Wand Thoughts

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 153245

Kim wrote:
<snip>
> My first thought [about the wands] brought about some rather minor
questions:
> "The wand chooses the wizard."  How?  Why this wizard instead of
that one?  What this wand instead of one of the other 300?  
><snip> 
> If the wand chooses the wizard, and there are two wands with Fawkes
feather in it, and one chose Voldy and the other chose Harry... Then I
have some more questions:
> 
> Why did a wand with Fawkes' feather choose Voldy?  And why does
Olivander expect great things from the person chosen by the other wand
with that feather?  <snip>  Do many creatures give only two
heartstrings, two tail feathers, two hairs?  And do each of those two
wands react the same way Harry's and Voldy's do when they meet?  And
do the two wizards chosen by those two wands have something in common
such as greatness or mediocrity or a love for tennis? <snip>

Carol responds:
I've read Peggy's and Steve's posts and agree with some of their
points, but I decided to respond to the original post directly rather
than to their responses.

First, I agree that in most cases "the wand chooses the wizard" is
true in the general sense--a wand will choose a wizard with whom it's
compatible. It seems to sense the level of power (or potential) and an
affinity for certain branches of magic. Evidence: Lily's first wand
was "a nice wand for Charm work"; James's (only?) wand was a bit more
powerful and especially suited for Transfiguration. Voldemort's, I
mean young Tom's, which Ollivander describes as very powerful, no
doubt sensed his potential greatness in the sense that Ollivander uses
the word "He Who Must Not Be Named did great things, terrible but
great." I don't think that Ollivander would make a wand that sensed
potential Darkness (or extant Darkness, in little Tom's case), but
perhaps a wand with an affinity for DADA spells would also be
particularly effective for the Unforgiveables and other Dark curses
(which is not to say that they can't be cast with some other wand).
I'm assuming that Harry's wand is especially effective for DADA, his
forte, as opposed to Charms or Transfiguration, and the brother wand
could well share this affinity.

While similar cores probably have similar properties, Ollivander notes
that every wand is different. Choosing a different unicorn or dragon
or phoenix makes a difference, as does the wood the wand is made of.
The wood is particularly important in the case of Harry's and
Voldemort's wands. Phoenixes symbolize immortality. Yew wood (LV's
wand) symbolizes earthly immortality (his one desire, evidenced by his
Horcruxes--I just had the shocking thought that his wand may have had
an affinity for Horcrux-making, which does not speak well for
Ollivander if he knew it though I don't think he did). Harry's wand is
made of holly, which as most people know is associated with eternal
life (*not* earthly immortality) in Christianity. (No, I don't think
that Harry is a Christ figure, but unlike LV, he doesn't fear death.
His wand, even if it was made at the same time as LV's, would not,
IMO, have chosen Tom Riddle.) These two wands also have a close
affinity with Fawkes himself, and through him, with Dumbledore.
Exactly how that works I don't know, but it may have enabled Fawkes to
come to Harry's aid (on DD's orders) in CoS.

I think that DD may have been simply curious when he asked Ollivander
to inform him that the wands were sold, but when the first one went to
Tom Riddle, he became wary, and when Tom Riddle became Voldemort, I
think that the ownership of the second wand became a matter of great
importance to both DD and Ollivander. I think that Ollivander set it
aside, assuming that it, too, would "do great things" and that it was
not to be tried out by just any child wizard who came into the shop.
When Harry, the Boy Who Lived, entered the shop (and found no other
wand compatible), Ollivander took down the special wand on the hunch
that he had found its rightful owner, and he was right.

Length and flexibility also vary. Whether that's important or not, I
don't know, but I think the wand may sense the wizard's comfort level
as well as his power.

I'm not going to speculate about other wands except to say that it's
probably rare for two wands to share a core. Fawkes dropped only two
feathers, Ollivander talks about pulling a single hair from the tail
of "a particularly fine male unicorn," a dragon perhaps yields only
one or two heartstrings (nerves formerly thought to sustain the
heart). Combine the rarity of shared cores with different wood for
each wand with the same core, and you have no two identical wands.
(Ollivander could vary them further with different cores if he so
desired; we know that he rejects Veela hair as too temperamental.)

Carol, wondering what Snape's wand core consists of and guessing that
it's dragon heartstring like Hermione's