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In the first book/movie when Harry had the Sorting Hat on his head, he is begging in his mind not to be placed in Slytherin, then the Sorting Hat tells him that he would do well in Slytherin but puts him in Gryffindor instead.

In the second book/movie it's revealed Harry's Parseltongue abilities are actually Voldemort's which was transferred to him the night his parents died, explaining why the Sorting Hat thought originally that Harry would do well in Slytherin

...Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure...'
'Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?' Harry said, thunderstruck.
'It certainly seems so.'

Now if I'm not mistaken, in the 4th book/movie, Harry's and Voldemort's wands resonated because they had the same Cores, in The Deathly Hallows before the Seven Potters Voldemort receives a different wand (from Lucius) so he can kill Harry and avoid the resonance caused when they last fought.

So back in the first book/movie, did Harry's wand choose him because of the part of Voldemort that was in him?

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    I highly doubt Harry would make a good Slytherin because he is a parseltongue. Their attributes are cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition, all of which Harry perfectly represents. He has the resourcefulness to raise an army against Voldermort, the cunning to defeat a wide variety of enemies and the ambition to do the right thing and make the world a better place.
    – Theik
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 8:10

3 Answers 3

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I think this is unanswerable.

I don’t think wandlore in the HP universe is sufficiently well-understood to cover this scenario, which was fairly unique. I’m also unaware of J.K. Rowling commenting on this.

You’re correct about the twin cores. In fact, Ollivander remarks upon this fact when Harry is buying the wand:

“I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar.”

Philosopher’s Stone, chapter 5 (Diagon Alley)

Later, we learn that Ollivander tells Dumbledore about the twin cores, possibly because they both came from Fawkes, or perhaps because Dumbledore is the only match for Voldemort, and this may be useful information to him.

When Harry meets Ollivander again in Deathly Hallows, it’s emphasised just how little is really understood of wandlore:

“The wand chooses the wizard,” said Ollivander. “That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore.”

“A person can still use a wand that hasn’t chosen them, though?” asked Harry.

“Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex.

Deathly Hallows, chapter 24 (The Wandmaker)

In the same chapter, we have lines like, “subtle laws govern wand ownership” and “wandlore is a complex and mysterious branch of magic”. Perhaps most telling is this passage, when discussing Voldemort using Lucius’s wand:

“I had… never heard of such a thing. Your wand performed something unique that night. The connection of the twin cores is incredibly rare, yet why your wand should have snapped the borrowed wand, I do not know….”

Deathly Hallows, chapter 24 (The Wandmaker)

As Ollivander says, I think this is a unique situation that isn’t understood by wandmakers. We know that part of Voldemort’s soul is embedded in Harry, in a horcrux-like fashion. Nobody else is ever known to have created more than one horcrux, which means it’s unlikely that anybody else has embedded part of their soul in somebody else. (Possession aside, which seems quite different.)

Wandlore is complicated enough with a single soul; almost certainly the case of a soul-and-a-half jammed into the same person would never have been studied or understood. In fact, it’s quite possible that the effect of non-living horcruxes on wandlore has never been studied, either.

As @Simon points out in the comments (and I forgot to mention in my first draft), we also have the rarity of twin cores. That alone is pretty unusual, so who knows what happens when you throw poorly-understood horcrux magic into the mix?

So you might be right: the wand which chose Harry may have been influenced by the fragment of Voldemort’s soul inside him. But I don’t think wandlore in-universe is sufficiently well-understood to prove or refute that statement.

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    To note, the cores were from the same bird, Dumbledores phoenix Fawx. Also it may be worth noting that after Harry has the Voldemort side of him destroyed he repairs his wand with the elder and begins using it again after the battle of hogwarts. Considering the Affinity part of Wandlore this seems to me that even if it did have a basis with Vs soul fragment the wand was clearly aligned to harry by the end. Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 7:55
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    @Simon The twin cores are from Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes.
    – b_jonas
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 11:45
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    @b_jonas Is that not exactly what I said with an incorrect spelling of Fawkes on my part? Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 11:46
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I believe that the wand would have chosen Harry whether he had that piece of Voldemorts soul in him or not.

--Reason for belief--

First I'll state that simply the wand chooses its owner

“The wand chooses the wizard,” said Ollivander. “That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore.”

“A person can still use a wand that hasn’t chosen them, though?” asked Harry.

“Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex.”

— Deathly Hallows, chapter 24, The Wandmaker

This little excerpt Shows that The wand Chooses the Wizard. Clear wand lore describing our situation.

Now we are in a unique situation where Harry also had part of Voldemort's soul in him, and that Voldemort had obtained the twin to Harry's wand.

So now to Specify did the wand choose Harry outright, Did the wand choose Harry with influence from Voldemort's soul, or did the wand choose Voldemort.

I believe again we can safely say that the wand Choose Harry outright with no influence, Despite the fact he had a fraction of Voldemort's soul.

  1. Harry's wand has a tail feather from Fawkes whom throughout the book helped Harry multiple times because of Harry's bravery and courage.

  2. Harry's wand Beat Voldemort's in a fight Because Harry is a perfect fit for the characteristics of his phoenix core wand. We have a few sub point here such as maybe Voldemort's wand rebelled against him because of all the terrible things he made it do. Casting a killing curse tears a piece of your soul, therefore what does it do to your wand?

  3. Finally The largest factor for Harry being the Only choice for the wand is that Harry has a Full Soul which smothers all parts of Voldemort's. Over and Over again in the books Do they say that the one thing Voldemort cannot understand is love. In the 5th book Dumbledore explains why Voldemort couldn't posses Harry, and why from the fight in the ministry on he never tries again. He says that the purity, courage, and love Harry has in his soul Overrides that tiny piece of Voldemort.

Now briefly counterpoints yes Voldemort's wand is the twin of Harry's, But Voldemort was not a lost cause as a child. He may have had many of the same qualities as Harry despite his tendency towards power over others. As i said above i believe Harry Winning the wand duel was due to the fact that sharing the same cores Voldemort's wand betrayed him because he was no longer worthy to use Fawkes tail feather, and that the wands choose morally.

Simply put the Wands choose Harry over Voldemort.

As to the sorting hat offering Slytherin as a choice again i believe that Harry (as the hero) also could have taken the same path as Voldemort so he was presented the choice of greatness, or the choice of essentially Good.

Edit-- Side note Ollivander said, we can expect great things from you Harry because he- who - must- not- be - named did great things... terrible yes... but great. Another point that Greatness in them may have been the reason that both Harry and Voldemort got the wands.

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Harry's connection to Lord Voldemort through the twin phoenix feathers is because of the part of Voldemort that was in him.

I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather--just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother--why, its brother gave you that scar...Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember..."

Mr. Ollivander, Page 85

Ollivander also get curous about that specific wand chooses the Harry Potter it might be because of Voldemort part in him.

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    Do you have anything to back this up? This just reads like guessing.
    – alexwlchan
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 5:39
  • Maybe the connection between the wands was due to Harry being "the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord," as stated in Trelawney's prophecy.
    – scott
    Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 17:49

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