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If Harry needed to die, then the Elder Wand should have done its best to follow Harry’s intentions.

The excerpt below sounds like Harry wishing for his death to be quick. If the Elder Wand is tuned in to Harry's intentions, then it would be trying its best to kill Harry.

Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear —

He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.

Deathly Hallows, chapter 34 (The Forest Again)

Does this mean that the Wand did try to kill Harry? (To follow Harry and Voldemort’s intent.)

1 Answer 1

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The wand did exactly what Voldemort (and Harry) wanted.

Harry was willing to die and Voldemort's intention was to kill Harry. So the wand had actually no alternative to killing Harry.

This also explains why Voldemort could ”kill” Harry at that instance but was not able to kill him in the final duel, as at that point, Harry was not willing to die anymore.

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  • 1
    Nice. Do you feel there should be a rebound of the Avada Kedavra in the Forest?
    – tls
    Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 11:55
  • 1
    No, as I said, in the forest Harry was willing to die and did not even defend himself. That is why the spell did not rebound. Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 11:58
  • So how was Harry resurrected? Commented Jan 30, 2015 at 7:17
  • @KharoBangdo There are multiple theories: Some say that Harry was the Master of Death (all three Deathly Hallows) at that moment, some say that he did not die because of Voldemorts soul piece inside him (which died in his place). I do not know what the official story is, tho. Maybe Slytherincess has an answer? Commented Jan 30, 2015 at 10:01
  • @LarsEbert It's the latter. Dumbledore hints at this and Harry and Dumbledore (same time) discuss what it means to be Master of Death. Master of Death is simply this: one who accepts their mortality gladly. Which Harry does. That's why Dumbledore tells Harry that he's truly the Master of Death - and that he's a far more worthy owner of the Hallows than Dumbledore was (because he was one drawn by power whereas Harry is subjected to power and deals with it as best he can - something Dumbledore also notes).
    – Pryftan
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 20:02

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