Holly and Yew

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 85551

Forgive me if this has been said before. I tried to search the 
archives, but didn't find anything on the wood used in Harry and 
Voldemort's wands.

What makes Harry and Voldemort's wands "brothers", are their core: A 
feather each from Fawkes the Phoenix. But the wood used in their 
wands differ from each other. Voldemort's is made of Yew and Harry's 
is made of Holly (PS p. 64-65 Bloomsbury). For fun, I looked up a 
little information on these trees at the www.botanical.com .

Yew: The first thing that leaps at you when you look up the info on 
the Yew tree, is large angry letters in red: "POISON!" Both its 
leaves, seed and fruit are poisonous. In history and legend of Great 
Britain the tree is associated with places of worship. The wood is 
said to resist the action of water and is very hard, and, before the 
use of iron became general, was greatly valued.

Holly (Holy Tree, Christ's Thorn): Is in the general mind closely 
connected with the festivities of Christmas. "...Pliny tells us that 
Holly if planted near a house or farm, repelled poison, and defended 
it from lightning and witchcraft, that the flowers cause water to 
freeze, and that the wood, if thrown at any animal, even without 
touching it, had the property of compelling the animal to return and 
lie down by it... The wood of Holly is hard, compact and of a 
remarkable even substance throughout... It is beautifully white, and 
being susceptible of a very high polish, is much prized for 
ornamental ware... The evenness of its grain makes it very valuable 
to the turner. When freshly cut, it is of a slightly greenish hue, 
but soon becomes perfectly white, and its hardness makes it superior 
to any other white wood..."

That's interesting :-) Especially the part about Holly repelling 
poison(-ous Yew?), and defending against lightning and witchcraft.

Berit