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Ron Weasley: "Stupid — useless — thing —"
Harry Potter: "Write home for another one."
Ron Weasley: "Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back."
— Ron's frustration at his broken wand[src]

Charles Weasley's first wand was 12", made of ash, and had a core of unicorn hair that stuck out at the end of the wand. It was later owned by his younger brother Ron.[2][3]

History[]

"Ron was having far worse problems. He had patched up his wand with some borrowed Spellotape, but it seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed him in thick grey smoke that smelled of rotten eggs."
— Ron having trouble with his broken wand in Transfiguration[src]

This wand originally belonged to Charles Weasley. It was most likely purchased from Ollivander's sometime before Charlie's education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[2][3] It was possibly given to Ron as a means of saving money, as the Weasley family was quite poor. This wand snapped in half on 1 September 1992, when Ron and his friend Harry Potter crashed into the Hogwarts Whomping Willow whilst driving the Flying Ford Anglia.[6]

RonBrokenWand

Ron with the wand after it was broken

During Ron's second year at Hogwarts, it barely held together by a strand of the wood. Ron attempted to fix it together using Spellotape, but its magical capabilities were damaged beyond repair and it subsequently started malfunctioning; Ron refused to request his parents to buy a new one then due to fearing that he would receive another Howler from his mother for being irresponsible.[7]

Scabbers Transfiguration 01

Ron's failed attempt to transfigure his rat Scabbers into a goblet

When Ron attempted to curse Draco Malfoy for calling Hermione Granger a "filthy little Mudblood," the spell backfired, causing him to vomit slugs.[8] When he tried to transfigure beetles into buttons in Transfiguration class, he instead created smoke that smelled like rotten eggs, and accidentally crushed his beetle.[7] During Charms, the wand shot itself out of Ron's hand and struck Professor Flitwick on the forehead, causing a green bump to appear.[8] During a Transfiguration lesson, when Ron was supposed to transfigure Scabbers into a goblet with Vera Verto, the wand's damaged power caused the transformation to be incomplete, which left the cup with fur and a tail, earning disapproval from Professor McGonagall.[9] During the first meeting of the Duelling Club, the wand once again malfunctioned, injuring Seamus Finnigan.[10]

Obliviate backfire

The wand backfires on Lockhart, destroying his memory

Despite the wand's faults throughout the year, it did eventually come in handy. In the Chamber of Secrets in 1993, Gilderoy Lockhart stole the wand and attempted to wipe the memories of both Ron and Harry. The charm backfired, causing the wand to explode in his hand and leaving Lockhart with permanent and drastic memory loss, thus saving Harry and Ron from Lockhart's scheme to claim that he found the Chamber of Secrets.[11] If Ron had gotten a replacement wand sooner, then the both of them would have lost their memories, and Ron's sister Ginny would have been left to die in the chamber. The same year, Ron's father Arthur Weasley subsequently purchased a new wand for him.[12]

Three years after the wand's backfire on Lockhart, Ron felt somewhat guilty when he saw the former professor in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, for it was his old wand that caused the damage. Harry, however, felt far less sympathetic, as it was Lockhart's attempt that led to the backfire in the first place.[13] Two more years after, when Harry's wand was accidentally snapped by Hermione, she reminded Harry of Ron's damaged wand being irreparable and that his attempt at it would be (correctly) futile.[14]

Behind the scenes[]

  • J. K. Rowling used a Celtic calendar to assign Ron's first wand wood, ash, based on his date of birth. She did the same for Harry's wand and Hermione's wand, as "a hidden connection" between the three friends although by coincidence, Draco Malfoy's wand, made from Hawthorn also corresponded to his date of birth 5 June.[15]
  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the wand was broken moments before Harry and Ron collided with Whomping Willow. During the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Ron raises his wand to try and destroy Dobby's Bludger, Hermione stops him however, pointing out that even if his wand was functional, he could still hit Harry by accident. During the Duelling Club, when Lockhart tried to pair Harry off with Ron, Professor Snape suggested otherwise, stating that Ron's malfunctioning wand would be sending Harry to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox. Later, when Ron was about to use a Levitation Charm on two cupcakes spiked with Sleeping Draught, Harry stopped him, thinking that it would be better if he did it instead. In the end, when Lockhart's Memory Charm backfired, it sent him flying backwards into the wall instead of causing an explosion that caused a cave in.
  • In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Ron's wand is shown to malfunction in an optional scene in Hagrid's garden.
  • As it is described on Pottermore, Ash wood "cleaves to its one true owner and ought not to be passed on or gifted from the original owner, as it would lose power" as well as the Unicorn Hair core, as "they are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner." It can be speculated that, while this wand was in Ron's possession, he was not able to demonstrate his magical skills to full capacity.
  • A placard describing this wand used in Harry Potter: The Exhibition appears to be copied from the text of this very article, even using the same image and retaining one of the reference marks, as can be seen in this past revision of the page.[16]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Based on Charlie Weasley, the original owner of the wand, being born on 12 December, 1972, and thus beginning at Hogwarts in 1984.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Pottermore - Ron Weasley Fact File
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 6 (The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters) - "You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I’ve got Bill’s old robes, Charlie’s old wand, and Percy’s old rat.”"
  4. Extra Stuff at J. K. Rowling's official site
  5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 6 (The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters) - "He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. “Unicorn hair’s nearly poking out. Anyway —”"
  6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 5 (The Whomping Willow)
  7. 7.0 7.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 6 (Gilderoy Lockhart)
  8. 8.0 8.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 7 (Mudbloods And Murmurs)
  9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) - Chapter 14 (About the Chamber)
  10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 11 (The Duelling Club)
  11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 16 (The Chamber of Secrets)
  12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 4 (The Leaky Cauldron)
  13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 23 (Christmas on the Closed Ward)
  14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 17 (Bathilda's Secret)
  15. "Extra Stuff: Wands, available via Internet Archive" at J. K. Rowling's official site
  16. Harry Potter: The Exhibition (see this image)
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