Elder Wand, Part Two

Raw666 sent me a delightful interpretation of who has the allegiance of the Elder Wand. S/he reminds us that we were told the Wand was taken from the first Brother, Antioch, after he was murdered in his sleep. He was never beaten in a duel. After that, I think it rapidly gained the reputation as the Death Stick, not necessarily for its ability to never lose in a duel, but more likely because its owners always died violently!

According to J.K.R. it was only legend that stated that to be Master of the Wand you had to best the other Wizard/Witch. And, as J.K.R. has established, Wizards have no common sense, so no one realized that while they had the Wand they didn't have its allegiance. And those that did realize this went on a killing spree to eliminate the previous owners — those that were still alive, that is — in a vain attempt to gain true control of the Wand. And building the legend of the "Death Stick."

Raw666 suggests that no one but a blood relative of the Peverells could command and hold its allegiance! Naturally, that would mean that while people could acquire the Elder Wand, no one could ever truly have its allegiance unless they were related to the Peverell blood-line. We know that the Invisibility Cloak, the third Deathly Hallow, was passed down from Ignotus, who definitely did have children, to the Potter family (Iolanthe Peverell married Hardwin Potter). So Harry Potter could hold the Elder Wands allegiance.

The first brother, Antioch, owner of the Elder Wand, apparently died without children. That's not surprising considering how quickly he perished in the legend — in a matter of a few days! The Gaunts claimed to be descended from Cadmus, the second brother, owner of the Ring, but there doesn't appear to be any evidence supporting their claim except their possession of it. Thus the ring was most likely acquired by others not directly in the blood-line — cousins at best, total strangers at worst. As proof the Gaunts can't be descended from the Peverells we have Tom Riddle himself saying he did not have the Wand's allegiance. That's why he kills Gregorovitch, Grindelwald, and Snape. Therefore, if only a Peverell relative can wield the Wand then the Gaunts cannot be descended from the Peverells because Tom Riddle did not have the Wand's allegiance.

In any case, we arrive at the final duel where Tom is using the Elder Wand while not having its true allegiance. Harry is a descendant of the Peverells and the Death Stick recognize his magic as that of a "true" Peverell and refuses to cause him fatal harm. Thus, Harry avoids being killed and the Wand forces Tom Riddle to accept his own Avada Kedavra and die.

This actually is a much better fit to the story line than the nebulous and illogical transfer of allegiance described by J.K.R. in the books, as pointed out in the previous Rant. Only a Peverell/Potter can wield the Wand and never lose a duel, and no one ever knew it! If she had said this in the last few chapters of the last book, though, everyone would have yelled "Oh, no, Dues Ex Machina! You cheated!"

It still doesn't explain, though, why Hermione didn't convince Harry to toss the Wand through the Veil in the Ministry and stop all the mayhem it caused.

FredFred has come up with a slight twist on Tom Riddle being a Peverell that explains how he could be a descendant and still not have the wand's allegiance:

If magical inheritance parallels inheritance customs in the real world, then, when you die, your relatives inherit. Tom Riddle dies on Halloween 1981. Although his spirit remains tethered to "this mortal plain" because of his Horcruxes, he has, in fact, died. Consequently, his "ownership" of the wand passes to the next Peverell relative, Harry. So even when he has the wand in his physical possession, he's no longer "entitled" to it — he's using someone else's, namely Harry's, wand, so of course it doesn't work "properly" when used against its owner.