Wandlore

"You talk about wands like they’ve got feelings... like they can think for themselves."

— Harry Potter to Mr Ollivander

Harry Potter's wand choosing him

Wandlore was an ancient, complex, and mysterious branch of magic dealing with the history, abilities, and actions of wands, quasi-sentient magical tools used by wizards and witches to cast spells. This particular branch of magic was carefully studied by wandmakers such as Garrick Ollivander and Mykew Gregorovitch, as well as some of the most powerful wizards in history such as Albus Dumbledore and Salazar Slytherin.

The study of wandlore

Origins

Wands on display at Ollivander's Shop

Wandlore is presumably as old as wandmaking itself, which is a craft that goes back thousands of years. In the British isles, the Ollivander family arrived alongside the expansion of the Roman empire into Britannia and sold wands to the ancient British wizards (whose wands were crude and shabby by comparison).

The ancient Druids were also known to be masters of wandmaking, and thus, wandlore. They considered everything with a woody stem a tree, which resulted in them making wands from vine, a tradition which was continued by Garrick Ollivander in the 20th century.

Study of the lore

A wand being manufactured

"Wand of elder, never prosper."

— Ron Weasley on the superstious nature of elder wands

A certain amount of knowledge regarding wandlore was passed down through cultural osmosis within the wizarding world, but by and large, most wizards had but a rudimentary understanding of wandlore. The topic was briefly touched upon in Sixth year History of Magic classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and some books in the Hogwarts Library contained information on wandlore, but otherwise wandlore wasn't taught at Hogwarts.

In The Tales of Beedle the Bard commentary, Albus Dumbledore mentioned that he was knowledgeable in wandlore, and Bill Weasley was known to be knowledgable in it as well. Tom Riddle also appeared to know some details about wandlore, but was relatively lacking in this area of knowledge when compared to his other magical knowledge.

Complexity

Mr Ollivander revealed to Harry Potter in 1998 that wandlore was "complex and mysterious"; even the most skilled did not fully comprehend it. Ollivander himself confessed that he did not fully understand Priori Incantatem, a reaction between two wands with cores from the same source, or why Harry's wand destroyed the wand of Lucius Malfoy when Harry faced Lord Voldemort during the Battle of the Seven Potters. It was Albus Dumbledore, who had both a knowledge of wandlore and knowledge of the connection between Harry and Voldemort, that was able to explain it further, but even then the answer he gave Harry was limited.

Harry Potter and Voldemort's wands

"Harry had waved what felt like every wand in the shop, until at last he had found the one that suited him — this one, which was made of holly, eleven inches long, and contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. Mr Ollivander had been very surprised that Harry had been so compatible with this wand. 'Curious,' he had said, 'curious,' and not until Harry asked what was curious had Mr Ollivander explained that the phoenix feather in Harry's wand had come from the same bird that had supplied the core of Lord Voldemort's."

— Description of the connection between Harry's and Voldemort's wands

Harry and Voldemort's wands producing the Reverse Spell effect, known as Priori Incantatem in the Little Hangleton graveyard

Harry Potter's wand was made of holly, with a phoenix feather core from Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix. Fawkes also gave another feather which Ollivander used to create a yew wand which he eventually gave to Tom Riddle. As both cores were from the same animal, they were considered 'brothers'. These two wands were both highly unique amongst wands, and both were considered to be powerful wands in terms of wandlore. Harry's wand was considered difficult to create, as phoenix feathers didn't pair well with holly wood, however the wand that was created was a powerful one, with the ability to confidently lead their wielder through a dangerous quest. Voldemort's yew wand was well suited to a powerful and notorious user, and would allow the user to become master of life and death, as well as a ferocious duellist due to it's ability to cast powerful curses.

