Wands are everything in J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. From illuminating a room to eliminating an adversary, witches and wizards are nothing without their wands. In Harry Potter, each wand fashioned by esteemed wand makers feature a type of wood the wand is to be made from, and the most important piece of the wand – the core, which is something specifically chosen from a magical creature, and inserted into the wood. Each wand possesses a specific build and power, making each one unique, and perfect for their chosen “master.”
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A special bond can form between each witch or wizard and their wand, that becomes more in line with a companionship, or a soul mate relationship, than just a physical tool to perform magic. A wand is theirs, and theirs alone – which is why Lucius Malfoy is so hesitant to give his up, even to the Dark Lord himself.
“The wand chooses the wizard. That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore…”
-Garrick Ollivander
With each wand being so special in each one’s own right, we came up with a list of all your favorite character’s wands from the Harry Potter universe. The Wands of Each Harry Potter Character.
Updated on June 28th, 2020 by Richard Keller: Wands are the all-purpose tool in the Harry Potter universe. They can help perform daily household tasks or be used in battle to stun an opponent. However, they only work at optimum capacity if they’re the right fit for the user. For further samples, here are some more wands of Harry Potter characters.
15 Cedric Diggory
We barely got to know the captain of Hufflepuff’s Quidditch team. All we saw or read about him took place in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Nevertheless, he seemed like an upstanding person and Hogwarts’ student.
What we do know about Cedric is his wand, since he had to provide it for certification during the Triwizard Tournament. It was 12 1/4-inches, made of Ash, and had a unicorn hair core. Its pleasantly springy feel was made for the seemingly chipper Diggory.
14 Fleur Delacour
Introduced as a foreign student with a slight attitude, Fleur became a favorite character during the last two Harry Potter books. Eventually, she started dating one of Ron’s older brothers, Bill, By the last book, the two were married. The couple took Harry and his allies in when they were being hunted by Death Eaters. A far cry from where she started.
Fleur’s wand does not match the person she became. It’s made of Rosewood, is 9 1/2-inches long, and has a Veela hair core from her grandmother. This may be the reason why it’s inflexible.
13 Gilderoy Lockhart
We remember Gilderoy as the good-looking wizard who couldn’t produce a proper spell. No matter what he did, it always turned out bad for someone else. While at Hogwarts, it normally focused on Harry.
To match his posh tastes, Gilderoy’s wand was deemed expensive. In addition, at nine inches, it was also smaller than most wands at Hogwarts. Made of Rosewood with a dragon heartstring, the wand was slightly bendy. Perfect for someone who needed to make excuses when spells didn’t go his way.
12 Peter Pettigrew
Peter was an ugly man both inside and out. He wanted to be wanted, so he sucked up to all the cool wizards. First, it was James Potter and his gang. Later, it was the Death Eaters.
In the end, it led to his death. Not even the wand he acquired when Voldermort returned could help him. The Chestnut wand was slightly longer than nine inches and had a dragon heartstring. Despite the strong core, the wand was brittle.
11 Remus Lupin
Remus was a simple man who wanted to teach Hogwarts’ students how do defend themselves from the Dark Arts. Unfortunately, becoming a werewolf once a month prevented him from living a normal life. Still, he was an important part of Harry life to the very end.
From his time as a Hogwarts’ student, Remus owned a 10 1/4-inch Cypress wand with a unicorn hair core. Pliable and well-matched to its owner, the wand helped Remus during the Battle of Hogwarts. Though he perished, he went out a valiant hero.
10 Ron Weasley
Harry Potter’s best friend, Ron, has a bit of a rough “spell” with his wands, going through two during his time at Hogwarts. His first, a hand me down from his brother Charlie, was 12 inches long and was made of ash, with a unicorn hair core. Unfortunately for Ron, this wand was snapped in half during a run in with the Whomping Willow. He attempted to fix it with Spello-Tape, but it was a lost cause, and he was forced to get a new one after multiple malfunctions caused him much grief and embarrassment.
Ron’s second wand was his alone, purchased from Ollivander’s prior to his third year at Hogwarts. This model was 14 inches long, was made of willow (ironically) and also fashioned a unicorn hair core. His second wand suited him much better, as he used it in multiple conflicts, including in the battle in the Department of Mysteries Hall of Prophecy, and during the battle of the Astronomy Tower.
9 Hermione Granger
Fellow best friend of Harry Potter, and eventual love interest of Ron Weasley, Hermione is the brains of the trio. Her wand is 10 3/4ths inches long, made of vinewood and possessed a dragon heartstring core. Dragon heartstring is material obtained from a dragon that is often used in the cores of wands, though it is relatively unknown what parts of the dragon are used. Some think that it might be the dragon’s heart that produces the aptly named “heartstring.” Dragon wands will always bond strongly with their current owner.
Dragon heartstring produces the most powerful wands, and Hermione’s is no exception. At the young age of 15, Hermione is able to produce a corporeal Patronus, which is a very advanced piece of magic, and is a credit to the talents of both herself and her wand. For a time, Hermione uses the stolen wand of Bellatrix Lestrange after Hermione’s is confiscated, but she is not a fan of the foreign object.
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8 Neville Longbottom
One of the most unassuming heroes of the wizarding world, Neville Longbottom, also sported two different wands during his time at Hogwarts. Similar to Ron, Neville wielded a hand me down to begin his time at school, although Neville’s was his fathers. The makeup and core of this wand are unknown, and it was eventually broken during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
Neville’s second wand, and first of his own, was made from cherry wood, and featured a unicorn hair core. As with most witches and wizards, Neville purchased this wand from Ollivander’s, and it may have been one of the last wands that Garrick Ollivander sold, as he was kidnapped by death eaters the following day.
