Every Single Wand Core Type (ALL 20) - Harry Potter Explained

Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing the wands of the wizarding world. Now, if you’re any sort of Harry Potter fan at all- then you’ll know that wands are tools that witches/wizards use to channel their magic. We’re introduced to Ollivander’s wand shop right near the beginning of the Philosopher’s Stone- when Harry is picking up his supplies for Hogwarts. Harry is ultimate given an 11” wand made of Holly, with a Phoenix feather core- and what’s interesting about wands is that they CHOOSE the wizard- rather than the other way around. Wizards and wands share an almost symbiotic relationship- and that’s why some wands simply won’t work for certain people.

“A wand is the object through which a witch or wizard channels his or her magic. It is made from wood and has a magical substance at its core. Wands made by Ollivander have cores of phoenix feather, unicorn hair or dragon heartstring, and are of varying woods, lengths and flexibilities.”

As shown above- wands come in a variety of shapes, colours, sizes, flexibilities and materials. The main parameters that differentiate each wand are as follows: length, wood type, and lastly- core type. Each element is just as important as the last.

Length generally pertains to the size and/or character of the witch/wizard:

“Most wands are between 9-15 inches long. Wandmakers often match the wand length to the height of the witch or wizard who will use it, but Ollivander considers this measure inadequate. In his experience, longer than average wands tend to be drawn to those with a physical peculiarity or a bigger personality whereas abnormally short wands select people whose character lacks in something.”

Similar to the length- the chosen ‘wood’ for the wand also takes in to account the witch/wizards individuality - and the type of wood that is eventually chosen can be considered an extension of their personality. You can tell a lot about a person from their wand.

Lastly- we have the topic of today’s video- the wand core. Like the wood- the wand core will act as an extension of the wizard themself- allowing them to properly tap in to their most powerful innate magical abilities. If you have the right wand- then you will always be able to channel your magic better than with a less suited counterpart.

The wand maker of which we are most familiar- Ollivander, has a tendency to utilize 3 primary wand cores: phoenix, unicorn and dragon. HOWEVER, what I want to discuss in this video are some of the other, lesser-known cores. First, let’s hear what Ollivander has to say about the 3 that he personally uses:

“Early in my career, as I watched my wandmaker father wrestling with substandard wand core materials such as kelpie hair, I conceived the ambition to discover the finest cores and to work only with those when my time came to take over the family business. This I have done. After much experimentation and research, I concluded that only three substances produce wands of the quality to which I am happy to give the illustrious name of Ollivander: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring and phoenix feather. Each of these costly and rare materials has its own distinct properties.”

So, as you can see above, though Ollivander is fully aware of the presence of other available wand core materials- he chooses to stick with dragon, phoenix and unicorn because they are the most reliable, and allow him to consistently make powerful wands. This makes sense because they are all powerful creatures. However, there are OTHER types of cores- and I think that Ollivander is being a little unfair here, as I’m sure some of the others have benefits as well. In this video, I’m going to be taking a look at them all. Let’s start with the big 3:

...Watch the video for the list!


MYTHOLOGY CHANNEL
   / @mythologyexplained  

Join this channel to get access to perks:
   / @harrypottertheory  

Please LIKE / SUBSCRIBE / SHARE to support the channel

Leave your video ideas down below!

Thanks!

Instagram -   / hptheory  

All content falls under fair use: any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.