Question: Harry Potter chose to come back from the dead because he was the master of death. But how could he be the master of death as he never had the Elder Wand?

If Harry could come back does that mean that Dumbledore could come back from the dead too? Why/why not?

After all, Dumbledore did have the three Deathly Hallows. He owned the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. He passes the Cloak to Harry, but he still owned it: you can give something to someone but you are still the owner of it. 

So when you die as the master of death you have a choice to come back. Dumbledore died as master of death but he never came back. 

Does that means that Dumbledore did not choose to come back or that he cannot and the Deathly Hallows don't work like this?

Answer: 
> 
> he passes the cloak to harry but he still own it
> 
> 
> 

No, Dumbledore never **owned** it. Harry's father owned it, and and passed it along with everything else to Harry. Dumbledore was simply in possession of it because he had **borrowed** it before Harry's parents were killed.

I don't have the exact quote, but in another part of the book Dumbledore mentioned that the cloak would never have worked as well for Dumbledore as it did for Harry/James, because the cloak belonged to Potters.

> 
> he is the master of death but he is never have the elder wand.
> 
> 
> 

He wasn't in direct possession of it, but via some convoluted stuff Harry was the 'owner/master' of the wand since Draco defeated Dumbledore, and Harry defeated Draco.

There is also the bit in the Platform 9 3/4 where Dumbledore mentioned that a big part of Harry's ability to not die from the curse was related to Harry's willingness to sacrifice himself for others. Harry chose to walk out to the forest, knowing that he would probably be killed. Dumbledore was never in a position where he **owned** all three items at the same time and had that choice to make.
Dumbledore was never the master of death. 

At the time he was in possession of the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, Harry was in possession of the Cloak of Invisibility.

Harry was not the master of death when he 'died', as he did not possess the Elder Wand. There is no concrete answer as to why Harry survived. Most theories center around either the Horcrux inside Harry being killed instead of him, or Harry having the *allegiance* of the Elder Wand when it struck him down.