Wands and Who Uses Them

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 46104

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Fharraige" <fharraige at y...> wrote:
VAL Wrote:
> *...And of course, you will never get such good results with another 
> wizard's wand." Mr. Ollivander, PS/SS, Chapter 5*
> 
> If Ollivander's statement was true, then how could Sirius Black use 
> Ron's wand so well in PoA? And how could Barty Crouch Jr. conjure the 
> Dark Mark so easily in GoF?  Wouldn't the wands fail, or at least 
> give a weaker result?
> 
> Val

bboy_mn replies:

There is really no implication that you can't use another wand. When
ever this subject comes up I like to use a music analogy.

A concert violinist may go into a music story and take a cheap student
violin an play it beautifully, but he 'will never get such good
results' as when he plays his own personal violin.

Or, a musician may go into a music store and play a dozen identical
instruments until he finds one that feels just right to him; until he
find one that matches him perfectly, but that doesn't mean he couldn't
play all the other instruments he tried.

It's the same with wands. There is a sort of harmony or a resonance
between the wizard and the wand that matches him. If you are familiar
with the concept of resonance then you are familiar with the excersize
in which an opera singer shatters a glass with her voice. This is a
characteristic of resonance. When the singer hits a note that
resonates with the glass, the whole becomes greater than the some of
it's parts, and this cascade of resonant energy provides the
additional force necessary to shatter the glass. But both the glass
and the singer function just fine together or separately with out that
resonance.

Point: any wizard can use any wand and perform magic, but they will
perform their best most efficient magic with the greatest ease when
using a wand that they are matched to.

On the other hand, if what you are really asking is 'How could he use
a BROKEN wand so well?', then the only answer I have is, that he got
lucky. Ron was able to use his wand. It screwed up a lot, but not 100%
of the time. So Sirius being a more experienced magician, and being,
without a doubt very luck in general, just got lucky.

Just some thougths.

bboy_mn