Spooky Action at a Distance

(Despite the title, this has very little to do with quantum entanglement.)

Regular readers (all three of you – hi Mum!) will have noticed a recurring theme of late: random theories about the adventures of a certain teenage wizard. Mainly this is because I’ve been following the Three Broomsticks podcast, and when one is already discussing a topic, related but stray thoughts arise, and here we are¹.

Anyway, something that occurred to me while working on my previous post was how odd it is that the Elder Wand apparently switches allegiance from Draco to Harry when the two tussle in Malfoy Manor². Not so much that grabbing a wand out of someone’s hand can cause that wand to switch (“Of course, the manner of taking matters.” as Ollivander says in Deathly Hallows), but that the taking of one wand can affect another wand that is not even present at the time.

Malfoy Manor is in Wiltshire, and at the time of the trio’s capture, the Elder Wand is in Dumbledore’s tomb at Hogwarts (which is in the Scottish Highlands), something like 500 miles³ away. Unless wands have the sort of gossip network that would make Lavender and Parvati green with envy, or all wands loyal to a particular person are somehow quantum-ly entangled, there’s no way for the Elder Wand to be “aware” of this event⁴.

But how, then, is the Elder Wand loyal to Harry during his final confrontation with Voldemort? Ollivander (in Deathly Hallows chapter 24) is the most reliable source for understanding wands, but he readily admits it is an imprecise science (“Much also depends upon the wand itself.”, “These connections are complex.”, “Subtle laws govern wand ownership…”), and that the Elder Wand in particular is not well understood (“Whether it needs to pass by murder, I do not know. Its history is bloody, but that may be simply due to the fact that it is such a desirable object…”).

Let’s be generous and say that one does not need to kill the previous wielder in order to claim the Elder Wand (after all, Dumbledore did not kill Grindelwald), but that one does have to “defeat” them in a sufficiently-impressive manner. This does provide an alternative route for the Wand to take from Dumbledore to Harry.

Atop the Astronomy Tower, Draco Malfoy disarms a weakened Dumbledore. Not only was it the equivalent of a sucker-punch, Dumbledore still had the wherewithal to bind Harry (preventing his interference) and was well on his way to talking Draco around. The Wand (sitting on the floor nearby) is not impressed⁵. It does, however, take note when Dumbledore is killed, and switches its allegiance to Severus Snape.

In the Shrieking Shack, Voldemort is actually correct, and fully claims the Elder Wand by siccing Nagini on Snape.

In the Forbidden Forest, then, Voldemort is at the height of his power. He casts the killing curse at Harry, who doesn’t even attempt to block it, or dodge out of the way. The unblockable, unforgiveable Killing Curse, from the Dark Lord Voldemort. “No one ever lived after he decided ter kill ’em” as Hagrid puts it in Philosopher’s Stone. And yet Harry lives. What could be a more impressive defeat?

Now, the Wand belongs to Harry, and the final confrontation in the Great Hall follows exactly as before, save that Harry (and Dumbledore’s spirit) are incorrect about how the wand changed hands. This also accounts for why the Wand backfired on Voldemort in the Great Hall (refusing to fire on its owner), but not in the Forbidden Forest.

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¹ Note that this is because I feel the series is worth discussing, not because I agree with the author’s opinions.

² Sadly, this theory is incompatible with that one. I’m aiming for “interesting” over “consistent”. 😉

³ Maybe the Proclaimers were on to something…

⁴ Moreover, I have a feeling that the Deathly Hallows generally don’t live up to the hype, but I’d have to do a focused re-read to firm up my suspicions.

⁵ If disarming were enough, the DA would have to have been swapping wands like mad during their Expelliarmus lessons.