Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24589671-20150301134730/@comment-25926288-20150305220557

I think that the dagger is just a relic/tool that can be used to command great sources of magic. Rumple used it to summon the wraith, it allowed him to take the hat with Anna's tear absorbed, able to touch urn dust without being neutralized, and use the hat. I think any magic being can get the hat out of its box (or else how would anyone else/ Ingird use it), just that the dagger had to be used to specifically release the Chernabog. For Rumple, the dagger is like a wand of sorts, only needed in rare occasions.