Wands are magical instruments that are used by wizards or witches in the world of Harry Potter. They are crucial in channeling spells or magical powers but are not entirely necessary. Wizards and witches can still cast spells, but casting spells without a wand is extremely difficult.
Those who create wands are called wandmakers and the study of wands is called wandlore. It was Ollivander, the greatest wand maker in Great Britain who said, “The wand chooses the wizard… it’s not clear why”.
This means that wands are somehow sentient. They can form a relationship with their owner but if the wand does not connect with its user, it won’t work perfectly for them. Such is the case for Harry Potter during the time when he was still trying to get his first wand.
The wands that he didn’t make a connection with were aggressive. But the wand that did choose him did not cause any problems.
What is the Elder Wand?
The Elder Wand is a very powerful instrument in the Harry Potter universe. In fact, it is the most powerful wand that was ever created. So powerful that it has caused great tragedies, death and a lot of chaos which is to be known as the “bloody trail”. If you would like the Elder Wand for yourself, check it out WB Shop.
Since its creation, the Elder wand quickly became renowned for its incredible power. However, its popularity, along with the lust for power among wizardkind, brought misfortune to its owners.
For the wizards who sought greatness and power, the elder wand was the ultimate treasure to be had. Those that were obsessed about having the elder wand would look for clues and gather as much information as they could to know its whereabouts.
Although the reward with having the wand can lead one to become the most powerful wizard in the world, those that want the ownership for it still need to face an almost unconquerable obstacle, the current owner.
The current owner of whom of course is likely to be the most powerful wizard in the world, due to the power of the Elder Wand.
This wouldn’t always be the case though. For as early as the very first owner, his death was not a result of a violent duel but came when he was asleep. Drunk and proud, he boasted his invincibility and was assassinated when he was sleeping.
Another important fact about the Elder wand is that it is one of the three Deathly Hallows. The deathly hallows are very powerful magical artifacts and are even the strongest of their kind. The three deathly hallows are:
- The Elder Wand
- The Resurrection Stone
- And The Cloak of Invisibility
The deathly hallows were first possessed by the Peverell brothers. In time, they were handed down from generation to generation of wizards. All except for the Elder Wand. Over time, the deathly hallows started to become more of a legend.
To everyone, the deathly hallows became stories, and only very few knew the truth. Because of this, only very few tried to look for the deathly hallows as time went on. Individually, these magical items are already extremely powerful.
But along with the legend, when a wizard unites all three, he or she is said to become the “Master of Death”. Being the master of death, one is said to gain immortality.
Who Created the Elder Wand?
The origin of the Elder wand starts with “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. The three brothers were Antioch Peverell, Cadmus Peverell and Ignotus Peverell. The three were traveling and eventually reached a river.
The river was treacherous and has already claimed a lot of lives. Instead of just going in the river and trying to cross it, they used their wands to create a bridge. While crossing the bridge, a hooded figure blocked their path.
The hooded figure was death. He showed himself as he felt cheated because none of the three brothers died at the river. Instead of showing dismay, he pretended to congratulate the three brothers and granted each one of them a wish.
Antioch, the eldest asked for “a wand more powerful than any other in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who has conquered Death!”. So, death made him a wand from a nearby elder tree and gave it to him.
Cadmus, the second brother, tested Death even more. He asked for power that could bring back the dead. He chose resurrection as he was also grieving for the loss of his lover. For him, Death took a stone from the river and gave it to him.
When it was Ignotos’s turn, he asked for a simple but perhaps also a well thought out thing. He asked for something that would allow him to move on from the encounter with Death and that Death would not be able to find him.
So, death cut a part of his own cloak and gave it to Ignotos. Unbeknownst to them, the rewards given to them were flawed. The magical artifacts were in a way designed to have their owners meet their demise.
After their encounter with Death, the three brothers parted and went their own ways. Antioch, with his Elder wand, travelled to a nearby village. While on his way, he encountered a wizard and for some reason, got into a fight with him.
The two battled until Antioch was able to kill his opponent. To celebrate, he went to a tavern and drank. Drunk, he told about how he was able to get the Elder wand from Death himself and how powerful he became because of the wand.
That night while he was sleeping, a wizard came to his room, slit his throat and stole his wand. Antioch died becoming the first of the three brothers to fall victim to Death. The wizard who stole the Elder wand was unknown however.
The second brother, Cadmus, went back home and tried to use the stone to bring back his lover that died. While he did manage to resurrect her, she was not the same. She was cold and soon became unhappy. She really didn’t feel like she belonged to the world of the living.
Because of this, Cadmus felt like he really wasn’t able to bring back his fiance. His longing drove him mad until he committed suicide. He killed himself hoping he would then be with his fiance truly.
