovitch never discovered the man’s identity.

Gellert Grindelwald’s possession

Gellert Grindelwald was one of the most dangerous Dark wizards of all time, with only the more powerful evil Lord Voldemort being deemed to be his superior. He was educated at Durmstrang Institute, but was later expelled. Grindelwald’s great-aunt was the famous magical historian Bathilda Bagshot, and following his expulsion he lived with her in the village Godric’s Hollow for a summer. During this time he struck up a friendship with a young Albus Dumbledore, and the two made plans to find the Deathly Hallows. They believed that possessing the Hallows would allow them to create a world in which Muggles, out of necessity and for the greater good, would be subservient to wizards and witches. This partnership fell apart after the two were involved in a vicious three-way duel with Albus’ brother Aberforth, which resulted in the accidental death of his sister Ariana.^[12]

After his falling out with Dumbledore, Grindelwald delved into his research of the Deathly Hallows and uncovered the location of the Elder Wand. Rumours had been circulating that the renowned wandmaker Gregorovitch had the wand and was trying to duplicate its properties. Grindelwald broke into the wandmaker’s workshop, and succeeded in claiming ownership of the fabled wand by waiting until Gregorovitch came and then casting a stunning spell at him, making himself the rightful owner.

Over the years, Grindelwald raised an army and began a reign of terror that spread through several European countries and resulted in the murder of many wizards and Muggles for many years. He never attempted to seize power in Britain, though, due to his fear of his former friend Dumbledore, who was «a shade more skilful» than he was. During his reign, Grindelwald built the Nurmengard prison to hold any enemies or objectors, all while claiming that everything he did was «for the greater good«, which was the phrase he inscribed above the entrance of Nurmengard.

In 1927, Grindelwald used the wand in his escape. Later on, Aurors infiltrated the rally in Lestrange Mausoleum on Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to conjure a circle of protective fire around himself, and added an enchantment designed to test the loyalty of his followers: those who entered with complete fidelity and believed in his cause would survive; those who did not, would be engulfed and perish. Abernathy, Vinda Rosier, Credence Barebone, and Queenie Goldstein joined Grindelwald into the circle and Apparated. Grindelwald proceeded to use the wand to quickly dispatch many Aurors, manipulating the ring to cast columns and balls of black fire that slayed even Aurors in mid-Apparition. Ultimately, about half a dozen of the fifty Aurors Theseus Scamander had brought along accepted his offer and joined him in the circle as well. Then Grindelwald, mocking Newt Scamander by asking whether he thought Dumbledore would mourn for him, attacked him and Theseus and would have succeeded in burning them alive had he not been distracted by Leta Lestrange, who screamed to him to stop. Grindelwald did so, manipulating the black fire to act as a wall to prevent Theseus from doing anything, and in response, offered her to join his ranks. She refused, however, and cast the Stunning Spell at him that missed and blasted Vinda Rosier instead, causing her to drop it, smashing his skull-hookah into pieces, with Grindelwald killing Leta with the flames, incinerating her. Having struck down Leta, Grindelwald let out his fury over losing such a valuable tool by fully unleashing the dark fire, with the intent on destroying the entirety of Paris, and all of those present along with it, before he Disapparated. Just in time Nicolas Flamel arrived and instructed Newt, Theseus, Tina Goldstein and Yusuf Kama to form a ring around the mausoleum, plant their wands in the ground and use the General Counter-Spell. The effect was the creation of a counter-spell so great that it forced the black fire back into the mausoleum where it ended its effects.^[13]

In 1932, Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to remove Yusuf Kama’s memory about the murder of his sister, Leta Lestrange. Later, during the walk of the Qilin in Bhutan, Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to torture Jacob Kowalski with the Cruciatus Curse. When Newt Scamander, with the help of Credence Barebone and Bunty Broadacre, discovered Grindelwald’s deception about the enchantment of a dead Qilin, a furious Grindelwald cast a green spell at Credence with the intention to kill. Albus Dumbledore and Aberforth Dumbledore blocked the Killing Curse with their own spells, which caused in destroying the blood pact between Albus and Grindelwald. As a result, Dumbledore and Grindelwald fought a fierce duel that ended in stalemate. Wizards present at the ceremony wanted to capture Grindelwald, but he cast a Shield Charm around himself, then added that he had never been an enemy of the Dumbledores, then or now, and then Disapparated.

In 1945, at the height of Grindelwald’s power, Albus Dumbledore finally felt compelled to confront his former friend due to the public outcry. Despite Grindelwald’s mastery of the Elder Wand, as well as putting up a fight, Dumbledore defeated him in what became known as a legendary duel. Grindelwald was subsequently incarcerated in his own prison, Nurmengard, where he remained for decades. He was eventually slain there in 1998 by Lord Voldemort, who was in search of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald, however, refused to divulge any information about the wand, defying Voldemort in a last attempt to find redemption.

Albus Dumbledore’s possession

When Albus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945, mastery of the Elder Wand passed to him.^[14] Under his ownership, the wand was largely used for good, unlike many of its former masters. Dumbledore performed great magic with this wand, furthering his reputation as the world’s most powerful wizard. Among that magic was the ability to produce Gubraithian Fire, a flame which has been enchanted to burn forever without dying. It is quite an advanced piece of magic, as few wizards were capable of it. Dumbledore provided Rubeus Hagrid with a branch of this fire as a diplomatic gift for the giants.

