We know two thing about wands, one they learn and two they can switch allegiances.

Theory, they are like any technology able to improve over the years. For all we know the Elder Wand was the first of the modern wands in its construction and that was why it was superior. It stayed that way since it continued to learn which is why Gregorvich as far as we know only produced standard normal powered wands.

 

When Ollivander says "This wand is good at charms" what he really means is "when i made this wand I cleaned my house with it."

 

Except wands aren't technological they are magical so it really doesn't work like that at all.

If they got more powerful with age then wands would be treasured family possessions passed down through the years and there is no indication of that at all.

Regardless of its construction the Elder Wand is a unique artefact and not just the first modern wand and it can categorically do things no other wand such as repairing Harry's broken wand.

 

You still need its allegiance, otherwise you have an exceptionally powerful paperweight. The idea I always had was that the Elder Wand was exceptionally powerful for the day but equal to most modern wands. As its allegiance switched from wizard to wizard it was kept in use many many lifetimes also seeing quite a bit of death. The wand chooses the wizard.

That's the learning I mean, essentially making it quite well suited for magic, it can repair better than other wands because that's probably one of the most common spells wizard kind uses and its done it tens of thousands of times if not more.

Don't forget it's probably been used by more than a few wand makers.

 

What makes you think that they can't be both? Whilst they may be primitive, swords and the tools required to make them are still technologies, and the same should by all rights apply to wands.

 

But that doesn't make sense, does it? With technology, the jump from the components you're using to their purpose is fairly straightforward. Taking your example of a sword, sharpened iron is a component, and that sharpened iron is to be used to poke stuff. Makes sense. For something more complicated, like a clock, a cog can be a component, which can work in tangent with another cog, which in turn... You get the point. In the end, though, the transition from the parts that make it up to its purpose makes sense.

With a wand, you're literally shoving a feather into a stick of wood and making a magic wand. What's the correlation between a phoenix feather and holly wood, and magic? There isn't one. Or at least not one that can be clearly defined. It just doesn't work.

 

Not at all, the wand works perfectly well without its allegiance just not to its full potential. Voldemort used it to effect without its allegiance. And my point was that their is something distinct about it beyond it simply being the oldest wand. Which there is no evidence to support that it is incidentally. It has capabilities that place it beyond merely being another wand.

What makes me think that is that technology by its very nature is something that harnesses science to productive ends. Magic by its very nature is contradictory and does not obey scientific laws. It is a mistake to think that magical artefacts are technological by nature. They aren't and cannot be and it is also a mistake to make postulations based on the idea that the development or creation of them should follow similar patterns to technological innovation.

 

Ladies, I can't believe the amount of 'Dursleyishness' in this thread. The Elder Wand can do things normal wands cannot, like conjuring food, gold and even repairing wands broken beyond repair. It's special. Not some normal wand which got it's powers from the users. People who argue that the Elder Wand is nothing special in it's construction can be compared to Vernon Dursley and his horse faced wife.

I think the circumstances that led to the creation of the Elder Wand are a once in a million events, just like Harry's survival of the Avada Kedavra. The Elder Wand and Harry are made for each other. Too bad Harry is a pussy and doesn't know the true meaning of power and JKR lost her interest after GOF. She created a weak sapling instead of a almighty hero.

 

I think most people who've ever had a look at one of their disassembled electronic devices and haven't had a clue what they're looking at would disagree with you there. Even with a sword and a clock, figuring out what effect each component has on the end result requires you to be able to understand how it's supposed to achieve that effect - a sword is meant to cut, so we make it sharp because we know sharp stuff cuts things more easily. We know that metal edges can be sharp, and we can handle metal relatively easy so it makes sense.

Since we don't know how wands work, we aren't able to tell why wand and animal parts are well suited. However, there is nothing to indicate that wandmakers don't know the correlation - the fact that wandmakers are apparently able to predict a wand's behaviour, as shown by Pottermore, actually suggests that they have an understanding about wands and their components at least equal to that of a blacksmith's knowledge about swords and metals.

I'll have to disagree with you there - it is incompatible with muggle science, yes, but magic still follows it's own rules and systems. Otherwise, the effects of spells and potions would be unpredictable. The fact that magic can be reliably observed and replicated allows for experimentation and scientific investigation, with the mention of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration in DH suggesting that some manner of scientific study has already been conducted concerning transfiguration. From there, I do not consider it implausible that the same holds true for other fields of magic.

 

On the subject of the Elder Wand I will also point to the phenomenon of wand 'wilting'. This is where a wand with an especially deep connection with its owner (e.g. the kind of wand which is going to be picking up the best magic) dies when its owner does. This could easily stops most multi-user wands picking up much magic but the Elder Wand escapes this problem by being utterly mercenary. It forms a deep connection to whoever currently owns it but transfer that loyalty to the strongest person when the new owner kills the old, meaning it never dies with its owner.

In the interests of honesty, I will admit that it is a bit ambiguous whether wilting can happen to all wands or just those made from hazel but I like the idea so I'm taking a broader read of the quote below. IMO, wilting can happen to all wands, but those made from hazel are especially susceptible. This would also explain why Harry dying a natural death would break the power of the wand.