Sirius' Wand

[msbeadsley]

No: HPFGUIDX 82772

cubfanbudwoman wrote: 
> This is probably a tres stupide thing to ask, but why couldn't 
> Sirius have just gone to Ollivander's and bought a new one? 

kiricat2001 wrote:
> Maybe because he's still the Wizard World's Most Wanted Escaped 
> Convict with a price of 10,000 galleons on his head.  I doubt 
> Sirius could waltz down Diagon Alley in pursuit of a new wand at 
> Ollivander's, even assuming Ollivander conducts his business like 
> the goblins at Gringott's and simply doesn't care who walks into 
> his store to purchase a wand.  Surely someone else in that very 
> busy street would have noticed Sirius' presence.  

The crux of the issue for me is that *going to* Ollivander's might 
not be necessary more than once. You get "measured" for your first 
wand by the process of being "selected" by the wand you get. Later, 
why couldn't you just order a replacement by size, wood type, and 
magical element? (There's been discussion about how one's proper wand 
type might change over time; but unless one lost or broke the first 
one, what would indicate the need for a change? I'm guessing most 
people just go on with their original; maybe Ron's hand-me-down was 
the result of his brother going off to do a job which required a more 
specialized wand, and Ron going on well enough with the old one. But 
how did they know he would, anyway? He couldn't really have tried it 
out due to the restriction about underage magic; he just showed up at 
Hogwarts with his brother's old wand and no options if it didn't work 
out.)

One determinining factor is something we don't know: is Ollivander's 
the only place to get a wand? If so, Mr. O might feel bound to report 
to the authorities if he gets an order for a wand which is a 
duplicate for a wanted criminal's original. (We do know that two of 
the TWT champions had wands not from Ollivander's; I don't see why 
someone couldn't put in a special owl order outside his or her own 
country's jurisdiction to one of their suppliers.) Then again, Mr. O 
might think it was amusing to re-arm Sirius. Not sure if Mr. O is a 
good guy or just a cold fish who only really cares about the arts of 
wand-making and wand/wizard-matching).

Sandy