Dumbledore Used the Elder Wand to Diss the Ministry Decades Before Harry

Summary:

• Unlike other wizards who had wands, Rubeus Hagrid used a little pink umbrella to cast spells.
• When Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, his wand was broken and he was forbidden from getting a new one.
• Albus Dumbledore used the Elder Wand to repair Hagrid’s and transfigured it into an umbrella to conceal it.

The Elder Wand was powerful enough to fix other wands, and Harry Potter used it to restore his original one before returning the most dangerous Deathly Hallow to the late Albus Dumbledore. But there was a reason why the Headmaster’s portrait was proud of Harry for this decision other than his “resisting the temptation of power.”

Many years ago, Dumbledore did pretty much the same thing…for Rubeus Hagrid.

What Happened to Hagrid’s Original Wand?

There’s a stark contrast between Hagrid and all other wizards, and we’re not talking about the fact that he’s half-giant. While everyone else uses wands to cast magic, Hagrid uses a small pink umbrella. What’s the reason behind this peculiar choice?

When Hagrid himself was a student at Hogwarts, he was falsely accused of freeing the monster that killed Moaning Myrtle. Though there was no evidence other than Tom Riddle’s (read, the real culprit’s) words, Hagrid was found guilty by the Ministry of Magic and expelled from Hogwarts. His wand was broken as punishment.

As Hagrid himself reveals to Harry, it was thanks to Albus Dumbledore that he had his small pink umbrella and could use basic magic despite the Ministry’s decision. Harry suspects that the parts of Hagrid’s original wand are encapsulated inside the umbrella — but the reality is, of course, a little bit more complicated than he thinks.

Harry’s theory about the broken wand inside the umbrella is obviously incorrect: in the same book, The Chamber of Secrets, we see how Ron’s broken wand behaves. Unlike Ron, Hagrid can cast any spell he wishes, thus proving Harry wrong. So what really happened and what was the small pink umbrella all about?

How Did Dumbledore Create Hagrid’s Umbrella?

The only plausible explanation of the umbrella’s nature comes back to Albus Dumbledore anyway, specifically — his own wand. By the time Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, Dumbledore had long had the Elder Wand which, as we saw in The Deathly Hallows, could repair other wands with a simple restoring spell, Reparo.

Most likely, Dumbledore used the Elder Wand’s power to fix Hagrid’s broken wand, and that was the reason why it worked perfectly while Ron’s wand failed every spell he tried to cast. But now, there’s still a question of where the umbrella came from.

Before becoming the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore was a Transfiguration Professor and a brilliant one at that. Knowing that if Hagrid was seen with a wand again after the Ministry destroyed it he’d be imprisoned, Dumbledore did what he did best: he transfigured the wand into a nice pink umbrella to conceal it.

Hagrid’s cute umbrella never hid a wand inside of it like Harry suspected; it was the wand. Few people would have suspected such a goofy-looking thing to be a wizarding tool, and most likely, no one ever did — apart from, perhaps, Professor McGonagall who was ultimately on Hagrid’s side and would never rat him out.

With this simple but elegant solution, Dumbledore helped his unfortunate student (who he also allowed to stay at Hogwarts as a groundskeeper and, later, a teacher) and flipped a bird at the Ministry of Magic that held no respect in Dumbledore’s eyes.

And that’s part of the reason why the Headmaster’s portrait was so delighted to learn that Harry, too, figured out that he could use the Elder Wand to fix his own.