Why Couldn't Hagrid Have a Functional Wand? [duplicate]

Question

I'm wondering why Hagrid isn't allowed to carry a wand or do magic.

We know that Hagrid carries a pink umbrella with the suspected remnants of his broken wand secreted inside (CoS chapter 7), and that Hagrid does do magic here and there even though he's not supposed to (SS chapters 4 and 5).

We learn in Chamber of Secrets that Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts (CoS chapters 7 and 13), and that his wand was snapped in half. However, canon also states that witches and wizards are not required to attend Hogwarts; they can attend a different school, such as Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, or be homeschooled (DH chapter 11). To me, this suggests that a witch or wizard doesn't necessarily need to attend a school in order to become fully-qualified. While it doesn't expressly say so in canon, I note that the Weasley twins still use magic routinely after they quit Hogwarts (OOTP chapter 29). Why would expulsion from Hogwarts preclude Hagrid from learning and using magic?

Why can't Hagrid have a functional wand and be allowed to perform magic?

Answer 1

Fron JKR interview

Q: Since Hagrid's name was cleared in Book 2, will he ever be allowed to do magic openly again ? (Jan Campbell)
A: He is allowed. He has been allowed to do magic openly ever since he became a teacher but because he was never fully trained his magic is never going to be what it should be. He is always going to be a bit inept. (src)

Basically, until PoA,Hagrid was prohibited from doing magic or having a wand (by Ministry decree, from what I can tell from many sources none of which seem canon). However, since JKR used the words "been allowed... since he became a teacher", it follows that he hasn't been allowed before then.

After his name was cleared in CoS and he became a teacher in PoA, he's allowed to have a wand. Why he doesn't bother is a different question :)

Answer 2

As noted the Ministry broke Hagrid's wand after his expulsion but later allowed him to do magic after his name was cleared. It doesn't seem to be the expulsion itself that leads to a wand breaking but the reason for the expulsion: It was believed Hagrid had caused Myrtle's death.

Now it seems that the punishment of breaking his wand and prohibiting him from doing magic is a bit severe. For instance there were death eaters convicted of horrible crimes and it is apparent that their wands were not destroyed. They were, however, sent to Azkaban which is a fate that Hagrid was able to avoid after his expulsion (most likely due to Dumbledore).

The fact that he didn't kill anybody knowingly probably added to his defense (even though he didn't kill anybody at all). However, I'm sure the ministry was much more willing to deny Hagrid the freedom to do magic in part due to the fact that he was half-giant. There is evidence of discrimination all over in the Harry Potter books and I'm sure the ministry would have had a record saying that Hagrid wasn't 100% human. They were most likely reluctant to give him a wand in the first place so would have willingly jumped on the chance to take his ability to do magic away.

Answer 3

It seems it wasn't the fact that he was expelled, but the reasons for his expulsion, that led him to having his wand taken away. He was expelled because he was believed to have created a monster that killed a child. I suspect the community wouldn't want such a person to be able to perform magic.

Answer 4

I believe Hagrid's wand was broken and he couldn't do magic not because he was expelled, but because it was thought he killed Myrtle. Many other wizards have done horrible things, much more heinous than this, and have kept their wands intact. However, I believe most of these wizards either were not caught or were given worse punishments. Many probably simply had their wands taken away rather than broken. We do not know the exact details of why it was broken rather than destroyed or confiscated. Perhaps broken wands are untrackable and Dumbledore, knowing this, pulled strings so Hagrid could still use whatever magic was left without the Ministry tracking his wand (Dumbledore always knew Hagrid didn't do it).

Another possibility is discrimination on account of Hagrid's part-giant lineage. Perhaps his wand wasn't supposed to be broken, but someone at the Ministry got mad. It's also plausible that this was an older law that got phased out after the incident with Hagrid.

Answer 5

As I argued in this answer, I believe the reason why Hagrid was not allowed to have a wand (or use magic) is simply that he was expelled, and that is the standard consequence for expulsion.

The reason for this is that someone without a magical education cannot be trusted with a wand. This explains why students who attend other schools, are home-schooled, or dropped out of school in their seventh year (Fred and George) are allowed to have wands and use magic — they do have a magical education.