During the 1994-1995 school year, Dumbledore used the wand to stun Dolores Umbridge, Cornelius Fudge, John Dawlish, and Kingsley Shacklebolt as he made his escape when the Ministry tried to take him to Azkaban.^[15] When he arrived at the Ministry to aid the Order of the Phoenix in the battle against the Death Eaters, he engaged in a ferocious duel with Lord Voldemort, using his wand to enchant the statues from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to protect Harry. Dumbledore was able to maintain the upper hand in the duel, countering Voldemort’s attacks. While the Dark Lord was able to counter or dispel Dumbledore’s hail of assaults, he was ultimately forced to flee.^[16]

During Harry’s sixth year, Dumbledore and Harry set out to the Cave where Dumbledore believed a Horcrux resided. When Harry dipped a goblet into the lake to provide water for Dumbledore (who was incredibly weak and thirsty after drinking the Drink of Despair to reach the Horcrux), all the Inferi that resided in the lake grabbed at Harry and attempted to drag him down and drown him in the lake. Dumbledore recovered enough to conjure a firestorm around them to ward off the Inferi, but remained very weak.^[17]

When they returned to Hogsmeade, Madam Rosmerta informed them that the Dark Mark had been conjured over the Astronomy Tower. In the tower, Dumbledore told Harry not to interfere in the events that were about to take place there, and, to ensure this, placed him in a Body-Bind Curse under his invisibility cloak. Hidden, Harry was unable to intervene as Dumbledore (now extremely weakened by the potion) was Disarmed by Draco Malfoy. The wand flew from Dumbledore’s hands over the battlements,^[18] but was clearly found later, as it was placed in Dumbledore’s grave alongside his corpse.^[19]

Dumbledore was conversing with Draco about the plot to assassinate him when several other Death Eaters entered the tower and tried to persuade Draco to finish his task as well as Dumbledore. The present Death Eaters included Thorfinn Rowle, Corban Yaxley, Gibbon, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow and Fenrir Greyback. Dumbledore briefly exchanged words with Bellatrix and Grayback. When Draco hesitated, Severus Snape appeared and performed the Killing Curse on Dumbledore himself. Harry learned that, in order to save himself from a more agonising death, and to prevent Draco from tarnishing his soul, Dumbledore had instructed Snape to kill him, of which Snape himself had reluctantly agreed to.^[18]

Unbeknownst to Snape, Dumbledore had also done this to ensure that when Snape killed him, Dumbledore would not unintentionally be «defeated» (as they had agreed to it beforehand, the Elder Wand’s power will end with Dumbledore, who was ready to accept death) and thus the mastery of the Elder Wand would disappear. However, not all went according to Dumbledore’s plan, since Dumbledore was disarmed and thus was defeated by Draco Malfoy. Without his knowledge, Malfoy thus became the next master of the Elder Wand.^[12]

Lord Voldemort’s search

During the summer of 1997, Voldemort held a meeting at Malfoy Manor with his Death Eaters, in which he revealed that, in order to defeat Harry, he would need to borrow another person’s wand because of the connection that his own wand shared with Harry’s. He finally settled on Lucius Malfoy’s wand as a way of punishing the Malfoy family, but that wand was destroyed by Harry’s during the Battle of the Seven Potters. After this, a furious Voldemort tortured Garrick Ollivander into revealing more solutions to defeat Harry, eventually leading Voldemort to know of the Elder Wand’s existence. Although originally desiring another wand only to defeat Potter, upon hearing the wand’s legendary powers he sought its mastery in order to not only to conquer Harry Potter, but also to secure his desire as the ultimate wizard in the world, which he believed would make him invincible.^[12]

He devoted the latter half of 1997 (and into the spring of 1998) into a relentless and murderous search for the Elder Wand.^[12] He killed many people who stood in his way, including an innocent Muggle woman and her two small children. He eventually traced the wand’s recent history, murdering both Gregorovitch and Grindelwald in the course of his search. It was after breaking into Grindelwald’s cell in Nurmengard that Voldemort tracked the wand’s ownership to Dumbledore, despite Grindelwald’s efforts.^[12]

Lord Voldemort’s possession

Voldemort broke into Dumbledore’s grave and robbed it of the wand, which had been buried with its former master. However, unbeknownst to Voldemort, the former owner of the Elder Wand, Albus Dumbledore, had been disarmed by young Draco Malfoy. He believed that Severus Snape was the true owner of the wand after he realised the wand was not living up to its full potential, as Voldemort thought that Snape had been the one to kill Dumbledore, not taking into account the fact that Draco had disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. As a result, Voldemort got his pet snake and Horcrux Nagini, to murder Snape.^[5] He believed he was now the Elder Wand’s true master, but in the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter, his young adversary, revealed to Voldemort that the wand had not belonged to Snape, but to Draco, and, after defeating Draco himself, Harry Potter.^[4]

Harry Potter’s possession

Nearly a year after Draco had unintentionally become the wand’s master, Harry Potter had taken Draco’s wand by force during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, thus making him the new and final master of the Elder Wand.^[12] Late in the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry, who had learned that he had been accidentally made into Voldemort’s Horcrux when he was a year old, walked into the Forbidden Forest to sacrifice himself to Lord Voldemort.^[12] Voldemort cast a Killing Curse on Harry using the Elder Wand. The wand seemingly worked because Harry intended to die at Voldemort’s hand, much as Dumbledore had planned his death with Snape. Harry had entered a limbo state, portrayed as King’s Cross Station, from which he could choose to return.^[12] When he did return, Voldemort cast the Cruciatus Curse on Harry’s «dead» body but caused no pain. At this point, Harry realised that he was, in fact, the master of the Elder Wand.^[12]

Only in his final encounter with Harry at the Battle of Hogwarts was Voldemort told that he had failed to win the true allegiance of the wand, as he did not gain ownership by defeating its previous owner. Despite this, Voldemort used the Elder Wand to cast his final Killing Curse against Harry’s Disarming Charm. However, because the wand’s allegiance was to Harry, Voldemort’s spell backfired and killed him, once and for all.^[12]

Harry’s decision

With Voldemort defeated, and Harry now the true and final master and possessor of the Elder Wand, he used it to repair his damaged original wand of holly and phoenix feather, which he said he was «happier with».^[12] After the repair, Harry told Dumbledore’s portrait that he would place the Elder Wand back in Dumbledore’s tomb, and when Harry died a natural death, the wand’s power would be broken as Dumbledore had intended. The portrait of Professor Dumbledore approved.

