Wands - again

[Karen Hess]

No: HPFGUIDX 105287

Cathy wrote:

I don't think he could just walk into Olivanders and buy a new one, one that
'chose him'.  Did he order it by Owl Post like he did the Firebolt?  Were 
his
spells with this wand not working adequately against Bella and that's why he 
was
killed?

Now KB(me):

An idea just occurred to me during the discussion of wands. How much of Mr. 
Ollivander's statement that "the wand chooses the wizard" is immutable WW 
law (in the sense of "Laws of Physics") and how much is down to JKR 
illustrating Mr. Ollivander's character as an old-fashioned, expert 
wand-maker?

What if Mr. Ollivander is an eccentric, expert wand-maker with his own 
peculiar views of how wizards and wands interact? To him, each wand is 
lovingly made and needs to be put in the hands of the right user, with Mr. 
Ollivander's personal assistance. But surely wands break, get lost, etc. And 
not everyone can regularly afford such personalized service. Wouldn't there 
be mass-retail or mail-order places that sell cheap wands made in Bulgaria 
(or wherever)? And both RL and WW abound with examples of second-hand 
purchases and hand-me-downs within families.

I was going to say maybe Ollivander's was only for rich, privileged people, 
but Tom Riddle was an orphan -- but was it Tom or LV who bought the 
"brother" of Harry's wand?

How could Ollivander know who had the "brother" wand if Tom Riddle bought 
it??? I didn't think it was universal knowledge that Tom Riddle was LV. (It 
sure would have been a different story if Harry and Ginny had known it ahead 
of time!)

Does that mean that LV, not 11-year-old Tom, bought the "brother" wand? 
Which would mean that Mr. Ollivander knew he was selling a wand to do 
"terrible...but great" things, in spite of his protestation? Or did Mr. 
Ollivander know somehow that Tom evolved into LV?

What is going on here? Is Mr. Ollivander ESE? Hmmm.... What's with those 
silvery eyes of his? (Eyes again.)

KB - A new member who is finding it *very interesting* looking back at PS/SS 
and CoS with knowledge gained in later books and this discussion group!

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