A recent article on Pottermore reveals more insight about what the Potterverse’s wand cores say about the witches or wizards that it has chosen.
“The wand chooses the wizard,” Garrick Ollivander told readers when Harry Potter visited Diagon Alley for the first time, before warning him that his new wand had a twin belonging to the one that gave him his famous lightning bolt scar.
In “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” a particular type of wand became vital in securing all three of the Hallows: the Elder Wand, which was passed around from person to person before Harry allowed it to be destroyed. Without the Elder Wand, both the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility were nearly useless.
In the Potterverse, wands are to magicfolk what oxygen is to humans. Witches and wizards need their wands for survival, unless they manage to become masters of wandless magic. And, as with snowflakes and the aptitude tests taken around the time of the PSAT’s, usually every wand is unique to the person it is drawn toward.
Pottermore has recently delved more into the elements of a wand, examining what each type says about the wand owner.
"“By looking at folklore, the properties of British trees and Garrick Ollivander’s personal notes, we see how a wand reflects its owner’s personality and fate.”"
Types of wands
The main wand cores are: yew, holly, elder, elm and oak, and each of these properties has a different meaning that conveys the wandholder’s personality.
Yew, according to Pottermore, is poisonous, which means it is only fitting that yew is added with the phoenix feather to make up Voldemort’s wand. Moreover, even after the tree the yew came from is no longer living, it is still poisonous. As Potterheads know, Voldemort found a way to ensure that he would live on after death in the form of his Horcruxes, which he was especially able to do when he unintentionally turned Harry into one.
Holly, on the other hand, which is found among the other phoenix feather in Harry’s wand, “often choose owners who are engaged in some dangerous and often spiritual quest,” which, of course, Harry is undergoing the length of the entire series.
"“Holly is a traditional symbol of luck, prosperity and protection from evil. It’s been used in celebration rituals throughout history including the Roman festival of Saturnalia, the Pagan Winter Solstice and, of course, Christmas.”"
Bet you didn’t know the holly you hang up at Christmas is said to bring you luck, prosperity and protection, did you? It certainly did so for Harry, aka, the Boy Who Lived and Died And Lived Again.
The Elder Wand
The third of the wand cores, Elder. As in the Elder Wand, the wand Albus Dumbledore used for many years, usually indicates the witch or wizard has a special destiny. In mythology, elder trees were said to have healing powers. However, “cutting an elder or burning the wood was believed to anger the Mother Goddess and provoke her to seek revenge”. So, perhaps Dumbledore’s fatal drink from the stone basin, run-in with the Inferi, and ultimate Avada Kedavra from Snape was due to his possession of the Elder Wand.
Elms, which wizards and witches believe falsely to be specific to pureblood wands, are associated with disease and death, as well as a long and powerful lineage. Therefore, it is no surprise that Lucius Malfoy, one of the most racist characters in the Potterverse, originally held a wand with an elm element. The real question is, why didn’t Dolores Umbridge? (Birch and dragon heartstring for the worst character to ever grace Rowling’s pages? Really?)
The final wood of the wand cores is strong and sturdy oak. Which is a wand that is “a friend as loyal as the wizard who deserves it” (Rowling.) The wood of Rubeus Hagrid’s wand, oak is indicative of survival. Oaks are also the home of many different animals, which is only fitting for the Care of Magical Creatures professor. The man who illegally acquired a dragon egg just because he really wanted a dragon and the man who tried to hide a rather large Acromantula in his school.
Different kinds of cores
The aforementioned are only some of the cores of a wand. Other wand cores (except, weirdly, Umbridge’s birch core) can be found at Wand Woods – including Hermione Granger’s less common vine core that belongs to “those witches or wizards who seek a greater purpose, who have a vision beyond the ordinary and who frequently astound those who think they know them best.” 100 percent befitting of the cleverest witch of her age.
Next: Gryffindor pride: Why we may be the loudest house in the fandom
So what would be the core of your wand, and what would it say about you?