Delphini

After using a Time-Turner to go back to 31 October 1981, the night of Lily and James Potter’s murder by her father Tom Riddle, Delphini engaged in a duel with Harry Potter. During the duel she disarmed Harry, and later on, Hermione bound Delphini.^[20] It is unknown if these actions had any effect on the allegiance or ownership of the Elder Wand.

Alternate timelines

In an alternate reality inadvertently created by Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, in which Voldemort maintained his immortality when his final Horcrux was not killed, Voldemort successfully killed Harry Potter and dominated the wizarding world, meaning he has successfully attained mastery over the Elder Wand. This alternate world was eventually undone by Scorpius.

Known masters of the Elder Wand

• Antioch Peverell
• Antioch Peverell’s killer
• Emeric the Evil
• Egbert the Egregious
• Godelot
• Hereward
• Barnabas Deverill
• Loxias
• Arcus or Livius (possibly)
• Mykew Gregorovitch
• Gellert Grindelwald
• Newt Scamander (possibly)^[21]
• Yusuf Kama (possibly)^[22]
• Albus Dumbledore
• Draco Malfoy
• Harry Potter
• Delphini (possibly)^[23]
• Hermione Granger (possibly)^[24]

Power

The Elder Wand was the most powerful wand in existence. Its owner could have used it to cast spells more powerful than any believed to be magically possible.^[12] For example, Harry Potter was able to repair his regular Phoenix feather wand using the Elder Wand in 1998, even though broken wands were held, by experts such as Garrick Ollivander, to be damaged beyond magical repair, and Harry did so despite not having any training in wandlore. Additionally, when Grindelwald used the Cruciatus Curse on Jacob Kowalski in Bhutan in 1932, the effects of the spell continued to affect Jacob even after he stopped pointing the wand at him. Conversely, when Voldemort used his own regular wand to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry Potter in Little Hangleton, the effects of the spell ceased the instant Voldemort stopped pointing his wand at him. Both Ollivander and Voldemort believed that the wand’s legendary powers is the only one capable of overpowering the bond between the latter and Harry, which created such an effect that Harry managed to overcome Voldemort’s attempt to kill him.^[12]

However, there does exist limitations in the Elder Wand’s power, appearing to merely able to improve pre-existing spells to perform the seemingly impossible but not actually able to perform the impossible. Dumbledore himself was incapable of curing the petrified victims of Salazar Slytherin’s Basilisk or nullifying the curse on Marvolo Gaunt’s ring entirely, and neither was he able to overcome the enchantments upon Voldemort’s Drink of Despair with the wand amplifying his own magic. In addition, while most of the times where the Elder Wand shifted allegiance was not in a fair fight but by cunning assassination, it does not entirely guarantee victory against others, as displayed by Dumbledore’s ability to defeat Gellert Grindelwald despite him having mastered the Elder Wand, while Egbert the Egregious was known for having actually defeated Emeric the Evil in a duel to claim the wand. This can be attributable, however, to the fact that in these circumstances, the proper counter-charms or counter-potions weren’t known to the master of the Elder Wand at the time. Moreover, not all spells have a counter-spell, but instead, a counter-potion. These scenarios are comparable to when Neville in his first few years studying at Hogwarts was cursed by Draco Malfoy many times, such as being bounded by the Leg-Locker Curse, which only Hermione in their year, was able to undo the effects of. Neville himself was unable to undo the Leg-Locker Curse’s effects on him, but Hermione was, highlighting the fact that knowledge of the curse, its effects, and counter-curses or counter-potions are important in removing the effects of curses and other dark magic.

While it is stated that a wand will not give up its master so easily if it is attempted to be won, the Elder Wand seems to do this time and time again. However, this might not be referring to its willingness to give up its master, but rather to the amount of effort it took to defeat the wielder of the Wand. As the wand, like the eldest brother in the Tale, embodied the conceit that «Might is Right», greater power would, from its perspective, indicate superiority. Ron has noted that he would choose the wand of the three Hallows, but argued that he would do so while not proclaiming his ownership of it, reasoning that the wand was only dangerous to the first brother because he bragged about owning it rather than the wand being dangerous on its own.

When Lord Voldemort used the Elder Wand without mastering it he claimed that the wand only unleashed his regular (albeit immensely powerful) level of magic and not the unbeatable effects it was rumoured to possess. It’s unknown if the wand would work this way for another who hasn’t mastered it though, as Voldemort has used the wands of others in the past with no handicap, it’s likely that this is his own power rather than that of the Elder Wand.

It did have one redeeming quality like all other wands, however: it refused to harm or kill its master nor those under sacrificial protection.

Symbolism

In the Deathly Hallows symbol, the Elder Wand was shown as the vertical line that went right through the middle of the circle and the triangle; it represented the aspects of power and invincibility of the Hallows as a whole, the tent pole, as it were, of the entire edifice.

Other elder wands

While the «Elder Wand» (capitalised) referred to one of the Deathly Hallows, other wands had been made from elder wood,^[2] such as Lottie Turner’s wand.^[25] In general wizards seemed to eschew elder wands, due at least in part to the sordid history of the Elder Wand itself, favouring wands made from various other woods, such as holly, willow, vine, and oak.^[2] Ron repeated an old wizarding saying, «Wand of elder, never prosper» after Hermione read The Tale of the Three Brothers, to illustrate how wizarding lore might be passed from generation to generation.^[12]

See also

• Peverell family
• Deathly Hallows
• Cloak of Invisibility
• Resurrection Stone
• The Tale of the Three Brothers

