thoughts about wands and broomsticks

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 89270

 anneli lucas wrote:
<snip>
 Are
> wands mainly a conduit for magic, or do they contain a
> lot of their own magic?
<snip>


I think that wands are magical in themselves. First, according to
Ollivander, all wands have a powerful magical substance as a core (his
wands have unicorn tails, Phoenix feathers and dragon heart-strings).
why go to all the trouble and danger of obtaining these substances if
their presence or absence didn't matter? Size and the type of wood
also seem to matter. (The wood may be chosen for the degree of
flexibility or, more likely, for the magical properties of the wood.
We had a thread on yew vs. holly a while back.) In any case, the wand
chooses the wizard (Harry got virtually no results until he tried the
right one) and wands are particularly well-suited for different types
of magic. Lily's first wand (I don't remember its properties) was "a
nice wand for charm work" (hint of something to come?) whereas James's
was more powerful and good for transfiguration. Tom Riddle's (which
shares a core with Harry's) is both large and extremely powerful. I
suppose Voldemort could AK or Crucio someone using Fleur's wand (core
of Veela hair), but it probably would require more effort than it
would with his own wand.

Also, wands seem to respond to their owner's will (if the owner is a
powerful enough wizard). Snape cleans up spilled potions and
Dumbledore rearranges the furniture without a spoken command. I
believe that McGonagall wordlessly lights a fire in Snape's grate, but
I'd have to check that one. At any rate, they seem to have some sort
of mind-reading ability (like the Sorting Hat and the Marauder's Map),
though perhaps not to the same degree.

Could a Squib do magic with one? Probably not--he or she would never
find the right wand (nice wand for talking to cats?) and would be too
weak magically to manage anyone else's.

Wands *are* a conduit for magic (it's easier to cast a spell with one
than without one), but that's not all they are IMO. (If a wizard loses
his wand, he can't just pick up, say, a snare drum stick and use that
in its place.)

Carol