In the Harry Potter series, wouldn't the Elder Wand belong to Neville, not Harry? Since it belonged to Dumbledore, then Snape killed him, then Nagini killed Snape, then Neville killed Nagini, wouldn't it belong to him instead?
-
5This is a pretty major plot point from the books...– RawlingMar 22, 2016 at 20:38
-
4Your logic is not based on canon. The wand went to Malfoy not Snape because Draco disarmed Dumbledore. Harry then disarmed Draco.– SkoobaMar 22, 2016 at 20:38
-
4They "get" the Elder Wand by defeating the original owner. When Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, Dumbledore was defeated. It just so happens that the Elder Wand usually is involved in battles that involve death due to it's reputation.– EllesedilMar 22, 2016 at 20:56
-
2Some of the characters in the book do indeed say that to get the Elder Wand you have to kill the original owner. However, we later discover that they were mistaken.– Harry JohnstonMar 22, 2016 at 22:53
-
1Your logic includes Nagini as being capable of using a wand... that's absurd.– T.J.L.Mar 22, 2016 at 23:09
|
Show 4 more comments
1 Answer
The Elder Wand never belonged to Snape.
"Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore. [...] the Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realising exactly what he had done, or that the most powerful wand in history had given him its allegiance ... The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."
-- Harry Potter, HP and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 36: The Flaw in the Plan
The chain of Elder Wand masters went Dumbledore -> Malfoy -> Harry, not Dumbledore -> Snape -> Nagini -> Neville.
But if your question was more hypothetical (assuming that Snape had been the master of the Elder Wand, would Neville have become the master by killing Nagini?), the answer would still be no. Nagini was an animal and not a magic user, and could never have become the master of the Elder Wand. Her killing of Snape was on Voldemort's orders; Voldemort was the true killer. If Snape had become the master of the Elder Wand by killing Dumbledore, its mastery would then have passed to Voldemort, not Nagini, upon his death. This point is already covered in this question and this one.
answered Mar 22, 2016 at 21:01
-
1Perhaps quote the relevant part of the conversation between Harry and Olivander, when they were recovering at Shell Cottage? The bit where Harry asks if you have to kill to claim a wand and Olivander says he doesn't think so? That seems to be the OPs main point of confusion. Mar 22, 2016 at 22:57
-
UPDATE: Would Nagini have become the master of the Elder Wand? (updated with fantastic beasts)– BCLCMay 17, 2021 at 19:32