Behind the scenes

• The filmmakers’ first design for Albus Dumbledore’s wand was conceived for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 by Pierre Bohanna,^[26] but its first appearance wasn’t until the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, years before it was revealed to be the Elder Wand, or indeed what the Elder Wand even was, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007. Fortunately, the wand they created happened to be unique and immediately recognisable among all the wands in the film series: the prop was made of English oak, with a small bone inlay inscribed with runes, and outcroppings of nodules running down its length^[27] — which even resemble clusters of elderberries.
• Dumbledore’s commentary on The Tale of the Three Brothers notes that all known masters of the Elder Wand had been men, with no woman even claiming to have possessed the artefact.^[2]
• The wand has been available to purchase on the Noble Collection website while contained in an Ollivanders Wand Shop box. This implies, incorrectly, that the wand was made and sold at the shop by Garrick Ollivander. (Though this could be due to the fact that the Noble wand was released before Dumbledore’s wand was revealed to be the Elder Wand)
• Those to whom the Elder Wand isn’t loyal can perform feats of magic equivalent to owning a regular wand. In the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort remarked about this to Severus Snape and reasoned that, since he believed Snape to be the master of the Elder Wand, Voldemort would have to kill him to claim true mastery of it. The only thing that it has been shown that the Elder Wand can’t do (or, rather, won’t do) is harm its own master if it finds itself in the physical possession of another. Unfortunately for Voldemort, Harry Potter was the master of the wand, as Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him, and Harry had since disarmed Draco in the Malfoy Manor.^[12]
• At the end of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Elder Wand is seen lying on the headmaster’s desk, instead of being buried in the White Tomb. This scene must take place before Dumbledore’s burial (which isn’t seen on film), given that in the next film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the wand is buried with its former master.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Albus Dumbledore claimed he would make it easy for Draco Malfoy and allowed Malfoy to disarm him, though he could have defended himself. Therefore it seems as though he wanted Malfoy to have the Wand; however, it should be noted that the Elder Wand was said to only switch allegiance if it was removed from its master against his will. However, it’s possible that Dumbledore truly hadn’t expected Draco to attack him, even if only to disarm him, and was therefore genuinely caught off guard. Also, because he was in a very weak and slow state from drinking the Potion, it’s likely that he was just too slow and weak to defend himself.
• If Dumbledore had managed to keep his wand and not be disarmed by Draco Malfoy, then he would have presumably been disarmed by one of the Death Eaters before Snape came, if they saw him. However, they didn’t attack him directly, as they knew that Draco needed to kill him, so it’s possible that Dumbledore could have kept his wand. It’s unknown how Severus Snape would have reacted if he had seen Dumbledore with the wand, but most likely, given the ravaging effects of the curse which Dumbledore was already suffering, he would have killed him anyway.
• It’s unknown what would have happened to the Elder Wand if Dumbledore had been killed by the Inferi in the Horcrux Cave. It might be that its loyalty would have passed to their master, as Voldemort seemed to believe would be the case when he instructed Nagini to kill Snape.
• Albus Dumbledore and Egbert the Egregious are the only known wizards to have defeated a master of the Elder Wand (Gellert Grindelwald and Emeric the Evil, respectively) in a wizarding duel.^[14] Other masters of the Elder Wand obtained mastery through deceit, stealth (as when Grindelwald stole it from Gregorovitch),^[12] foul play (the murder of Antioch Peverell in his sleep),^[2] happenstance (as when Draco Malfoy disarmed Albus Dumbledore, who was concurrently casting a Full Body-Bind Curse on Harry Potter)^[18] or beating the current master while he doesn’t physically possess the wand (as in Harry Potter’s disarming of Draco Malfoy).^[12] This is another testament to Dumbledore’s innate magical skills, which he references to Harry when the latter is in limbo by admitting that although both he and Grindelwald were near evenly matched, he was a shade more skilful. The Elder Wand, therefore, bears a certain resemblance to the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s «The Lord of the Rings», as an instigator of murder and mayhem.
• In the film adaptation for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 and 2, it seems that the Elder Wand has a much darker colour; this may be a change the film makers employed to make the wand fit better with Voldemort’s «dark and evil» personality.
• The curse that killed Lord Voldemort came from the Elder Wand. As Voldemort thought that Snape was the master, Voldemort killed him. Draco, however, was the true master, as he had disarmed Dumbledore, and then Harry disarmed Draco. So, when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the Wand wouldn’t harm its master, and so turned the spell back on Voldemort. Although this does make one wonder why it didn’t backfire on Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, as Harry was already the master of the Elder Wand by then. Perhaps it was because Nagini, a Horcrux, was still alive, or it may have been because Harry intended to die, much as Dumbledore did when facing Snape in the Astronomy Tower. Alternatively, it may have been that, since Harry didn’t fight back, he couldn’t be defeated. Alternatively, it’s possible that the curse did indeed backfire because it destroyed the piece of Voldemort’s soul that was in Harry’s forehead.
• Though Harry hoped to break the power of the wand by dying a natural death, he would need to do so without ever being defeated, even by simply being disarmed. Unless the aggressor knew that Harry was the Elder Wand’s master, and was attempting to defeat him in order to become master of the wand (in which case, Harry would simply need to allow himself to be defeated intentionally to retain mastery) then it’s unlikely the victor would ever know to take control of the wand, so its mastery would become increasingly difficult to trace if they were defeated in turn, and the probability of their dying a natural death while undefeated would become more and more likely. Further, so long as Harry succeeded in subsequently defeating anyone who defeated him, the allegiance of the wand would return to Harry. This was emphasised when Delphini disarmed Harry without figuring out she attained mastery of the wand.
• The Noble Collection wand is also not painted correctly. On the film prop, the shaft is goldish bronze and the knobs are black, but the Noble wand is all black.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, when Voldemort tries to unleash the Elder Wand’s capabilities upon the shield surrounding Hogwarts, he seems to feel a slight pain in his arm carrying the wand, similar to the effects of the Horcrux being destroyed. The wand as well cracks under the strain.
• In Part 2 of the film adaptation, Harry simply destroys the Elder Wand by snapping it in half and throws it away as opposed to the seventh book where he repairs his original one. This is justified as the Elder Wand was too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands again.
• When asked which of the Deathly Hallows they preferred, Hermione Granger chose the Cloak of Invisibility, while Ron chose the Elder Wand, and Harry chose the Resurrection Stone.^[1]
• In a interview with Melissa Anelli in the enhanced edition of Harry a History Rowling said that she and her American editor Arthur had an interesting conversation during the editing of book seven — the moment when Harry takes Draco’s wand: «Arthur said, God, that’s the moment when the ownership of the Elder wand is actually transferred? And I said, that’s right. He said, shouldn’t that be a bit more dramatic? And I said, no, not at all, the reverse. I said to Arthur, I think it really puts the elaborate, grandiose plans of Dumbledore and Voldemort in their place. That actually the history of the wizarding world hinged on two teenage boys wrestling with each other. They weren’t even using magic. It became an ugly little corner tussle for the possession of wands. And I really liked that — that very human moment, as opposed to these two wizards who were twitching strings and manipulating and implanting information and husbanding information and guarding information, you know? Ultimately it just came down to that, a little scuffle and fistfight in the corner and pulling a wand away.»^[28]
• It’s mentioned in Dumbledore’s (not entirely honest) commentary that rumours of an unbeatable wand are preposterous. For example, Grindelwald had mastered the «unbeatable» Deathstick, and yet was still defeated by Dumbledore in 1945.^[14] However, it’s more probable that only one who has mastered the wand by becoming a Master of Death (which is required to truly unlock the wand’s full power) will be unbeatable with it.
• The Elder Wand is now also available to buy at the ‘Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour’ in London, where it’s known as Professor Dumbledore’s wand.
• It has never been clearly defined what it means when it is said that the Elder Wand’s power will break if its current master dies a natural death. It could mean that its powers would be diminished to the point of it becoming a regular wand, or it could mean its powers being utterly obliterated, as it is known to happen to some wands.
• In an alternate reality in which Neville Longbottom never killed Nagini, Voldemort managed to kill Harry, suggesting that the Dark Lord had used his immortality to help him overcome the rebounding curse and mastered the wand.
• There is a distinct possibility that Newt Scamander, had Grindelwald already obtained the Elder Wand’s allegiance by that time, may have temporarily become master of the Elder Wand in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film, as the Elder Wand switches allegiance when its master is overpowered. Since Newt, with the help of his Swooping Evil, overpowered Graves to the point of being unarmed, beyond resistance, it’s possible the Elder Wand perceived Scamander as a superior level of (real) power. If Newt did in fact become the Elder Wand’s master, then, following the events of the saga, Grindelwald would have to directly (or indirectly) gain the Elder Wand’s allegiance back, before his final duel with Albus Dumbledore.
  • If this switch happened, it means that, analogously, Hermione becomes the master of the Elder Wand after the duel in Godric’s Hollow in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as she binds Delphini, the last master, very similarly to how Newt Scamander binds Graves/Grindelwald.
  • It seems unlikely that Newt Scamander was the master of the Elder Wand as Grindelwald could use Protego Diabolica to nearly kill him in the Lestrange Mausoleum without the black fire backfiring on him like Voldemort’s Killing Curse did to Voldemort in his final duel with Harry Potter.
• It is also possible that, Yusuf Kama, should Newt Scamander obtained and mantained the Elder Wand’s alleagiance by that time, may have temporarily become master of the Elder Wand in the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald film, as the Elder wand switches allegiance when its master is overpowered. Since Yusuf Kama, by disarming and imprisoning him, overpowered Newt beyond resistence, it’s possible that the Elder Wand perceived in Kama a superior level of (real) power. If Kama did in fact become the Elder Wand’s master, then, following the events of the saga, Grindelwald would have to directly (or indirectly) gain the Elder Wand’s allegiance back, before his final duel with Albus Dumbledore.
• The Elder Wand is part of the Wizarding World franchise logo and represents the connection between the Harry Potter saga and the Fantastic Beasts saga.^[29]
• It was suggested that even if Voldemort was aware of the Deathly Hallows, only the Elder Wand would pique his interest.
• It is most likely possible, for a skilled enough wandmaker, to create an exact replica of the Elder Wand.