7 Professor McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall‘s wand is 9 1/2 inches long, was made of fir, and also fashioned with a dragon heartstring core. Wands fashioned with the wood of firs were known to be resilient, like their masters, and were dubbed the “survivors” wands. McGonagall’s particular model was well suited for transfiguration, making it the perfect companion for her, an animagus. Much like McGonagall herself, her wand is elegant, refined, and extremely powerful.
6 Draco Malfoy
“It’s my mother’s. It’s powerful but, it’s not the same… doesn’t quite, understand me. Know what I mean?”
– Draco Malfoy asking Harry Potter for his wand back
Draco Malfoy, famed rival of Harry Potter, and the pure-blooded son of a Death Eater, sported a 10 inch wand that was made of hawthorn wood and a unicorn hair core. Wands made with cores of unicorn hair are known to produce the most consistent magic, and are the most faithful of wands. Although, they are not known to be the most powerful wands, especially when compared to those with dragon heartstring cores. Garrick Ollivander described Draco’s wand as “reasonably pliant,” an allusion to the complexities of his character.
Draco also unknowingly held the allegiance of the Elder Wand, after disarming Dumbledore in the Astronomy Tower. Though Malfoy did not ever end up wielding the Elder Wand, its allegiance to him became consequential, as Voldemort was not ever able to tap into the wands full potential.
5 Bellatrix Lestrange
The wizarding world’s favorite “bad girl,” Bellatrix Lestrange, was Voldemort’s right-hand gal (and apparently mother to his child). Lestrange’s was 12 3/4 inches long, made of walnut, and contained a dragon heartstring core. Ollivander described this wand as “unyielding”, also a very telling characteristic of the owner. Legend has it there was a European superstition warning not to grow anything near a walnut tree, because it contained evil or poison – also significance in the walnut-wood-based wand of Bellatrix.
Bellatrix used her wand from the age of 11, both before and after her imprisonment in Azkaban, using it for a wide range of treacherous acts; including torturing Neville Longbottom’s parents, and killing her cousin, Sirius Black. It was eventually stolen by the golden trio, and subsequently used by Hermione as a fill in for her own.
4 Professor Snape
Although there is no canon wand makeup for one of our favorite Hogwarts professors, we are free to speculate based on Severus Snape’s personal characteristics.
It is very likely that Snape’s wand would feature the core of a unicorn hair, as these wands are the most difficult to turn to the dark arts, as unicorns themselves are the purest of creatures in Harry Potter lore. We see Snape join Voldemort’s cause, before ultimately turning away from the darkness after Lily is killed. Wands with these cores are also the most faithful of wands, paralleling Snape’s faithfulness to Lily, Dumbledore, and eventually Harry. Whatever wood Snape’s wand was made of, it would likely be a rigid and hard design. Similar to the Bellatrix wand description as “unyielding,” Snape’s would also be so, albeit for less nefarious reasons.
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3 Albus Dumbledore
The build of Dumbledore’s original wand is also unknown, but for the majority of the time we see him during the Harry Potter franchise, Dumbledore wields the Elder Wand. The most powerful wand ever created, the Elder Wand is one of three objects that make up the Deathly Hallows; which also include the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone.
Created by Death himself, the Elder Wand was 15 inches long, made from elder wood, and contained the core of a Thestral tail-hair. This core makes it even more special a wand to wield successfully, as only someone who has accepted “death” can even see a Thestral hair, very few wizards can possess the Elder Wand. Prior to Dumbledore’s ownership of it, the Elder Wand was famously in the possession of Gellert Grindelwald. After Dumbledore’s death, it fell into the hands of Voldemort.
2 Tom Riddle (Voldemort)
Before his ultimately unsuccessful attempt to control the Elder Wand, Tom Riddle held a very special wand. At 13 1/2 inches long, Riddle’s original wand was made with a phoenix feather core. Wands made with cores of phoenix feathers are one of the most supreme of breeds, as it is extremely rare, and produces wands with the greatest power range, with allegiances that are very hard won.
Phoenixes themselves are very independent and detached from the world. It is believed that this feature is what makes wands fashioned with their feathers so hard to tame, and the pickiest of wands in selecting potential owners. As rare as the bird and the wand, as is the master; and Tom Riddle was a rare breed. Ultimately becoming one of the most powerful wizards of all time, nearly taking over the entire world (twice), Tom was certainly worthy of being chosen by such a wand.
1 Harry Potter
Harry Potter’s wand also features a phoenix feather core, which comes from the same bird who produces a feather for Riddle’s wand - Fawkes, Dumbledore’s bird. Harry’s wand is 11 inches long, and was made from holly. It is believed that wands made from holly select wizards who are engaged in spiritual or dangerous conquests, making it the perfect pairing for Harry. This connection between Harry and Voldemort’s wands became a hindrance for the pair, as was first made evident during their duel in the Little Hangleton graveyard. They experienced a rare magical effect called Priori Incantatem, in that their wands recognized one another, and would not attack the other.
Harry’s wand is terminally damaged by Hermione, as she uses a blasting curse to save his life from Nagini in Godric’s hollow, that ricochets onto his wand. This forces Harry to borrow and commandeer other wands for the remainder of the age of Voldemort, until he ultimately kills the Dark Lord, and uses the Elder Wand to repair his old friend made from holly with the phoenix feather core.
Next: 25 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About Albus Dumbledore