In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort believed he had to use a wand other than his own in order to kill Harry, when Harry is moved from Privet Drive.
By this time, Lord Voldemort’s supporters have gone public. They have taken over the Ministry of Magic, and there’s really no need for Voldemort to hide any longer. We know by this time that Voldemort needed a wand and that he had already stopped using his wand obtained from Ollivander after discovering about the twin cores shared between himself and Harry Potter.
But why take Lucius Malfoy’s wand? Why not just take any one of his other Death Eater’s wands? Why not just obtain a new wand from Ollivander? Here’s everything you need to know.
Contents
Why did Voldemort take Lucius’ wand?
“As I was saying,” continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, “I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter.”
The faces around his displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.
“No volunteers?” said Voldemort. “Let’s see… Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore.”
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Dark Lord Ascending.
#1 In Insult to the Malfoys
One must not forget He Who Must Not Be Named’s personality. Reddit user @u/HimuraKenshin states that for Voldemort, taking Lucius’ wand is not just about obtaining a new weapon easily.
It’s also about punishing the Malfoy family — specifically Lucius. “Lucius kept failing him,” and therefore, taking his wand was also a way of humiliating him and exerting his control on him.
#2 Disposable and Invaluable
Reddit user @u/Bluemelein pointed out, Voldemort simply needed something temporary with the sole purpose of killing Harry. Unlike his other Death Eaters, who to some degree, added some for of value to the sinister cause, Lucius had not contributed in the slightest.
Therefore, he would not really need a Wizard’s most inexhaustible weapon – his wand.
#3 The Friend of my Enemy, is not my Friend
We know Garrick Ollivander is a pioneer in wand making and could fashion up a unique wand for Voldemort if that was truly what the Dark Lord wanted.
Surely, he could force the wand maker to give him this!
However, we need to be mindful that wands are complicated mechanisms and getting Ollivander to make a high-quality wand in short notice was probably not very practical, especially given his weakened state, and the fact that he was a prisoner, without having access to all his tools.
Voldemort would neither have the patience or the good grace to give the man access to tools that could have repercussive reactions to his plans.
#4 On the Contrary, Lucius is a Powerful Wizard
As a high-ranking Death Eater, Lucius was highly familiar and skilled with all kinds of dark magic and with the casting of dark charms, being an accomplished Dark Wizard.
He was able to recognise the effects of such unfriendly spells on sight.
The extent of his power and skill as a Dark Wizard was shown by how he was able to successfully perform the Unforgivable Curses, which required tremendous skill and genuine malice, as shown by his proficiency at the Imperius Curse.
Lucius was a highly skilled duelist, though not as aggressive as some of his fellow Death Eaters, instead favouring a more elegant, refined technique when he engaged an adversary and generally demonstrating great form in his duelling style.
A veteran of the First Wizarding War, Lucius fought the enemies of the Dark Lord during his former master’s first rise to power and, as his most senior lieutenant at the time, led fractions of the dark forces into battle.
Lucius was capable of casting offensive spells while duelling non-verbally, showing a great amount of skill in this field, given the high level of difficulty required in the casting of non-verbal spells, a further testament to his skills as a powerful wizard.
“The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand.”
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 24, The Wandmaker.
His skill is of significant importance, as let us keep in mind that the Wand chooses the Wizard. Therefore, a powerful wand is bound to be paired with a powerful Wizard.
Why did nobody else volunteer to give their wand to Voldemort?
Wands are extremely personal items for a Wizard, almost as much a part of themselves as any real body part.
Without it, they are defenceless.
Giving up their wand would be like declawing a cat, leaving it defenceless. It is also important to remember that no Death Eater truly trusts Voldemort, they just believe in the common cause. No one is there out of loyalty, but fear.
As Voldemort has reminded us throughout the course of events, not one Death Eater, aside from Peter Pettigrew tried to track him down after his supposed ‘death’ at the Potters’ hands.
If Voldemort’s followers were smart enough, brave enough and selfless enough, they might’ve had more weight. However, these are not exactly traits shared by Death Eaters who mostly descended from the house of Slytherin.
They run on self-interest, cold calculation, mistrust, and fear.
They stall, torn between conflicting instincts of self-preservation: Obey their powerful master to avoid further harm, or be rendered utterly defenceless. As Slytherins, they all tend to have their own self-interests at heart.
Each knew it would be best for them to stay quiet until their hands were forced. No need to give up until their bluff is called. A calculated risk based on group actions.
Anyone voluntarily giving their only line of defence up to a madman is just as mad as him! Even though Voldemort is stronger, each knew that without a wand they go from a handicap to fish in a barrel. With a wand they may have a chance, otherwise, it would surely be a slaughter.
“The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.”
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Dark Lord Ascending.
The fact that even Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort’s second in command hesitated to give up her wand, truly shows how valuable wands are to Witches and Wizards!
The only one that Voldemort truly feared was Dumbledore, and you can find out more about that here.
Conclusion
Whilst Voldemort knows of the importance of a wand, he was too arrogant to actually understand the wand lore that binds to the wand – that connects a Witch or Wizard to magic.
Because of this, he was never truly able to understand why his wand clashed with Harry’s or why Lucius’s wand was insufficient, and even why the Elder Wand never seemed to serve him unwaveringly.
Whilst we can never truly be sure of why Voldemort chose Lucius’s wand, we do that his demise was greatly due to his ego and unwillingness to accept that some power, is beyond comprehension and only to be wielded by those deemed worthy.
You can find out how Voldemort became so powerful here.
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