Extra Credit: Elder Wand

“Are you intending to let him kill you,” Snape asks of Dumbledore in the Pensieve scene of the Deathly Hallows.  

“Certainly not. You must kill me,” Dumbledore replied calmly; sealing his fate.  At the time of this exchange Dumbledore simply tells Snape he is dying anyways and would like it to be quick, but by the time the scene is uncovered to Harry it has an entirely different meaning; The Elder Wand.  Dumbledore did not want Draco’s soul to suffer through killing someone, but that was not his sole reason for ordering Snape to be the one to kill him.  Harry learnt from Ollivander about the concept of wands being “mastered” and how a wand must recognize it’s owner.  This introduces a new sense of nobility into the HP lore, that these vessels of magic that we have taken for granted for so many years are not mere replaceable sticks, but have their own sort of soul.  

Wishing to tame this unbeatable wand Voldemort must kill whom he believes to be his greatest disciple, Snape.  Believing he is in control of the world’s most powerful wand he then confronted Harry, and quickly learned that there was more to the story than previously believed.  Draco, not Snape, was the one who disarmed Dumbledore and therefore the power of the wand transferred to him.  Harry had defeated Draco since then, and therefore the wand would only recognize him as it’s master.  

“I don’t want it,” Harry confesses after the battle.  “That wand’s more trouble than it’s worth. . .I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime.”