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Reader Comments: (Page 84)

Whatever the original plan was, I think JK was just trying to tell us everyone is flawed, even Dumbledore. He has drifted course when he was young, carried away, that he suffered the consequences. And when he first schemed his plan in fighting Voldemort, he planned to use Harry. Dumbledore admitted himself that there was a big flaw in his plan (OotP) that he came to care about Harry too much. What would happen if he didn't care? He would have told Harry about the prophecy and prepared him to fight Voldemort as the prophecy indicated when they first met? When he realised there were horocruxes, he was to prepare to sarcifice Harry becausse there was high probability that he was one of them (he didn't know Voldemort was going to use Harry's blood)? And as I have always said, by letting Snape him, was he preparing to condemn Snape to mortal danger? Dumbledore is known as the greatest wizard of the time, think that referred to his magical abilities, not necessarily his brain. He's smart and brainy, but that doesn't mean he had the perfect plan. There were flaws in his plan, that's all.

One other thing I noticed in the GoF, when Harry & Cedric touched the portkey and travelled to the graveyard, wasn't that portkey used already? How could Harry used it again and went back to Hogwarts with it? We learned in the beginnng of the book that used portkeys were thrown to boxes at the World Cup event. They were supposed to be a one time thing, right? Or am I missing somthing?

Posted by Fiona from Hong Kong on September 17, 2007 11:46 AM

If you look at it technically, Harry never did unite the Hallows. He had the Invisibility Cloak, which was used throughout the books, and he gained the Resurrection Stone early in the seventh book, though though he did not know that he had it. But Harry didn't acquire the Elder Wand until after he had given himself up in the forest, and by then he had left the Resurrection Stone in there. Harry never had all the Hallows at once, and therefore never united the Hallows.

Posted by C.J. from Utah on September 17, 2007 7:05 PM

Bangalore from India: I never said that Dumbledore performing a spell on Harry while he was under the cloak was a mistake, on the contrary what I said was: "The invisibility cloak being unbreachable, meaning nothing can happen to the cloak itself, nor spells can be put to it, but Madeye could see THROUGH it with his magical eye, and Dumbledore could still perform a spell on Harry who was under it." Maybe you are not reading my meaning. I am saying Dumbledore could still perform a spell on Harry who was under it, WITHOUT DAMAGING THE CLOAK, not that it was a mistake!

Posted by mcm from germantown, md on September 17, 2007 7:26 PM

Sara,
I share your confusion, but I don't think that the of Snape was part of the plan. Harry's was.
Throughout the history of the Elder Wand, it was taken from the previous owner, it wasn't won in battle. According to page 412 (US edition), Xeno Lovegood tells the trio that "the possessor of the wand must capture it from its previous owner." Then he goes on to list how it was stolen and the previous owner ed after the theft.
I now think that Snape was intended to own the Elder Wand and use it to finish off Voldemort after Harry sacrificed himself and removed the Horcrux within him.
But even so, I think Snape would have understood that his role as spy and supposed right-hand man to Voldemort was a sentence, or would lead to a life on the run at the very least. Who would vouch for him after Dumbledore's that he was a good person after all, when he had worked so hard to prove himself as a such an outstanding Eater.

Posted by Patty from Quincy MA on September 19, 2007 06:08 AM

Patty, I think there were many ways to gain the ownership of the Elder Wand. For example, Dumbledore won it in a battle. Anyway, it had always been dangerous to own it. And Dumbledore had known Voldemort was after the Elder Wand ever since Harry�s wand had beaten Voldemort�s in the graveyard of Little Hangleton. Dumbledore told Harry this in King�s Cross. So, I think he put Snape in danger by asking Snape to him. Voldemort wouldn�t know about the agreement between Snape and Dumbledore, and thus Voldemort would think Snape was the wand�s real master. Of course Dumbledore could have hoped that Voldemort would only take the wand from his grave, that he would be too ignorant to know how it passed from master to master. But I don�t know...I still think Dumbledore must have realized it was a danger. And in addition to being a mortal danger to Snape, it was also a danger to the whole plan, because Snape was the one who was to tell Harry he was a horcrux. What would have happened if he had d first, without telling Harry? And it almost happened, too.

Yes, Snape, as a spy, was in danger all the time. But this was something he had agreed to do. Whereas he knew nothing about the Elder Wand and about the additional danger that ing Dumbledore would put him into. I think Dumbledore did wrong here!

Posted by Sara from Finland on September 19, 2007 1:24 PM

Sara,

Against such a dark and powerful wizard, everybody had to unite and be ready to sacrifice their lives - that's what Dumbledore was working on. He d in the process too. Look at the way the world was becoming under the influence of Voldemort, fear, ings, tortures... Dumbledore never made Snape or Harry act against their . He never imperiused them. They acted out of their sense of sacrifice (for Harry) or vindication (for Snape - who understood with Lily's the true nature of evil from his previous master). The wrong ethic would have been to let Voldemort become all powerful without trying to stop him.

Posted by Cecil from Tacoma, WA on September 20, 2007 1:53 PM

So who replaces Voldemort? (You do know evil never s, right?)

Posted by D H from Somewhere south of NY on September 21, 2007 03:01 AM

Such an amazing book! I love J.K. Rowling! I cant get any madder, knowing that that's the last one! I also love this website! I already told many about it and now Im telling more! More people got to start reading Harry Potter! You're right, this book be the best for now and forever!

Posted by Racquel from North Carolina on September 21, 2007 04:55 AM

Sara,
How did Dumbledore win the Unbeatable Wand in a duel?
That's supposed to be impossible.
Did Grindelwald ever own the power of the wand? Or was it merely waiting for a wizard who would not use it for his own gain, such as Dumbledore? The wand would have worked fine, as a normal wand, but it should not be able to be defeated according to the legend if the true owner is wielding it.
I love the "near-miss" of Voldemort taking a wand from Lucius, with Draco sitting right next to him.

Posted by Patty from Quincy MA on September 22, 2007 09:32 AM

I have read a book about an ancient sword, that, like the Elder Wand, passes from person to person by theft and . This sword is the evilest of swords, it conducts each theft and like a symphony. The main hero of the book is often tempted by it; the sword has a way of posessing you and making you power-hungry, like Tom Riddle attempted to do with Ron by means of Slytherin's Locket. That is how I have seen the Elder Wand. It is an Evil Object, and only a person like Dumbledore or Harry could ever tame it. That is why humans cannot be trusted with power, there is a certain "arrogance of [our] kind" as Bane puts it. The power of the Elder Wand must , it is too dangerous to leave it in the hands of anyone after Harry.

Posted by C.J. from Utah on September 24, 2007 9:42 PM

Cecil, I agree that Voldemort had to be stopped, but Dumbledore didn�t have any right to decide for Snape. Only Snape had the right to decide what risks he was prepared to take. Dumbledore should have told him about the elder wand. It simply is wrong to do wrong even if you do so for "greater good".

By the way, as Dumbledore wanted the elder wand to lose its power, why couldn�t he just break the wand? Into two pieces. After that he could have started to use his old wand again, and Voldemort would have thought it was the elder wand.

Posted by Sara from Finland on September 25, 2007 10:56 AM

Sara from Finland:

I think either the Elder Wand was too powerful to break in half, or that Dumbledore couldn't bring himself to actually break it.

Posted by C.J. from Utah on September 25, 2007 9:59 PM

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