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The Elder Wand is one of the Deathly Hallows. According to legend, whoever unites it with the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility will be the master of death. It is the most powerful wand that has ever existed. It was either made by the eldest of the three Peverell brothers, Antioch, or, according to legend, acquired by him from Death. With a core of Thestral tail hair, it is enchanted so that whoever owns it will always win a duel. After killing a rival wizard in a duel shortly after obtaining the wand, Antioch drunkenly boasted of the wand's powers. He was murdered in his sleep that night, and another wizard took possession of the wand.

The Elder Wand is very powerful, and, as time went by, acquired names such as "The Deathstick" and the "Wand of Destiny." It eventually ended up in the ownership of the wandmaker Gregorovitch, who was trying to duplicate its powers. It was stolen from him by the dark wizard Grindelwald, who used it to cause havoc in Europe until he was defeated by Albus Dumbledore. The ownership of the wand then passed to him. Many years later, Severus Snape killed Dumbledore. This led Voldemort to believe ownership of the wand was Snape's, but Harry deduced that it was in fact Draco Malfoy's--before Dumbledore died, Malfoy had disarmed him and won possession of the wand (HBP P584). Nearly a year later, Harry disarmed Draco and unknowingly became the wand's master. When Voldemort used the Elder Wand to perform the Avada Kedavra curse on Harry, the wand refused to harm its true master, and instead the curse rebounded on Voldemort, finally killing him.

Hallows

The Elder Wand is one of the Deathly Hallows, represented here by the vertical line.

Other elder wands

While "The Elder Wand" (capitalized) refers to one third of The Deathly Hallows, other wands have been made from elder wood. In general wizards seem to eschew elder wands (due at least in part to the sordid history of the Elder Wand itself), favoring wands made from various other woods, such as holly (Harry), or willow (Lily Evans and Ron). Ron repeats an old wizarding saying, "Wand of elder, never prosper" after Hermione reads The Tale of the Three Brothers, to illustrate how wizarding lore may be passed from generation to generation.

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