J. K. Rowling has discussed how the Elder Wand behaves slightly different from other wands in its loyalty:

«The Elder Wand is simply the most ruthless of wands in that it will only take into consideration strength. One would expect a certain amount of loyalty from one’s wand. So even if you were disarmed while carrying it, even if you lost a fight while carrying it, it has developed an affinity with you that it won’t give up easily. If, however, a wand is won, properly won in an adult duel, then a wand may switch allegiance … However, the Elder Wand knows no loyalty except to strength. It’s completely unsentimental. It will only go where the power is. So if you win, then you’ve won the wand. You don’t need to kill with it. But … almost inevitably, it attracts wizards who are prepared to kill and who will kill. And also it attracts wizards like Voldemort who confuse being prepared to murder with strength.«^[30]

«The secret of the elder wand is that it’s more sentient than any other. It can identify the caster of any spell that touches it and keeps tally of which wizard has beaten which, giving its allegiance to the one it judges the victor. Physical possession is irrelevant.»^[31]

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First identified as Elder Wand)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Appears in flashback(s)) (Appears in vision(s))
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game) (Appears in flashback(s))
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore — The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy

Notes and references

Known owners of the Deathly Hallows

Elder Wand

Death (manufacturer) · Antioch Peverell · Antioch Peverell’s killer · Emeric the Evil · Egbert the Egregious · Godelot · Hereward · Barnabas Deverill · Loxias · Arcus or Livius · Mykew Gregorovitch · Gellert Grindelwald · Albus Dumbledore · Draco Malfoy (master only) · Tom Riddle (owner only) · Harry Potter · (Interred)

Resurrection Stone

Death (manufacturer) · Cadmus Peverell · (generations of Gaunts) · Marvolo Gaunt · Morfin Gaunt · Tom Riddle · Albus Dumbledore · Harry Potter · (Lost)

Cloak of Invisibility

Death (manufacturer) · Ignotus Peverell · Ignotus Peverell’s son · Iolanthe Potter · (generations of Potters) · Henry Potter · Fleamont Potter · James Potter I · Albus Dumbledore (owner only) · Harry Potter · James Potter II · Albus Potter

[Просмотр]

Бузинная палочка (англ. Elder Wand) — волшебная палочка, по преданию подаренная самой Смертью старшему из братьев Певереллов — Антиоху. Палочка сделана из бузины, с сердцевиной из волоса хвоста фестрала ^[2]. Поэтому её называют ещё «Бузинной палочкой». Длина палочки составляет 15 дюймов (38,1 см).

