“The wand chooses the wizard… it’s not always clear why.”

—Ollivander[src]

The World of Harry Potter’s Wands

A wand is an essential tool used by wizards and witches to channel magical powers. Every wizard and witch tries and receives a wand when they are eleven, just before going to their magic school. Most English wizards and witches get their wands at Ollivander’s Wand Shop in Diagon Alley. Or by mail from Most spells are peformed with the aid of a wand. It is possible to do magic without a wand, but is very difficult and requires much concentration and incredible skill. Only advanced wizards can perform spells without the use of wands. Although the wand cores may come from the same creature, or the wood may come from the same tree, no two existing wands are exactly alike

The wand of Tom Riddle, a reputed dark wizard, measures 13½ inches and thirteen is commonly an omen of misfortune or evil in the folklore and religion of various cultures around the world.

Hermione Granger’s wand (vine wood, 10¾ inches, dragon heartstring).

(vine wood, 10¾ inches, dragon heartstring).

Generally, wands are long, thin rods of wood with a magical substance embedded into their core. Some of the woods used include holly, hawthorn, oak, cherry, vine, rowan, ivy, rosewood, blackthorn, willow, elm, ash, mahogany, yew, birch, and elder. The cores that have been documented are phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, Veela hair, unicorn hair, and Thestral tail hair. The wandmaker Ollivander mentioned that he did not use Veela hair, as it made for “temperamental” wands. It is possible that other magical substances may be used for cores, but none have yet been specified.

Important characteristics of a wand are its length and its rigidity, ranging from “unyielding” to “springy.” These different factors have some effect on the overall use of the wand itself, but at the moment no one knows what they do. The characteristics of a wand seem to have some influence over which kinds of magic the wand is particularly suited for. For example, James Potter’s wand was excellent at Transfiguration, and Lily Evans’ wand was described as being nice for Charms work.

The exact process of making a wand is not known except to a very few.