When two 'brother' wands met in combat, simultaneous spell-casting caused the rare Prior Incantato spell effect, in which a battle of wills caused one wand to regurgitate the spells of another. During the duel in Little Hangleton graveyard between Harry and Voldemort, this effect caused echoes of those killed by Voldemort to appear, and allowed Harry to escape Voldemort's clutches. Voldemort sought an explanation of this effect, and kidnapped Garrick Ollivander who told him about the connection between the wand cores.

In an effort to avoid this from happening again, Voldemort used Lucius Malfoy's wand when he next faced Harry during the Battle of the Seven Potters, however Harry's wand easily overpowered Lucius' wand during the fight with Golden flames. Both Harry and Voldemort were confused at why this happened, since it was unprecedented in the laws of magic, however neither realised that due to Harry being one of Voldemort's Horcruxes there was a connection between the two that went deeper than just their wands. Their wands came to inherit part of this connection as well, and were able to recognise each other's master even when their wands weren't present. This connection, which was unique in wizarding history, illustrated the complexity of the connections between both wands and wizards, since Ollivander, one of the foremost experts on wandlore in the world, had no explanation for it.

Aspects of wandlore

Wand wood

Various wands made of various different types of wood

Just as only a minority of humans were born with magic, only a minority of trees produced wood that was of wand quality - wand wood. It took years of experience for a wandmaker to be able to recognise a wood as wand quality. However Bowtruckles, tree-guardians, opted to live only in trees of wand quality wood, which made them easy to recognise.

Different types of wood had their own "personalities" and thus wands were likely to choose a wizard with a matching personality. For example, a wand of cypress wood was well matched with someone noble and willing to heroically sacrifice themselves for others, a wand of pine was known to choose an independent and intriguing loner, and a spruce wand chose a firm-handed wizard who was bold and had a good sense of humour. However, as no two wands were the same and wands and wizards learned from each other, these were considered to be general notes and should not be used to describe any given wand.

Some wand woods were also better suited for certain branches of magic. Fir wands were particularly good for transfiguration, yew wands were especially fearsome in the fields of duelling and curses, and alder wands worked better than any other wand wood with nonverbal spells. Alternatively, some woods were poorly suited for certain branches of magic. Acacia wands had a subtle nature and were not suited for "bangs-and-smells magic", and apple wood mixed poorly with the Dark Arts.

Magical cores

"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard’s wand."

— Garrick Ollivander regarding the wand cores used in wands sold at Ollivanders

Every wand contained a magical core, possibly magically inserted once the wand had been carved. These magical cores enhanced the wand's magic or gave the wand wood magical abilities. There are many different possible materials that can be used as wand cores, including Veela hair, Thestral tail hair, Troll whiskers, and Basilisk horns, among other materials.

The three Supreme Cores are dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix feather

Garrick Ollivander opted to only use phoenix feathers, unicorn hairs, and dragon heartstrings, which he believed were the best and most powerful of magical cores, calling them the Supreme Cores. The other cores he referred to as substandard cores, though he still believed they worked, just not as well.

Different wand cores had different magical properties. Unicorn hair was not very strong, but it was stable and reliable, whereas dragon heartstring was very strong and flamboyant, but more prone to accidents. Additionally, wand cores were known to reflect the nature of the source they came from; since a phoenix was one of the most detached and independent creatures in the world, a phoenix feather wand was incredibly picky when choosing a potential wielder, and unicorn hair wands were incredibly difficult to turn to the Dark Arts due to unicorns' purity.

Interestingly, certain wand woods reacted with certain cores in unique ways, affecting the wand's personality and/or magical abilities. Holly and phoenix feather were a difficult combination due to their opposite natures, but when such a wand found its perfect match, nothing and nobody should stand in their way. A cherry wand with dragon heartstring was ill-advised to be paired with a wizard who lacked exceptional self-control and strength of mind. A wand of ash was wholly loyal to its one true original master and would lose power and skill if passed to someone else, especially if it had a unicorn hair core.

