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Reader Comments: (Page 5)

well..about how the three brothers retained the power of their hallows...i think the whole matter is about what the owner of 1 of these hallows believes..e.g..the wand according to dumbledore could be defeated many times...and if it was unbeatable then dumbledore wouldnt have got hold of it or defeated grindelwald..why? probably cos grindelwald knew what dumbledore was capable of,,or maybe coz he(grindelwald) didn't want to actually hurt dumbledore coz they were friends..and far from the wand there is the stone according to the story the brother who acquired the stone could see the woman who he thought he loved be cause he believed he would be able to see her..same happened to harry when he was about to go to voldemort to make him him (harry)..he didn't just think he would be able to see his parents,sirius and lupin..he KNEW he would be able to..as to the cloack i dont have a clue..but after all i might be mistaken about the other two hallows...sorry 4 my horrible English:S

Posted by anonymous on December 31, 2009 02:49 AM

Maybe the Elder Wand only delivers its full power to the person who is worthy of it, worthy to guard it properly, like Dumbledore. Dumbledore was a worthy owner of this particular hallow, because when he won it he no longer sought power for the sake of it. He merely wished to own the wand to keep it from falling into the wrong hands again. I think it all comes down to Grindelwald not really being a worthy owner of the wand. He stole the wand which is a despicable act. He did not earn its merits by a noble act like Dumbledore or Harry did.

I think as for at least two of the hallows, the Wand and the Stone, it comes down to being a worthy and understanding person in order to be the master of them. The Stone never revealed its power to either the Gaunts or Voldemort, because they were too interested in other stuff like heritage, power and immortality. With these immoral traits it wouldn't work for them properly. Harry is the master of the Stone because he has learnt during his journey in life ( starting when he first looked into the Mirror of Erised and finishing with his ingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of others) that it is no use bringing back the . The spirits he saw emerging in the forest were neither ghost nor living bos but Harry's very own feelings and manifestations of Lily, James, Sirius and Lupin in his very own heart. They seemed to be part of him it says in the book. Indeed they were him.

anonymous you are right in saying that the cloak seems to stand out a bit. It would probably hide anyone in the same way, although maybe its full power wouldn't work for an unworthy person. Harry said that the cloak wouldn't have protected Lily and James against Voldemort the night the Fidelius Charm broke. But on the other hand we know that it did hold off the revealing spell the Eaters performed when they suspected Harry of entering Hogsmeade in the chaper "The Missing Mirror" in DH. So it does seem to have that power to protect. But maybe it still wouldn't have been curse proof. Still, Voldemort was never interested in the cloak, he didn't think it useful as he could conceal himself so well. He didn't understand its full power then and again wasn't worthy of it. Harry was worthy of all three - he sought their power not for gain, but for moral purposes.

Posted by Siena from Nottingham, UK on January 12, 2010 03:15 AM

""It would probably hide anyone in the same way, although maybe its full power wouldn't work for an unworthy person."

Dumbledore actually says that the cloak could never have worked for him as it did for Harry, "the cloak's true owner". If you've read The Magician's Nephew in The Chronicles of Narnia, I think it's a bit like when Aslan explains to Diggory why the apple of eternal youth backfire on the Witch, even though it grants her heart's desire - eternal life and youth. (Which, if you recall, Dumbledore comments on in PS as being, along with endless money, something we humans desire that is very, very bad for us.) The apple work according to its nature, but because she stole it with her heart full of greed and hate, it give her endless days of misery. On the other hand because Diggory takes the apple honestly and with permission, it cure his mother and there be great joy. If he'd listened to the Witch and stolen the apple, both he and his mother would have lived to regret it.
In the same way the Wand gave the first brother great power as he desired; and someone sneaks up while he's asleep and cuts his throat. The stone drags the second brother's beloved back from the grave and this plunges him into despair so he s himself. It's all about temptation and wanting things in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. Harry was able to possess the Hallows without being possessed by the lust for them. He saw them only as a way to save his friends and was able to lay them aside afterwards. Because he does not desire their power for himself, he cannot be lured by them and can handle them safely.

Posted by Elizabeth from Australia on February 26, 2010 05:01 AM

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