Horse Feathers

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 93905

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
> Someone wrote:
> Why would Ollie think that the counterpart wand to the one that 
> killed  his parents and scarred him be just the wand for Harry? 
>  
> greatelderone responded:
> Because he was running out of wands. Remember. Testing out each 
wand 
> probably narrowed down the category for him until he decided to 
give 
> the phoenix wand a try. 
>  
> > Kneasy argued:
> > Not so. "....looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled
> > neatly right  up  to  the ceiling."
> > Whereas "...the pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher
> on the spindly chair." (PS chap.5) Still several thousand  to go, it
> seems.

Carol:
> Kneasy, I think you've missed a key word here: "category." I think
> greatelderone is suggesting that the wands Ollivander is handing to
> Harry represent certain types or categories that Ollivander is 
ruling
> out. I would agree that there is at least some sort of system being
> employed here and that Ollivander is not handing out wands randomly.
> We know, based on Ollivander's words in that same chapter, that some
> wands are particularly effective for Charms, others for
> Transfiguration. 

Geoff:
The analogy which came to my mind was that of having your eyes 
tested. The optician will carry out a series of tests which gradually 
home in on which prescription for glasses will best meet your needs 
out of all the thousands of permutations possible. Ollivander tries 
various types of wand and deduces from the tests which type of wand 
seems to be the one required.