Once again, Death succeeded in having another of the three brothers. Lastly, Death looked everywhere for the youngest, Ignotos. However, he couldn’t find him anywhere. It wasn’t until Ignotos became very old when he removed the cloak.
He passed on the cloak to his son and greeted Death like an old friend. Gladly, he came with Death and passed away. This is the tale of the three brothers and the Deathly Hallows. The story of the Deathly Hallows have two versions though.
The second version was told by Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore did not believe that it was Death who made the Deathly Hallows. Instead, Dumbledore said that the three brothers themselves made the Deathly Hallows.
It’s important to note that the Peverell brothers were gifted with magic. It might have been that their genius enabled them to create such powerful relics. Could they really have been the creators of the Deathly Hallows?
Did Antioch Peverell Create the Elder Wand?
It’s unclear who created the Elder wand and the rest of the Deathly Hallows. For now, we only have Death and the Peverells themselves. We’ve heard the tale of the three brothers concerning Death.
But what about the other version? How were the Peverell brothers able to create such powerful magical artifacts? There are arguments to support just how they were able to make the Deathly Hallows.
Before we begin with the Elder wand, we first need to know a bit more about wandlore. This way, we can know just how difficult and nearly impossible it can be to create the Deathly Hallows.
Wands in the world of Harry Potter generally have two parts; a magical core and a type of wood to surround it. There are different types of wand wood that a wandmaker can use to create a wand.
Each type of wood from Acacia to Yew have their own unique characteristics. It is also important to note that not all trees can be used to create wands. In fact, only few trees are gifted and only those with years of experience can tell which are mundane and which are not.
The gifted trees are as few as the humans that can conjure magic. The rarest wands are those made from the Elder tree. This is because of a popular belief that wands made from Elder cause misfortune. A wand that has been created with Elder wood does not know loyalty, as it is said.
An elder wand only wants a user that is superior to it. A wand created from Elder wood is very powerful but only a wizard who is also powerful can pair with it well. Otherwise, the wand will scorn its user for being inferior.
Interestingly, Ollivander mentioned that those chosen by wands made of Rowan tend to also be chosen by Elder wands. Moreover, another crucial piece of creating a wand is its magical core. This is the part where creating the most powerful Elder wand becomes almost impossible.
The magical core of the Elder wand is made of Thestral hair. Thestrals are very rare winged horses that are quite unsightly. They have skeletal bodies and are considered dangerous. Thestrals can’t be seen by just anyone.
Only those that have experienced death are the ones who are privileged to be able to see Thestrals. Another thing is that Thestral hair is very unstable. It’s so unstable that it has only ever been used for a wand once.
Moreover, those who can’t see Thestrals won’t be able to see Thestral hair. This means that for someone to use Thestral hair with a wand, he or she must have experienced death. It could be that Antioch through his genius was able to somehow use the Thestral hair and bind it with Elder wood to create the wand.
The power of the Thestral hair is unknown but with the Elder wood, a wand was created that only longed for highly unusual wizards. While it could have been possible for Antioch to create the Elder wand himself, he must have been really skillful with magic to do such a feat.
The Bloody Trail – Who Were Able to Use the Elder Wand?
Being the most powerful wand, each user was both fortunate and unfortunate to have been able to use it. Through time, the Elder wand was passed on from owner to owner usually through a violent turnover.
The story of the Elder wand is known throughout the Wizarding history as the “Bloody Trail”. Throughout the bloody trail, the Elder wand was given a few names such as “The Deathstick” and “The Wand of Destiny”.
Because it was most sought after, many of its owners died a gruesome death. Many wanted its power and many of them died trying to either defend their ownership of the wand or died trying to take it from its owner.
Through time and as the Elder wand became a legend, it was then wrongly believed that murder was necessary to gain ownership of the Elder wand. These are the wizards known to have used the Elder wand:
Emeric the Evil
Emeric is historically recorded as the master of the Elder wand after Antioch’s killer. Because not too much was known before Emeric had the Elder wand, it may have been possible for other wizards to have owned the wand.
This was during the middle ages. Emeric was a dark wizard who was known to be superbly aggressive. With the Elder wand, he did nothing but terrorized the south of England. But Emeric was not able to live a long life.
Because of his aggressive nature, he soon met his demise when he faced against Egbert the Egregious. It was said that Emeric was “slaughtered” during his duel with Egbert.
Egbert the Egregious
Aside from being able to defeat the previous owner of the Elder wand in a duel, not much is truly known about Egbert. This does tell a lot about just how capable Egbert is. Because aside from Albus Dumbledore, only Egbert was able to defeat a wizard using the Elder wand in a duel.
They were the only two wizards who were able to do such a feat. After Egbert was able to have the wand for himself, nothing about the Elder wand was recorded that had something to do with Egbert.
Albus Dumbledore mentioned though that Elbert might not have also lived a long life. The chance of Egbert being killed is a probability. The elder wand only resurfaced a century later. However, it was already owned by a different wizard.