Дары Смерти

Судя по всему, именно братья Певереллы создали все три магических артефакта, легендарные «Дары Смерти»: Бузинную (Старшую) палочку, идеальную Мантию-невидимку и Воскрешающий камень. По крайней мере, так думал Альбус Дамблдор, а его догадки редко бывали ошибочными^[3].

Особенности перехода к новому владельцу

Обычно волшебные палочки выбирают себе волшебника в начале своей «карьеры», а потом, если и переходят к другому владельцу, то только будучи взятыми в бою. Если же обычную палочку похитить или забрать у умершего хозяина, палочка будет слушаться нового владельца весьма неохотно. Несколько иначе переходит Бузинная палочка. Дело в том, что она непобедима в бою. Поэтому переходит только к тому, кто одолел старого хозяина. Новые хозяева Бузинной палочки предпочитали довольно грязные способы победы. Это и убийство во сне, и обыкновенный грабёж, и нападение на обессиленного либо больного противника… «По страницам истории волшебного мира тянется кровавый след Бузинной палочки», сказал Ксенофилиус Лавгуд^[4] и был совершенно прав.

Бузинная палочка на службе у Драко Малфоя

Бузинная палочка стала второй палочкой Альбуса Дамблдора (о первой его палочке есть отдельная статья). Дамблдор стал её хозяином, победив в дуэли в 1945 году Геллерта Грин-де-Вальда. Этой палочкой Альбус пользовался до самой своей смерти в 1997 году. Интересным стал переход Бузинной палочки к новому владельцу.

Рвущимся к власти будущим «повелителям мира» как-то невдомёк, что Бузинную палочку, в общем-то, завоевать достаточно просто. Можно, например, застать старого хозяина врасплох и обезоружить его. Почти так произошло с Альбусом Дамблдором, когда его на Астрономической башне обезоружил Драко Малфой.^[5] Примечательно, что Драко совершенно не знал, что он наделал своим «Экспеллиармусом». Он спокойно оставил себе свою старую палочку, и даже не подумал поднимать улетевшую куда-то вниз Бузинную. Вместо этого он стал хвастать умирающему Дамблдору о своих жутко коварных планах его убийства, так и не решаясь на последний шаг. Роковую «Аваду Кедавру» пришлось выкрикивать Северусу Снеггу… Бузинная палочка оказалась похороненной вместе с Дамблдором. В то время как истинным её хозяином стал Драко Малфой.

Последние известные владельцы Бузинной палочки

Через некоторое время лорд Волан-де-Морт, который усиленно искал непобедимое оружие после нескольких непонятных для него неудач в схватках с Гарри Поттером, вышел на след Бузинной палочки и проследил её путь до последнего известного владельца — Дамблдора. Тёмный Лорд оказался достойным преемником грабителей, отравителей, отцеубийц и прочих отталкивающих типов, которые побывали хозяевами Бузинной палочки. Он стал осквернителем могилы: взял палочку из уже тронутых тленом рук Дамблдора. И очень удивился, когда понял, что Палочка слушается его неохотно. Ломая голову над этой загадкой, Волан-де-Морт приходит к выводу, что Дамблдор умер уже не хозяином Палочки. Кто победил Дамблдора? Тот, кто его убил. Значит, Снегг, рассуждал Тёмный Лорд, — истинный хозяин Бузинной палочки. Ну что ж, Северус был хорошим исполнителем, его нам будет очень не хватать… И Волан-де-Морт натравливает на Снегга свою змею Нагайну,^[6] боясь применить к нему смертельное заклятие, а то как бы Бузинная палочка не выкинула какой-нибудь фортель, если ею пытаться убить её истинного хозяина.

А что же действительно истинный хозяин Бузинной палочки Драко Малфой? Обстоятельства сложились так, что он вступил в поединок с Гарри Поттером и проиграл его. Не имея своей палочки (его палочка с пером феникса сломалась раньше), Гарри забирает палочку Малфоя. Сила Бузинной палочки переходит к Поттеру, в то время, как сама Палочка находится в руках Волан-де-Морта. И когда наступило время решающей схватки, Бузинная палочка послушалась не «Авады Кедавры» того, кто владеет её «телом», а «Экспеллиармуса» того, кто владеет её «духом». Убивающее заклятие бумерангом вернулось к Волан-де-Морту.

Если верен принцип «суть довлеет над формой», то Бузинной палочкой по сути была палочка Поттера, а Бузинная уже ничем, кроме вычурной формы, была не примечательна.

Цепочка известных владельцев Бузинной палочки

Несколько раз она появлялась в истории волшебного мира, а потом снова исчезала, проходя по цепочке:

Антиох Певерелл — Убийца Антиоха Певерелла — … — Эмерик Отъявленный — Эгберт Эгоист — … — Годелот — Геревард — … — Варнава Деверилл — Локсий — Аркус или Ливий (нет точных данных кто именно) — … — Грегорович — Геллерт Грин-де-Вальд (?) — Альбус Дамблдор — Драко Малфой — Гарри Поттер. В конце Гарри оставил палочку в склепе Дамблдора (в фильме — сломал и выбросил).

