Old, New and Used Wands

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 96242

AmanitaMuscaria wrote:
<snip> The odd thing is that Neville had his father's wand - now,
Neville obviously has needed all the help he can get, so why would his
Grandmother not get him a new wand? The Longbottoms don't appear to be
very poor like the Weasleys. I think it's the fact that wands are
semi-sentient, so I guess old Mrs. Longbottom was hoping the power of
the wand would help Neville. It seems strange that the family wouldn't
have tried to see if there was a more suitable wand, though. 

Carol responds:
I think that maybe Gran sees her son, who is to all intents and
purposes dead, as a fallen hero and thinks that Neville should be
honored to inherit his wand. Also, as you say, it was probably a
powerful wand, and she may have thought it would help her apparently
"magically challenged" grandson. Of course, she'll have no choice but
to buy him his own wand now, but I think she'll be sad that the wand
she cherished for her son's sake is gone.

BTW, I think a lot of readers are hard on Gran because they don't
approve of her old-school strictness and concern for her family's
honor. It seems to me that she's doing the best she can to raise her
son's child in her old age and we can't expect her to follow modern
Muggle-approved methods of child-rearing. Neville may be almost as
fearful of her as he is of Snape, but he also loves her. As he tells
his roommates, Gran says that if Dumbledore says Voldemort is back,
he's back, and then he adds simply, "*We* believe Dumbledore." I find
that little scene very touching and meaningful, especially the "we."

Carol