ok so you guys know the unbeatable wand and stuff, the elder wand, well the reason why that wand wouldnt work for voldamort at its full potential was because you had to kill the previous owner to use it. thus is why it would work for snape, an dumbledoor new that. now, this is were the plot is, because dumbledoor never killed grendlewald, yes he dueled and defeated him but never killed, because he was in askaban for a long *** time.
Dumblendore > defeat > Grindelwald (and own the wand for that reason)
Dumblendore got cursed by Voldemort horcrux, he gonna die after 1 year cause Snape helped him to delay the effect (should be instant or something like that, and is unavoidable)
Dumblendore and Snape plot a way to help Draco, that includes Dumblendore's dead.
Draco disarm Dumblendore (owning the wand) and then Snape "avada kedavra" Dumblendore, already condemned to die =/
Voldemort think that killing Snape gonna make the wand powerful (owning it) but Potter already disarm Draco in the fight and ... =P
Anyone want to tell me where? I do not recall them talking extensively about it, Dumbledore simply said that he learned that a horcrux must be destroyed in a simple way, and that his hand was an example of this. I do not ever recall anyone in the book saying that he had a time limit left to live.
I have a thought. I don't remember this conversation in the book either, but if he did say he was going to die in a year, referring to when his hand basically died, he might have been foreshadowing his death to Voldemort and his Death Eaters, which in the end, he did die. I don't remember when he destroyed the ring to mess up his hand, so this may not be accurate as I think it would be more like six months, not a year, but that's just my thought if Dumbledore actually did say he was going to die within a certain time frame.
Anyway..to become the new master of the Elder Wand, you can do one of three things:
1)Disarm them
2)Stun them
3)Kill them
I'm assuming in Dumbledore's fight with Grindelwald, he did one of the first two options and became the new owner.
Voldemort put a curse on the ring. Dumbledore, knowing it was actually the Resurrection Stone, put it on, hoping he would see his dead parents and sister again. So yes, he was going to die soon anyway.
Kasic, I found it. Page 681 of the 7th Harry Potter book has the one year part they're talking about. Maybe this means I need to read the books again. :P
Let's see... You need to defeat the owner of the wand to get to be its owner. This wand is not very picky, and it seems that defeat for it means everything from "kill and maim" to "mentally trick", as it has changed owner from simply being stolen. As the story goes, the reason why people believe you should be killed to gain the ownership, is because in most cases, people killed the previous owner after winning, just to show off. It is the way of that wand, that it is not picky with its win, because however it goes, the person that is in possession of it is most likely worthy of its loyalty simply from having it in their possession in most cases, however the win was. So no, that does not seem to be a plot hole. And considering how the universe works and how much material Rowling has now that she is done, I doubt there are plot holes that cannot be explained though those information. The reason there might seem like there is a lot of issues with the story in itself is because it is the story of Harry, and I doubt he understood much of it himself.
Now, there was the curse, and Dumbledore dying. Check the page, or just think back on the conversation Snape and Dumbledore had some months before he was killed: Dumbledore knew he was dying, which was why he asked Snape to do what he did, and to make sure that Draco succeeded. Both to save Draco from the wrath of the dark lord, to save Snape from finding a horrible end from the unbreakable curse, and, because he knew his time was up, to save himself from a humiliating death from slowly drying out like his hand had done. This was also why Snape did not end up breaking his own soul, as he was not only remorseful of that kill, but it was also a kill done out of mercy and with the permission, no, the order from the killed. I believe Dumbledore argued that it was going to happen anyway, if not by the hand of Snape, then because of that said curse.
Seeing as you all seem to take the book seriously, I feel like I have license to express my own opinion on another aspect of that universe. Why does the author occasiomnally refer to the "muggles" as inept and less intelligent opposed the wizards and witches? The setting of the book is supposed to be our current day world but with all the um..fantasy stuff right? If so, i'd wonder why the author has not realized how unrealistic the whole 'muggles being blissfully unaware' is. Somehow I think normal people would find out (or re-find out).
*prepares to get bombarded with "it's just a childrens book!" replys.
Anyway, most of the time the wizards and witches, unless they are muggleborn, are actually considered to be more - useless and weird when they are out of their natural habitat, which would be the magical society. Muggles, if they knew, would most likely cope a lot easier with the changes from normal world to "lol, flying brooms" than a wizard would from "broomstick" to "what is this, how do I turn this "car"thing on??", as it has been shown a lot of times with especially Arthur Weasly. Further, older people of both types seem to be a lot less interested in coping with the other world at all.
As for the "not knowing", humans in general are prone to ignoring stuff that logic cannot explain (this has been a topic with several other authors as well), so if they see a bunch of owls in a tree awake at day time, it could be, I don't know, global warming messing about, or something more... earthbound and logical than "they are waiting to deliver some letters". I think, during the wizarding wars with Voldemort and Grindewald, there have been too much terror to even care to understand. They just know that their loved ones were taken by some scary looking dudes, and they were never to be seen again. Or if they were seen again, they can't remember what happened, where they were or how long they have been gone (those spells can be pretty effective, and so can fear and pain be).
I think this goes both ways, though. Under Grindewald reign (WW2, it seems), the wizards only know what happened in their world, and mostly did not care for muggles, while the regular people had no idea what was going on elsewhere, and probably wouldn't have cared. I do believe wizards and witches have been shot because they have not known the dangers of regular weapons, and likewise would some kills of muggles be done by a swift wand, but all they know is that they are all dead.