Wand length

All wands had their individual lengths, usually between 9 and 14 inches. However shorter wands (8 inches and under) and longer wands (15 inches and more) did exist. Longer wands tended to suit those with big personalities, of a more spacious and dramatic style of magic. Neater wands favoured elegant and refined spell-casting.

Dolores Umbride's particularly short wand

Particularly short wands would choose wizards whose character lacked something. This was exemplified by the extreme length of Hagrid's wand, being attributable to his excitable, outgoing, and energetic personality, while Umbridge, who had an "unusually short" and stubby wand, was known for her extreme bigotry and lacked empathy and was very cruel, yet stuck to politics and never sought power greater than what the law could grant her.

There might also be some correlation between a person's size and the lengths of their wands. Rubeus Hagrid, who was half-giant, owned one of the longest known wand; it was sixteen inches long and made of oak. The shortest known wand once belonged to Dolores Umbridge, who was described as being squat and toad-like. However, according to Garrick Ollivander, matching a wand to a wizard solely by height was a crude measure.

Flexibility

Wands were usually only described in terms of the source tree, its core and its length. However, occasionally, the firmness of the wand wood had also been described. For example, on inspection of the wands of Harry Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy and Rubeus Hagrid, Garrick Ollivander described them as "nice and supple", "unyielding", "reasonably springy", and "rather bendy", respectively. Rigidity or flexibility of a wand characterised the willingness to change and adapt of the wand-and-wizard pair.

The creation of the Elder Wand

Lord Voldemort holding the Elder Wand

The creation of the Deathly Hallow Elder Wand was highly unusual. In the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard, there was the legend of the Deathly Hallows called The Tale of the Three Brothers. In the story, Death was asked by the oldest of the Peverell brothers to be given a wand that would win duels. Death approached an Elder tree, retrieved a branch, and created the Elder Wand.

It is not said if this tree bore wand wood and likewise the nature of the core was never disclosed in the original tale. However, Albus Dumbledore and many others who chased after the Deathly Hallows believe that it was actually created by Antioch Peverell himself, instead of by Death. The wand was known to be made of Elder wood with a core of Thestral hair, both of which had strong cultural connotations of death.

Wand death and wilting

"Wilting" of a wand occurred when the wand expelled all magic, inhibiting its further magical use. This phenomenon most often occurred with hazel wands, which often bonded so strongly with their true masters that after their owners' death those wands lost all magic in this way. This was curable by replacing the wand core, unless the core was originally of unicorn hair, in which case there was no hope and the wand would have actually "died" as opposed to simply wilted.

Certain wands could wilt by other means. Salazar Slytherin's wand was commanded to wilt by Gormlaith Gaunt to prevent it from being used against her. She was able to do this due to the unique composition of the wand, and her gift of Parseltongue.

The subtle laws of wands

"The wand chooses the wizard. That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore... If you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand."

— Mr Ollivander

The rules regarding wand alliegance and ownership were covered by a series of magical laws that had their own boundries and limitations. These rules were known as the subtle laws of wands.

Wand ownership

Hermione Granger: "I hate that thing. I really hate it. It feels all wrong, it doesn't work properly for me… It's like a bit of her."

Ronald Weasley: "It'll probably help you get in character, though. Think what that wand's done!"

Hermione Granger: "But that's my point! This is the wand that tortured Neville's mum and dad, and who knows how many other people? This is the wand that killed Sirius! I miss my wand."

— Hermione on using Bellatrix Lestrange's wand

Though wands wern't wholly sentient objects, they did have a sense of loyalty towards their rightful owners. Furthermore, they had the ability to judge the person who held them and determine if that wizard was a compatible match. Garrick Ollivander stated that the wand chose the wizard, not the other way around. Wizards were still able to use wands that didn't choose them, however they would find that the magic produced was of a lesser standard than the magic produced with a wand that chose them. This effect was slightly mitigated when the wand belonged to a close friend or family member, however as a rule it was generally harder to produce magic with a wand that wasn't your own.