Godelot
A century after it was known that Egbert had the wand, it was recorded that Godelot then was the new master of the Elder Wand. Nothing is known about how the transition occurred. Godelot was said to have an “unpleasant character” as well.
He was a dark wizard and seemed to have a special relationship with the Elder wand. The Elder wand to him became an instructor. With it, he learned a lot of powerful magic and even wrote “Magick Most Eville”.
The Magic Most Eville is a book that contained a lot about dark magic. Sadly, like most owners of the Elder wand, he died an untimely death. He might have been able to unlock or discover more about dark magic, had he not died earlier than he should have.
Hereward
It was Hereward who brought death to Godelot. Out of all people who might have brought hurt to Godelot, it was his own son. The way he killed his own father was unimaginable. To get the Elder wand, he locked his father in his cellar.
Not being able to get out, his father died. Not much else is known about Hereward.
Barnabas Deverill
After Hereward, the Elder wand seemed to have vanished. No historical records were written until the eighteenth century. It was only known then that Barnabas was the owner of the Elder wand.
With it, he caused destruction and terror. It did not last too long though as he would then be murdered for the Elder Wand as well.
Loxias
It was said that Loxias murdered Barnabas to gain ownership of the Elder Wand. However, this might not have been through a duel. For it was only Egbert who was known to have killed an owner of the Elder wand in a duel apart from Albus Dumbledore.
It was Loxias who gave the name “the Deathstick” to the Elder Wand. Having the wand, a lot of wizards tried to get to him. However, it was not clear who killed Loxias and how. Although there were speculations that it was his mother who murdered him.
According to Xenophilius Lovegood, his killer might have been Livius or Arcus.
Livius or Arcus
Not much is know about Livius and Arcus. One of them potentially might have been the next owner of the wand after Loxias but it is unsure. At this point, it was extremely difficult to track the whereabouts of the Elder wand.
Mykew Gregorovitch
Mykew was a famous wandmaker that rivaled Ollivander. It is unknown how we was able to have the Elder Wand, but it was during the nineteenth century. Unlike many of the previous owners, he did not use the most powerful wand in existence to cause terror.
But as a wandmaker, he made great use of the Elder wand by studying it for many years. Not much is known just how much he was able to discover about the wand but Gregorovitch did as much as trying to replicate it.
As a businessman, he thought he might be able to use the reputation of the wand or be able to create and sell something that might just be as powerful as the Elder Wand. With that idea, he began declaring that he did have the most powerful wand in the world but it caused nothing but misfortune to him.
Although he was able to attract attention, he also got attention from the likes he would not want. He was hoping perhaps he could also outsource talent that could help him with his plans but it did not come to fruition.
Instead, one night, a stranger broke into his workshop and stole the Elder Wand. Mykew was still fortunate enough to be only hit with a stun spell. He never knew who the thief was and he also wasn’t able to retrieve the Elder Wand.
Gellert Grindelwald
Grindelwald is infamous as one of the vilest dark wizards in history. He studied at Durmstrang Institute but got expelled. He got expelled because he did twisted experiments. For a summer, after his expulsion, he lived with his great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot.
Bathilda is a famous magical historian. She lived in the village of Godric’s Hollow. At one point, Grindelwald visited the Dumbledores and met Albus. The two, though somehow different, became very close friends.
What drew Gellert and Albus close with each other were the Deathly Hallows. It’s important to note that Albus Dumbledore was a very brilliant student from Hogwarts who had a lot of achievements.
Gellert, though expelled, was just as brilliant as Dumbledore. One of the reasons why Grindelwald actually decided to go to Godric’s Hollow was to find where one of the Peverell’s died. He wanted to look for Ignotus Peverell, the youngest of the Peverell’s who owned the Cloak of Invisibility.
With Dumbledore, they set out to find the Deathly Hallows. Surprisingly, Dumbledore agreed with Grindelwald to the idea of using the Death Hallows for the greater good. The greater good which for Grindelwald was to make muggles subservient to wizards.
Muggles are the non-magic people. The two were brilliant, though quite arrogant and glory seeking. Both Grindelwald and Dumbledore planned to set out and create a following. But before they could set out on their quest, Grindelwald had a quarrel with Albus’ brother, Aberforth.
Albus tried to step in but it ended with the three of them dueling. Ariana, Albus’ sister was also present during the duel and wanted to help but didn’t know what to do. In the end, Ariana was found dead. It was unknown who’s spell hit Ariana.
Ariana’s death made Grindelwald decide to leave Godric’s Hollow. And while he also left Dumbledore, his wanting for the Deathly Hallows remained stronger.
After some time, he heard about the Elder wand being kept by Mykew Gregorovitch. So, he went to his workshop and was able to successfully steal the wand. During his time with the Elder wand, he became the most feared magical tyrant.
