Magic

Spoiler Alert! I will be discussing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two."
I saw the latest (and last) "Harry Potter" movie recently, and I wanted to talk about the disposition of some of the magical objects in the film. I don't want to recount the entire plot, but some explanation of the action is necessary. Harry and his friends are hunting magical objects called horcruxes, in which the evil Lord Voldemort has hidden parts of his soul. Harry has to destroy these horcruxes as part of a plan to eventually kill Voldemort.
It turns out one of these horcruxes is part of a collection of objects known as the Deathly Hallows, ancient magic so old their origins are the stuff of legend. The three objects are the Elder Wand (so powerful it cannot be defeated), an invisibility cloak, and an Immortality Stone. The latter object was made into a ring, and passed down through Voldemort's ancestors until he made it into a horcrux. The piece of soul inside the ring was destroyed, but Stone's ability to grant immortality was not. Harry used the stone to recall the shades of his parents (just before Voldemort killed him), and then dropped it in the Enchanted Forest. He later said that he was not going to seek it out again or tell anyone where it was. He felt that leaving a powerful magical object lying in the middle of a forest would be insurance enough that no-one would ever find and use it again.
The Elder Wand had been used by Professor Dumbledore, and it was buried with him. Voldemort desecrated Dumbledore's grave to steal it. He felt the wand would ensure his victory over Harry in any magical duel, in vain as it turns out.
In the book, Harry uses the wand to repair his own badly damaged instrument, and then returns it to Dumbledore's grave. In the movie, Harry snaps it in two and throws th pieces away. I guess snapping the most powerful wand in two is as easy as breaking a dried up old twig.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Harry Potter, the books and the movies. I started reading them in Korea, and they helped pass the time, especially when I was trapped in that Junkpile.
But getting rid of magical objects by snapping them in two or leaving them in an apparently deserted area is just not going to fly with me.
It reminds me of an episode of "Angel," where the vampire comes across a ring that allows him to walk in daylight. He eventually destroys it by smashing it with a rock.
Destroying magical rings is not that easy. Just ask Frodo.
I am a fan of "The Lord Of The Rings," too. That book is an epic tale of adventure, swords, and sorcery. The basic plot element is the destruction of an instrument of great magic (and great evil), the evil Lord Sauron's Ring of Power.
When the disposition of the Ring is debated at the Council of Elrond, some urge that it should be used against Sauron, but that plan is rejected because the ring is evil, and will turn any user to evil.
Some suggest that the Ring be thrown into the sea, but that is also rejected. The Ring and Sauron are connected. While one endures, so will the other. Sauron cannot be defeated even if the Ring were cast into the sea, and it would still be possible for him to find it eventually, and then he would be unstoppable.
Others say that it should be sent into the West, where powers greater than Sauron dwell. But they would not take it. For good or ill, it must remain in Middle Earth.
The only option open to them is to destroy it. Because of its great power, the Ring can only be unmade by casting it into the fire from which it came, in the volcano known as Mt. Doom, located in the midst of Sauron's realm of Mordor. So Frodo the hobbit undertakes the Quest, and succeeds after many perils and adventures along the way. Great stuff.
But it just goes to show you that magical objects cannot be disposed of so easily. Any writer in the field of fantasy must take this into consideration, or risk seeing their story founder on an unbelievable or inconceivable plot point.