Судьба палочки

Согласно легенде, Антиох Певерелл, после получения Бузинной палочки,

<…> странствовал неделю, а может, больше, и пришёл в одну далекую деревню. Отыскал он там волшебника, с которым был в ссоре. Вышел у них поединок, и, ясное дело, победил старший брат — да и как могло быть иначе, когда у него в руках Бузинная палочка? Противник остался лежать мертвым на земле, а старший брат пошёл на постоялый двор и там давай хвастаться, какую чудо-палочку он добыл у самой Смерти, — с нею никто не победит его в бою. В ту же ночь один волшебник пробрался к старшему брату, когда он лежал и храпел, пьяный вдрызг, на своей постели. Вор унес волшебную палочку, а заодно перерезал старшему брату горло.

Отрывок из «Сказки о Трёх Братьях»^[4]

Первое документально подтверждённое упоминание о палочке принадлежит Эмерику Отъявленному, в эпоху раннего Средневековья державшему в страхе всю южную Англию. Эмерик прожил недолго и был убит в жестокой дуэли Эгбертом. Судьба Эгберта неизвестна.

Через столетие палочка попала в руки Годелота, автора книги «Волхование всех презлейшее». Используя палочку, Годелот обогатил Тёмные Искусства созданием многих опасных заклинаний. Был заточён в собственном подземелье своим безумным сыном Геревардом.

В начале XVIII века палочку получил злой чернокнижник Варнава Деверилл, затем он был побеждён Локсием, который окрестил палочку «Смертоносной» («Deathstick») и использовал её, чтобы убить любого, кто ему не нравился. Кто именно убил самого Локсия, неизвестно. Эту «честь» приписывали себе многие, включая его собственную мать. Согласно историческим записям, убийцей Локсия был Аркус или Ливий.

В какой-то момент хозяином палочки стал известный мастер волшебных палочек Грегорович. Он попытался создать её копию и, надеясь что это поможет его бизнесу, распустил слух, что стал обладателем Бузинной палочки и работает над созданием её копии. Однажды Грегорович застал у себя в мастерской молодого блондина, крадущего Бузинную палочку, юноша пальнул в мастера оглушающим заклятием и затем сбежал через окно. Грегорович так и не узнал, что этим блондином был Геллерт Грин-де-Вальд.

В 1945 году Геллерт Грин-де-Вальд, к этому времени убивший множество людей, был побеждён на дуэли Альбусом Дамблдором и заточён в темницу Нурменгард за свои злодеяния.

Весной 1997 года Альбуса Дамблдора обезоружил Драко Малфой, тем самым став новым хозяином палочки. Последующее убийство Дамблдора не сделало Снегга её хозяином, поскольку это убийство было заранее запланировано самим Дамблдором, а Снегг лишь исполнял его волю. После убийства Альбуса палочку положили с ним в могилу, но хозяином палочки по-прежнему оставался Драко Малфой.

В 1997 году Волан-де-Морт похитил Олливандера и пытками заставил рассказать всё, что ему было известно о Бузинной палочке, включая слух, что последним её владельцем был Грегорович. Найдя Грегоровича, Волан-де-Морт пытками и легилименцией узнал о краже палочки, после чего убил Грегоровича.

Весной 1998 года Гарри Поттер был схвачен егерями, и доставлен в поместье Малфоев. Спасаясь от плена, Гарри силой отобрал у Драко Малфоя его обычную палочку. Бузинная палочка сочла это действие победой. Так Гарри, еще этого не зная, стал хозяином Бузинной палочки.

Затем Волан-де-Морт, догадавшись, что владельцем палочки был Дамблдор, вскрыл его могилу и присвоил себе палочку. Заметив, что её магия не так сильна, как следовало бы ожидать, Волан-де-Морт понял, что хозяин Бузинной палочки — не он. Им он ошибочно счёл Северуса Снегга, поскольку тот убил Альбуса Дамблдора. Чтобы стать хозяином палочки, Волан-де-Морт убил Снегга. Это произошло во время битвы за Хогвартс, весной 1998 года.

Волан-де-Морт попытался использовать палочку, чтобы убить Гарри Поттера заклинанием «Авада Кедавра». Палочка не стала убивать своего хозяина, а вместо этого обезвредила его как крестраж, убив часть души Волан-де-Морта, заключённую в теле Гарри Поттера. Сам Поттер попал в промежуточное между жизнью и смертью состояние, где мог по своему желанию выбрать, продолжать ли ему жить или умереть. Он выбрал первое. Кроме того, в этом состоянии он встретился с покойным Дамблдором, рассказавшим ему, в том числе, и о Бузинной палочке.

В финальной битве Волан-де-Морт снова попытался убить Гарри Поттера Бузинной палочкой, а Гарри Поттер попытался обезоружить Волан-де-Морта заклинанием Экспеллиармус. Палочка не захотела убивать своего настоящего хозяина, в результате чего убила самого Волан-де-Морта.

Согласно канону, после победы над Волан-де-Мортом Гарри использовал Бузинную палочку, чтобы починить свою собственную, а потом вернул Бузинную палочку в могилу Альбуса Дамблдора. По мнению Гарри Поттера, если он умрёт естественной смертью, то станет последним хозяином палочки. Согласно же фильму, Бузинная палочка была сломана и выброшена со скал, на которых стоит Хогвартс. Если верен принцип «суть довлеет над формой», Гарри всё же остался хозяином этого Дара Смерти, только в форме другой палочки.