Wands could be won from their master, and only then would its allegiance bend towards a new master. To win a wand, one must overpower or defeat its master in some way, hence why wands were not won during practice duels, as the loosing side was not considered to be overpowered, and thus would not affect a wand's loyalty. However, in most cases simply knocking the wand out of the opposing wizard's hand was not enough to win it's loyalty. The only exception to this was the Elder Wand, which was "completely unsentimental" and would only be loyal to strength. In other words, when won, it switched its allegiance entirely.

Paired wands

Priori Incantatem between Harry Potter and Voldemort in 1995

If two wands had cores that came from the same magical creature then those wands were referred to as "brothers". These wands were connected, and had special magical properties. The two wands were relucant to duel one another and harm the other's master, however if those wands were forced to duel then they would connect with Prior Incantato, the reverse-spell effect, and one wand would be forced to regurgitate the spells it had recently performed. Harry and Voldemort's wand connected this way during the duel in Little Hangleton, with Voldemort's wand being forced to regurgitate it's spells.

However, if two wands with the same core were used alongside each other, their combined magical power would increase significantly to the benefit of their owners. This effect is what allowed Chadwick and Webster Boot to fight Gormlaith Gaunt in the Duel at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as both of their wands shared a core, a sliver from a Horned Serpent.

Damaged wands

Ron Weasley with his broken wand

Wands that suffered small degrees of damage could be fixed, and wandmakers like Ollivanders offered this service, however wands that had suffered an immense degree of damage could not be fixed by most normal means. Spellotape could have been used to put the pieces back together, but its magical capabilities would still have been damaged beyond repair. The wand would subsequently start to malfunction, resulting in spells going wrong or backfiring on the wizard.

The only thing capable of fixing a truly broken wand was an immensely powerful wand such as the Elder Wand, as seen when Harry Potter's wand was broken from a reflected Blasting Curse and Hermione Granger was unable to repair it; Harry, however, fixed it with the aid of the Elder Wand.

Accomplished wandmakers

Wandmakers were relatively common in wizarding society, owing to constant the need for new wands. Many other wizards also persued wandmaking in a non-professional manner, often creating wands for their own use.

By the 1920s, there were four great and prominent wandmakers in the United States of America, all of whom had different methods and views on what it took to craft a good wand. These wandmaker were revered throughout wizarding history, and Shikoba Wolfe's wand in particular kept their potency centuries after her death. The other wandmakers, Johannes Jonker, Thiago Quintana, and Violetta Beauvais all made distinct wands with unique properties, that were highly prized.

Garrick Ollivander a celebrated wand maker

Two of the most accomplished European wandmakers were Garrick Ollivander and Mykew Gregorovitch. The former of the two was widely considered the best wandmaker in Britain, and, some would say, the whole wizarding world. Yet others maintained that Gregorovitch was even more skilful than his British counterpart. The Ollivander family in particular was well known for it's history of wand-making, having supplied wandmakers and wands to Great Britain for several milennia.

Apart from those, there were other lesser known wandmakers living and working in Britain, though not in the same vein as Ollivander, such as Jimmy Kiddell and Arturo Cephalopos. Other european countries also had their own celebrated wandmakers, for instance, Cosme Acajor ran Baguettes Magiques de Cosme Acajor in Place Cachée in Paris who supplied wizarding France with wands.

See also

• Deathly Hallows
• Elder Wand
• Garrick Ollivander
• Ollivanders
• Wand
• Wand wood
• Wand core

Behind the scenes

• Both the shortest wand (Dolores Umbridge's wand) and one of the longest wands (Rubeus Hagrid's wand) known in the series were snapped in half.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Voldemort appears to have some knowledge of wandlore, as he recognises Lucius Malfoy's wand as being made of elm without having to ask, as he does in the novel.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First identified as Wandlore) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Mentioned only)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Mentioned only)
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter for Kinect (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
• The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac (Mentioned only)