A crucial book-to-movie change in who is the Master of the Elder Wand.
When the battle is over, and Harry is victorious, he reveals to Ron and Hermione that he is the new owner of the Elder Wand. In the Deathly Hallows book, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his original wand and vows to bury it back in Dumbledore’s grave so that when Harry eventually dies one day, the power of the Elder Wand will die with him. However, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 handles this differently. Instead, Harry snaps the wand in half and throws the pieces over the bridge at Hogwarts, ending the bloody reign of the Elder Wand right then and there.
This Elder Wand retcon shocked audiences when shown, but the film version works better upon closer inspection, as Harry destroying the wand immediately is an infinitely more effective way of ensuring no one else ever gains power over the Elder Wand. Harry plans to be an Auror and hunt down evil wizards for his career and therefore cannot guarantee that no one will ever disarm or kill him for the rest of his life. This puts the fate of the Elder Wand and the wizarding world at unnecessary risk, so Harry’s decision in the Deathly Hallows Part 2 permanently prevents anyone from becoming the new Master of the Elder Wand.
Why Destroying the Wand Doesn’t Fix Deathly Hallows Part 2's Ending
While the second Deathly Hallows film did fix the problem of the Elder Wand, it did not wholly fix Harry’s wand issue. While destroying the wand is the better course of action, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 does not show Harry fixing his own wand first. Harry’s original wand was special as its core was one of Fawkes the Phoenix’s feathers, and the wand could save Harry on its own accord. This means that if the movie wanted to fully fix the book’s odd ending for the Elder Wand, Harry should have mended his original wand first and then destroyed the Elder Wand.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows makes several changes to its source material, with some falling short and others improving the adaptation. Harry permanently destroying the Elder Wand was a retcon that concludes the final battle more satisfyingly than in the book, but by cutting Harry mending his wand, the film creates a different wand problem for Harry. If the film and the book had combined their endings, Harry would be able to live out his life without risk or worry and would truly know that all was well, but, instead, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 trades one plot issue for another in the final reckoning.