Интересные факты

• Примечательно, что после победы Гарри Поттер отказывается от владения Бузинной палочкой. Он применяет её только для того, чтобы починить свою старую, из остролиста с пером феникса, которая семь лет назад выбрала его и с тех пор так верно служила. Бузинную палочку он решает вернуть в гробницу Дамблдора.
• Интересно также, что в юности Альбус искал Дары Смерти вместе с тем же Грин-де-Вальдом. И в течение жизни Дамблдору попадаются в руки все три Дара. Бузинную палочку он завоевал в честной дуэли с бывшим другом, мантия-невидимка Игнотуса Певерелла попала к нему в 1981 году и была у него вплоть до первого Рождества Гарри в Хогвартсе, а воскрешающий камень неожиданно обнаружился в кольце Марволо Мракса. Но вот собрать все три артефакта воедино Дамблдор не смог.
• На вопрос «Какой из Даров Смерти вы бы предпочли?» Рон Уизли ответил: «Палочку».
• Проклятье, погубившее Лорда Волан-де-Морта, было сотворено Бузинной палочкой.

За кулисами

• Создатели фильмов о Гарри Поттере разрабатывали дизайн волшебной палочки Альбуса Дамблдора, ещё даже не подозревая об её «исключительности». Но, к счастью, им удалось сделать ее оригинальной и выделить из остальных палочек.
• В фильме «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть 1» Лорд Волан-де-Морт выпускает мощное световое заклятье над гробницей Дамблдора, тем самым проверяя силу Бузинной палочки.
• Воссозданную копию Бузинной палочки можно приобрести на сайте компании «The Noble Collection».
• На тестовом показе фильма «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть 2» зрители узнали, что вместо того, чтобы вернуть Бузинную палочку в гробницу Дамблдора (как это было описано в книге), Гарри сломает её на две части, а щепки былого могущественного артефакта сбросит с обрыва моста, ведущего во двор Хогвартса.

• В фильме «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть 2», когда Волан-де-Морт с помощью особых свойств Бузинной палочки (ему неподвластной) пытается разрушить магический щит, окружающий Хогвартс, его руку пронзает неожиданная боль, а сама палочка начинает покрываться трещинами из-за чрезмерного напряжения.
• В комментариях Альбуса Дамблдора к «Сказке о трёх братьях» упоминается, что все известные владельцы Бузинной палочки были мужчинами.
• На сайте Pottermore от лица Гаррика Олливандера рассказывается, что сердцевиной палочки является волос фестрала. Также Олливандер говорит:

Авторские комментарии

Джоан Роулинг поведала о свойствах Бузинной палочки, которая, несмотря на свою исключительность, не отличается особой преданностью своему хозяину:^[7]

Бузинная палочка — самая бесстрастная и безжалостная из всех палочек: она верна лишь тому, кто обладает силой. Поэтому кто угодно может рассчитывать на большую преданность со стороны своей собственной палочки. Таким образом, даже если вы были обезоружены или проиграли битву со своей палочкой, она всё равно продолжает сохранять тесную связь с вами, и не сдается просто так. Хотя, конечно, в случае, когда палочка становится трофеем, по-настоящему завоёванным во взрослой дуэли, она всё же утрачивает верность своему хозяину…. В то время как Бузинная палочка не знает верности и признает лишь силу. Ей чужды всякие сантименты. Она только там, где сила. И если вы одержите победу, то вы завладеете и самой Бузинной палочкой. Но вам вовсе не обязательно совершать убийство ради возможности получить её. Однако, практически всегда, она привлекает к себе волшебников, готовых пойти на убийство. Она привлекает таких людей, как Волан-де-Морт, которые зачастую путают способность убивать с истинной силой.

Проблема перевода

В русском переводе полностью исчезла задуманная автором игра слов: Elder — в английском языке это и бузина, и старейшина, и старший. Палочка одновременно является и бузинной — по материалу, и старшей — по своей сути, возрасту и возможностям. В подлиннике в одном простом слове слиты два разных понятия. Эта игра слов немаловажна, например, фразы «Дамблдор— хозяин палочки-старейшины» и «Дамблдор— хозяин бузинной палочки» звучат совершенно по-разному. Трудностью является и перевод слова master, означающего избранного палочкой своего истинного хозяина — слова хозяин, обладатель, владелец не передают оттенков значения полностью.

Появления

• Гарри Поттер и Философский камень (Первое появление)

• Гарри Поттер и Философский камень (игра)

• Гарри Поттер и Тайная комната

• Гарри Поттер и узник Азкабана

• Гарри Поттер и Кубок Огня

• Гарри Поттер и Кубок огня (фильм)

• Гарри Поттер и Орден Феникса

• Гарри Поттер и Орден Феникса (фильм)

• Гарри Поттер и Орден Феникса (игра)

• Гарри Поттер и Принц-полукровка

• Гарри Поттер и Принц-полукровка (фильм)

• Гарри Поттер и Принц-полукровка (игра)

• Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти (Первая идентификация как «Бузинная палочка»)

• Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть 1 (Только в воспоминаниях)

• Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть I (игра)

• Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть 2

• Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти: Часть II (игра)

• Сказки барда Бидля (реальная книга)

• LEGO Гарри Поттер: годы 1-4

• LEGO Гарри Поттер: годы 5-7

• Гарри Поттер для Kinect

• Wizarding World

См. также

• Волшебная палочка
• Список волшебных палочек
• Древесина для палочек
• Сердцевина волшебных палочек

Примечания

1. ↑ «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти» — Глава 24. Мастер волшебных палочек
2. ↑ J.K.Rowling Official Site: The Elder Wand
3. ↑ «Мне скорее думается, что братья Певерелл были просто высокоодарёнными, опасными волшебниками и сумели создать эти сильнодействующие предметы. А история, будто это Дары самой Смерти, по-моему, просто легенда, какие всегда складываются вокруг подобных творений.» — «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти» — Глава 35. Кингс-Кросс
4. ↑ ^{4,0 4,1} «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти» — Глава 21. Сказка о трёх братьях
5. ↑ «Гарри Поттер и Принц-полукровка» — Глава 27. Башня молний
6. ↑ «Гарри Поттер и Дары Смерти» — Глава 32. Бузинная палочка
7. ↑ 24 December 2007 PotterCast Interviews with J.K. Rowling

Ссылки

•  Бузинная палочка в Википедии