Why Was Hagrid's Wand Snapped?

Why Was Hagrid's Wand Snapped?

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Why was he banned from performing magic?

Because Hagrid, apparently, commited murder. This is very logical, I mean: you don't want to leave a murderer with a wand nor do any magic.

In fact, it surprises me that he didn't end up in Azkaban (for Myrtle's murder) as well. It is very likely that Dumbledore fought against this imprisonment (or was he actually sent and I just forgot? Perhaps...)

Attendance and completion of an education at Hogwarts was not compulsory by wizarding law¹; homeschooled children were allowed to do magic for their lessons, and then do magic fully when they turned 17.

That is okay, because the children won't go out assassinar pessoas.

The Weasley twins dropped out of Hogwarts after practically destroying parts of the castle with fireworks (and conjuring an awesome swamp on the fifth floor), yet were allowed to do magic despite not completing Hogwarts or any kind of homeschooling curriculum (that we know of).

Yeah, but they did not commit assassinato. Also note that when they did that, Hogwarts was under a very... unusual administration. Clearly Umbridge could have tried to charge them, but shortly the administration returned to Dumbledore, who would, very likely, remove any charges from Hogwarts to the twins.

No Death Eater character that we know off was banned from using magic, despite their crimes and devotion to Voldemort.

All Death Eaters that the ministry recognizes as Death Eaters were actually sent to Azkaban. The Death Eaters that were not sent (and thus kept their wands) like Lucius are those who lied to the ministry saying they were under the imperius curse or something like that.

The answer is simple... Racism. Hagrid was the victim of targeted racism for the majority of the books, much like every other non-human magical creature in J.K.'s world. Just like Lupin was fearful of being cast out for being a werewolf, Hagrid basically got the "special punishment" because he was half giant. I'm sure the only thing that prevented him from being put down like Buckbeak was Dumbledore himself. Even the headmaster of Beauxbatons is concerned about how she would be received if her ancestry was known, telling only Hagrid and a few other trusted individuals. Basically, I don't think that there was anyway that Hagrid was going to graduate Hogwarts as if it hadn't been that incident, he would have gotten the blame for another one.

I believe the existing answers are incorrect. The existing answers argue that Hagrid's wand was snapped only because the crime he got expelled for was particularly heinous, or because of some prejudice against him. I do not think this is the case. Rather, his wand was snapped because he got expelled; wand-snapping is the standard procedure for expelled students. I think this can be supported in several ways.

It does not seem to be a secret that Hagrid's wand was snapped. For example we have the comment from Mr. Ollivander in Pedra filosofal:

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

Note that Mr. Ollivander suposto this, as if it was a matter of course for an expelled student's wand to be snapped. Additionally, he doesn't say that it was snapped when Hagrid was convicted for murder; he says that it was snapped when Hagrid was expelled, implying that the snapping was tied to the expulsion rather than the murder.

The quote cited in the question also supports this. Note that Hagrid is apparently concerned that people will find out that he is doing magic. If the wand-snapping was a unique punishment for his case, it is likely that most people wouldn't even know that he had received such a punishment. In fact, the reason for his expulsion itself seems to have been somewhat of a secret. So the fact that onlookers would assume that Hagrid's wand had been snapped would seem to indicate that wand-snapping is actually the standard procedure for expelled students.

Moreover, Harry explicitly associates Hagrid's not being supposed to do magic with his expulsion. Yet at this point in the story, Harry doesn't yet know why Hagrid was expelled. He certainly doesn't know that Hagrid was accused of murder. He is thus apparently assuming that wand-snapping is simply a function of being expelled.

Then we have Hagrid's description to Harry in Pedra filosofal as to why his wand was snapped, and why he is not supposed to use magic:

"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts", he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was keen ter take on the job —"

"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.

"Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."

Hagrid seems to link the wand-snapping to the expulsion. He makes no mention of unique circumstances. Indeed the words "an' everything" strongly indicate that the regular procedure was followed.

Finally, there is another case of expulsion in the books. Harry was expelled from Hogwarts in the beginning of Ordem da Fenix. Let's look at the letter he received:

The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.

So Harry — who had not murdered anyone — was to have his wand destroyed. Moreover, the letter does not explain that this is a unique response particular to Harry's situation.¹ It seems that the letter expects that the recipient would not be surprised at this consequence. Of course, if wand-snapping is the standard procedure for expulsions then it would probably be well-known, and that would account for why the Ministry feels no need to explain the punishment.

Of course, this leads to the question of porque the wands of expelled students are destroyed, while wands do not seem to be destroyed even for committing significant crimes. We can suppose a simple answer to this. If someone is convicted of a serious crime, wand-snapping would be considered unnecessary. Criminals in Azkaban can't do magic anyway. If there is some change in circumstance that would get them released from Azkaban, that same circumstance would probably be enough of a reason to allow them to use magic. If they escape Azkaban, or are otherwise on the run from the law, snapping their wands would be pointless. You have to catch them to get hold of their wands, and even if you destroy their wands there is nothing stopping them from procuring new wands as soon as they get the chance.

The reason why an expelled student's wand is snapped, might not even be a punishment per se. It may simply be that someone without a magical education cannot be trusted with a wand. This would explain why home-schooled children would be allowed to have wands — they can be trusted with wands because they are still getting a proper magical education. A student who was originally at Hogwarts, and then expelled, will likely not have the opportunity to get a proper magical education. Indeed, in Hagrid's case he had no family to help him or otherwise provide him with an alternative magical education. In fact, we could even argue that if an expelled student seria get an alternative education (e.g. by going to another school, or by having a qualified individual teach him) the Ministry would allow him to have a wand and use magic.

This would also explain why Fred and George were allowed to keep their wands and use magic. They left Hogwarts in their seventh year, and towards the end of that year itself. They already had a magical education so there was no reason to not trust them with wands. Perhaps it is thus possible that even if a student was formally expelled, his wand would not be destroyed if he was far enough into his education.

^{1. Harry does receive a follow-up letter which might be thought to indicate that the wand-snapping is separado from the expulsion:}

^{Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on 12th August, at which time an official decision will be taken.}

^{Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should therefore consider yourself suspended from school pending further inquiries.}

^{It might seem as if the letter is saying that the decision on wand-snapping will be independent of the decision on expulsion. However, it is possible that that it is actually affirming the correlation between the two. It is only because the expulsion is being reconsidered that the wand-snapping is being considered. In fact, if Harry is not expelled then he will necessarily need a wand. If Harry's expulsion is upheld then he is in the same situation as before this follow-up letter. So the only reason to reconsider the wand-snapping is that he might not actually be expelled. Thus, this would still fit with the assumption that wand-snapping is a function of expulsion.}

When you mentioned in your question that the Death Eaters never had their wands destroyed, for some reason I thought back to what Dumbledore says in Harry Potter e o Príncipe Mestiço about Voldemort's early years at Hogwarts, and his group of young followers (budding Death Eaters):

"Rigidly controlled by Riddle, they [young Death Eaters] were never detected in open wrong-doing, although their seven years at Hogwarts were marked by a number of nasty incidents to which they were never satisfactorily linked ..." [Chp. 17, pp 339 Bloomsbury].

So, this might explain why the Death Eaters never had their wands confiscated or destroyed when they were at school, at least - they were never caught. I'm not sure whether you thought about the Death Eaters' school years when you were writing your question, but ... there you are :)

Because Hagrid was technically expelled for committing murder. Why would they give a so-called murderer a weapon? Also, the ministry wouldn't want a barely trained magician on the loose, Why do you think they invented the trace in the first place.