thoughts about wands and broomsticks

[anneli lucas]

No: HPFGUIDX 89011

I've been thinking about wands.  In PS/SS when Harry's
trying out wands Ollivander tells him 
"...you will never get such good results with another
wizards wand." p.64, PS, UK ed.

In this case, why would Percy have given his wand to
Ron.  Unless perhaps it had originally been passed on
to Percy from someone else, and he didn't actually get
his *own* wand till Ron started school.

Maybe this is one of the reasons that Neville doesn't
do well - he uses his Father's wand.

Also, I assume that a muggle or a squib wouldn't be
able to do anything with a wand, but a house elf
apparently could (GoF, when Winky is accused of
conjuring the Dark Mark at the World Cup).  Can all
magical creatures potentially use wands I wonder?  Are
wands mainly a conduit for magic, or do they contain a
lot of their own magic?

I thought that the MoM might keep track of underage
magic through the wands, so if an underage
witch/wizard's *wand* does magic they get in trouble. 
which might explain how the Weasley's can play
quidditch and Harry's occassional uncontrolled magic
isn't counted.
This would mean that children in magical families
could still do magic in the holidays if they used
someone else's wand (I know there was a discussion
about what happened to wands when the owner dies - was
there a conclusion?)

On to broomsticks:  can only witches and wizards ride
broomsticks?  When Harry gets the firebolt (PoA) it
automatically hovers at the right height for him.  Can
brooms sense whether someone is innately magical, in
other words if Filch got on one would it just fall to
the ground?

My apologies if this has all been gone over already
(and for the babblyness).

Anneli

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