THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (I), THE ELDER WAND

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Elder Wand, also known as, Deathstick or the Wand of Destiny, is an extremely powerful wand made of elder wood with a core of Thestral tail hair. 

In the book it is a thing of legend and is believed to have changed owners throughout history.

The wand's allegiance is thought to be won by killing its previous owner, and therefore its bloody trail had become splattered across the pages of wizarding history, making it the Hallow most easily verified to be a real object. However, Harry discovers from Garrick Ollivander the wandmaker that this popular understanding is incorrect; the Elder Wand actually transfers its loyalty upon the defeat or disarmament, and not necessarily the killing, of its previous master. It will never work fully for a new owner otherwise. This subtle distinction becomes the basis upon which Voldemort is finally defeated, when he believes he has won the wand's allegiance by killing Snape, who killed Dumbledore, while Harry realises in fact he had disarmed the wand's true owner, Draco Malfoy, who had disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. This left Harry and not Voldemort as the wand's true master in their final encounter, even though neither Draco nor Harry had physically possessed the Elder Wand at that point.

According to wizard folklore, the Elder Wand used by its true master cannot be defeated in a duel; this is incorrect, for Dumbledore was able to defeat the legendary dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who was the master of the Elder Wand at that point. It also appears, as the wand is somewhat sentient (as are all wands), that it will not allow itself to cause real harm to its true master. If its master dies naturally without ever being defeated or disarmed, the wand's exceptional power will end for any following owner, since it was never won from the former.

The power of the Elder Wand was first shown in history, as Antioch Peverell, the eldest of the mythical Three Brothers, had a duel with an enemy he had long wanted to defeat. He won, and left his enemy dead on the floor; however, after boasting of his unbeatable wand, Antioch was robbed and killed in his sleep by a rival wanting to take the wand. It eventually came to the possession of Mykew Gregorovitch, a Bulgarian wandmaker. Gregorovitch boasted about possessing the Elder Wand, believing it would boost his popularity, and he tried to reverse engineer its secrets as he faced competition from Ollivander. It was stolen from him by Grindelwald, a former friend of Dumbledore who sought to impose wizard power in the world. Grindelwald was defeated at the height of his power by Dumbledore, who in his later years considered it the only hallow [he] was fit to possess, not to boast of it or kill with it, but to tame it.

Dumbledore arranged his own death with Severus Snape, intending in part for Snape to end up with the Elder Wand. Because his death would have been pre-arranged and not the result of his defeat, he had hoped this might break the wand's power. However, Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before his death at the hands of Snape, causing the plan to fail; the wand was buried in Dumbledore's tomb, but Draco had already unwittingly become its new master, even though he never took physical possession of it from Dumbledore. After Harry disarms Draco (even though Draco is not using the Elder Wand), the wand becomes loyal to Harry instead.

In the final book, Voldemort seeks the wand in order to defeat Harry -his previous wands having failed-  and breaks into Dumbledore's tomb to claim the wand as his own. During the Battle of Hogwarts, he understands that the wand is not performing for him as legend says it should, and mistakenly concludes this is because it had become loyal to Snape when Snape killed Dumbledore, and would only become loyal to him upon his killing of Snape. He therefore kills Snape, and believes the wand will thereafter serve him and be unbeatable, but during his final duel with Harry his Killing Curse rebounds and he dies -as Harry had warned him- since the Elder Wand will not allow itself to be used by him against its true master.

After Voldemort's death, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own broken holly and phoenix-feather wand, which he says he was happier with. He decides to return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's grave, feeling that if he dies peacefully, its superior power will end. In the film, Harry snaps the wand in two and throws the pieces off a bridge.

Ron stated that the Elder Wand would be the Hallow he would choose, simply because it is the unbeatable wand, arguing that it was only dangerous to the brother who requested it because he kept on talking about his ownership of it and encouraging people to fight him. Hermione (who said she would choose the Cloak) is sceptical, reminding him that the Wand, by its very nature, would make its possessor overconfident and braggadocious.

More information: Wizarding World

 I was fit only to possess the meanest of them,

the least extraordinary.
I was fit to own the Elder Wand, 

and not to boast of it,
and not to kill with it. 

I was permitted to tame and to use it,
because I took it, not for gain, 

but to save others from it.
That wand's more trouble than it's worth.

Harry Potter

THE DEATHLY HALLOWS , THE THREE MAGICAL OBJECTS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Deathly Hallows, the three magical objects that are the focus of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. 

 

When owned by one person, they are said to give mastery over death. The objects are generally remembered only as part of a wizard's fairy tale called The Tale of the Three Brothers, and have become mythological over time, but a small number of wizards including Dumbledore still believe in their existence and seek them. According to J. K. Rowling, the story came into existence is based upon Geoffrey Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale.

According to the tale, three brothers evaded Death, who gave them a choice of anything they wanted. The first brother chose a wand that could not be defeated in battle, the second brother asked for a way to bring back someone from the dead, and the third brother selected a cloak that made the wearer invisible, even to Death himself. Eventually, the first brother was killed, the second committed suicide, and finally, the third brother made Death a friend and gave the cloak to his son.

The story is generally believed to refer to the Peverell brothers centuries ago, although very few actually believe the story to be fully true. Dumbledore believed that the Peverells were simply particularly powerful and ingenious wizard inventors. The sign of the Deathly Hallows had also been adopted as a personal symbol by dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald; therefore many wizards, such as Viktor Krum, mistakenly understood it to be a symbol of dark magic.

Dumbledore had sought the Hallows, initially in his youth as a friend of Grindelwald for the power they were said to bestow, but later on as a means to undo the accidental death of his sister. He eventually concluded he was unworthy to possess them. He feels Harry could be a more worthy custodian but also fears Harry would be enamoured of their power, therefore he guides Harry to them in a circuitous manner.

By contrast, Voldemort simply sought the wand for its supposedly unbeatable power, after his previous wand unaccountably failed to kill Harry Potter. He had not realised that the wand was one of three Hallows, nor sought the other two Hallows. He also possessed the Resurrection Stone but only made use of it as a Horcrux. Dumbledore says that he doubts Voldemort would have any interest in the Cloak or the Stone even if he did know about them.

Harry eventually comes to possess all three Hallows -the cloak being inherited from his father James Potter, later understood to be a descendant of one of the Peverell brothers, the Resurrection Stone in the Golden Snitch bequeathed to him by Dumbledore, and the allegiance and mastery of the Elder Wand when he defeats and disarms its prior owner, Draco Malfoy, who unwittingly won it from Dumbledore just before Dumbledore's death.

After Voldemort's death, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own damaged wand, then decides to return it to Dumbledore's tomb, so that when Harry has a natural death, ownership of the Elder Wand will die with him. In the film, Harry realises that the Elder Wand is too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands again, so he snaps it in two and throws it off a bridge. He also drops the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest but decides not to look for it in the hope that no wizard or witch will ever be able to own all three Hallows. He keeps the Cloak he had inherited, with the thought that he might pass it on to his children someday.

More information: Wizarding World

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

First Corinthians 15:26–28 / Harry Potter