He was able to raise an army and terrorized several European countries. However, he avoided Britain because Dumbledore was “a shade more skillful” than him. And he did avoid as much as possible.
In 1945, the public outcry finally compelled Dumbledore to face Grindelwald. What followed was their legendary duel leading to Grindelwald’s defeat even though he had the Elder wand at his disposal.
Grindelwald was then sent to a prison that he himself built, the Nurmengard. After some years, Voldemort came to him in search of the Elder Wand. But Grindelwald refused to divulge any information which lead him to his demise.
At least for Grindelwald, it was his way of redeeming himself. Perhaps also, to protect his friend and lover, Dumbledore, who took the Elder wand after defeating him.
Albus Dumbledore
Dumbledore, unlike Grindelwald, used the Elder wand to do good. With it, he was able to create the Gubraithian Fire. The Gubraithian Fire is a flame that is able to burn forever. Eventually, Voldemort learned about the Elder wand being with Albus and he set out to find him.
After some time, Dumbledore encountered Voldemort and they engaged in a ferocious duel. However powerful Voldemort was, he was forced to flee against Dumbledore. The Elder wand made it difficult for him to defeat Dumbledore.
When Dumbledore found out about the Horcrux made by Voldemort, he and Harry Potter went to a cave where he believed one resided. Unfortunately, to be able to get the locket which was the Horcrux, he needed to drink the Drink of Despair.
Once he did, it made him incredibly weak and thirsty. Harry tried to help him out by getting some water from the lake but it only made the Inferi of the lake aggressive and grabbed him. Dumbledore was able to help him and enable their escape by summoning a firestorm.
Another of the Horcruxes was actually a ring that had the resurrection stone on it. Although kind in nature, Dumbledore still had his weakness of wanting power. This is amplified by his desire to once again see and talk with his family.
In this time of weakness, he tried to wear the ring which gave him a curse that almost killed him. It was Severus Snape who helped him with stopping the curse from spreading. Regardless, because of the curse, Dumbledore’s death was only delayed but it was still certain.
With this, what Dumbledore wanted was for Snape to have the Elder wand after him. He couldn’t just hand the wand to Snape so simply though as the allegiance of the wand would still be with Dumbledore.
Dumbledore believed that Snape had to kill him to have the allegiance of the wand upon owning it. He did not tell this to Snape though. He only asked Snape to kill him so whenever he does get killed by Snape, he was not “unintentionally” be defeated.
This plan of Dumbledore had some trouble though as Malfoy was able to disarm him making Malfoy the new owner of the wand. This happened before Snape could kill Dumbledore. When Dumbledore was buried, the Elder wand was buried along with his body.
Voldemort
Despite Grindelwald’s effort to keep the whereabouts of the Elder wand to himself, Voldemort was still able to figure out that Dumbledore had the wand. Upon knowing this, he went to Dumbledore’s tomb and took the Elder Wand from his grave.
He felt though that the wand wasn’t serving him well. He then found out that it was Severus Snape who killed the previous owner of the wand who was Dumbledore. He believed that whoever killed the previous owner would become the true owner of the wand.
This means that to have the allegiance of the wand, he needed to kill Snape. Snape wasn’t the true owner of the wand though for it was Malfoy since he was able to disarm Dumbledore first, before getting killed by Snape.
After some time, during the battle of the Hogwarts, Draco got overpowered by Harry. It lead to Harry taking his wand from him. This was enough for Harry to become the new owner of the Elder Wand. After Harry knew that he was one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, he decided to sacrifice himself to Voldemort at the Forbidden forest.
Though Harry Potter was the true owner of the wand, the killing curse cast by Voldemort towards him worked because he intended to sacrifice himself. When Harry returned, Voldemort again cast a curse on his body but Harry no longer felt anything.
At that scenario, Harry began to realize that he was the owner of the wand. During their final battle, the wand backfired and killed Voldemort as he tried to use it against Harry.
Harry Potter
After Harry’s final battle with Voldemort, the Elder wand then belonged to him. Wands in the world of Harry Potter can’t be repaired. But with the Elder wand, Harry used it to repair his original one.
Instead of keeping the Elder wand for himself, he brought it back to Dumbledore’s tomb.
The Elder wand is the most powerful wand ever created. Nothing like it was ever created again. Perhaps it might have really been Death who crafted it as even the best wandmakers fail to replicate such a powerful tool.
…or maybe Antioch Peverell was just that brilliant with magic. Regardless, there’s no doubt that the Elder wand really is the most powerful of its kind. Still, an owner can still be defeated if his or her opponent proves to be really gifted with magic.
Also, the allegiance of the wand is not permanent and can change once the wand decides to or whenever the owner is killed, overpowered or defeated. We hope you learned something new about the Elder wand, its uniqueness and its violent history.