As far as wandlore and famous wands go, there’s a lot of intrigue and focus for Harry Potter fans on Harry’s own wand. He’s the reason for the whole series to exist, so understanding the wand he had, and why it chose him, is a key part of truly understanding the book series.
Harry’s wand accomplished many rare (and even unheard of) feats of magic. It has a deep history, rich with interesting facts that not all wands have. While other wands may simply have Ollivander recalling what it was made of, even years after it leaves his shop, Harry’s wand has an entire history.
The story of his wand only grows as it leaves Ollivander’s shop and Harry begins to use it both in class and out in the wizarding world itself. Let’s take a deeper look at the history and lore surrounding one of the most famous wands in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter’s own wand. If you would like one for yourself, check it out here at the WBShop.
When Did Harry Potter Get His Wand?
Shortly after his 11th birthday and his first time learning he was, in fact, a wizard, Harry visited Diagon Alley with Hagrid to buy his school supplies. During this first trip to Diagon Alley, Harry visited Ollivander’s Wand Shop to purchase his first wand.
It was something he’d been looking forward to since finding out he was a wizard and seemed quite taken aback by the shop owner Garrick Ollivander himself, and the process of his wand fitting. The details of his fitting included a measuring tape that could act on its own while taking Harry’s measurements, and testing out several different wands that didn’t work.
After several failed attempts, Ollivander referred to harry as a “tricky customer” and decided to try something he seemed to consider rather unorthodox. He gave Harry a wand that he alluded to being somewhat ominous as he offered it to Harry to try. Ollivander’s intrigue grew as he realized the wand did indeed fit (or choose) Harry.
Harry paid a total of seven gold galleons for his wand, and Ollivander confirmed that he felt (due to this wand choice) that they would be seeing great things from Harry in the future. Ollivander seemed to base this opinion on the magic the wand’s “brother” had done, which he acknowledged was “terrible, but great.”
Who Made Harry Potter’s Wand?
Harry Potter’s wand was made by Garrick Ollivander who owned Ollivander’s Wand Shop in Diagon Alley. He was quite interested in the wand Harry ended up with because of its unique core. A phoenix feather from Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes, which had only given a feather to one other wand.
The other wand containing the “brother” core was Tom Riddle’s wand, which had been used to try and kill Harry when he was only a baby. The shared cores the wands had would eventually lead to some very interesting types of magic between Harry and Voldemort (Tom Riddle) as the series progressed.
What Is Harry Potter’s Wand Made Of?
Harry’s wand was 11 inches long and made of holly with a phoenix feather core. Ollivander describes the wand as being “nice and supple” in regards to its flexibility. He also stated the combination of holly and phoenix feather was an unusual combination to see.
The unusual combination Ollivander is referring to is based on wandlore which most wandmakers in the wizarding world take very seriously. Holly wands tend to be considered a protective wand in nature and often choose wizards who are engaged in dangerous quests, especially if they are somewhat spiritual.
Because of the volatility of holly itself in wand making, lore suggests it is especially hard to pair with phoenix feather cores. According to the series’ own author, JK Rowling, if holly and a phoenix feather are able to be combined successfully nothing and no one should be able to stand in that wizard’s (or wand’s) way.
It’s no wonder that even without considering the history of the brother to Harry’s wand, Ollivander would be extremely interested in what Harry was going out into the world to accomplish solely based on the wand’s materials and extreme rarity in the wizarding world.
What Is Harry Potter’s Wand Called?
Like most wands in the wizarding world, Harry’s wand did not have a specific name. Ollivander tended to identify his wands by what they were made of and their cores. He also often talked about how flexible the wand was, and sometimes suggested the types of magic a wand might excel at. (For instance, he talked of Lily Potter’s wand as being nice for charm work.)
The one exception to this is The Elder Wand, which was part of wizarding and wandlore. Because of the unique abilities this wand held, its unusual origination, and the history of its owners, it did have its own name.
How Does Harry Potter’s Wand Work?
For the most part wands in the magical world only work as well as the wizard using them. They have to know their wand well, and also have to develop their own skills. As you read about earlier, many types of wands may be well suited for specific types of magic, but by and large, the wizard controls the wand and what it can do.
Harry’s wand is slightly different because of the shared core with Voldemort’s wand. The wands are unable to fatally wound each other, as they recognize each other as a brother. Because of this connection, Harry’s wand was able to do some unique magic that most wizards are unfamiliar with or had never even heard of before.
What Is Priori Incantatum?
When brother wands are forced to duel each other, if the conditions are just right, instead of killing one or the other wizard one wand will overpower the other. When this happens it forces the overpowered wand to regurgitate the spells it has done from in reverse from most recent to everything before that. This effect lasts until the connection between the two wands is broken.
What Happened When Harry And Voldemort’s Wands First Dueled Each Other?
In short- Priori Incatatum is exactly what happened. Harry and Voldemort first dueled in the graveyard of Voldemort’s father at the end of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. During the duel, Harry’s wand overpowered Voldemort’s and forced it to show the spells Voldemort had recently performed.
Harry was able to see an “echo” (as Dumbledore called it) of Cedric Diggory, Frank Bryce (the Muggle man Voldemort kills early on in “Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire”), Bertha Jorkins, and then Harry’s own parents.
The echos formed a protective barrier of sorts between Voldemort and Harry, allowing Harry to get back to the portkey with Cedric’s body, and return back to the grounds of Hogwarts.
Why Did Harry Potter’s Wand Act On Its Own?
At the beginning of the final book, “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows,” Harry’s wand acts seemingly of its own accord. Throughout the book, he refers to his wand acting on its own and is repeatedly told that he must be mistaking something. That wands do not act of their own free will, and Harry must’ve done a spell on his own without realizing it.
Harry remained convinced of what had happened as he knew he had felt the pain of his scar cause him to pass out just as his wand spun in his hand and shoot a spell towards Voldemort. Harry’s wand shot a stream of golden flames strong enough to shatter the wand of Lucius Malfoy, which Voldemort had borrowed believing it would be enough to overcome the limitations of the dual cores his and Harry’s wand shared.
Later we learn that the wand did act on its own, just as Harry had continued to insist. Although the two wands involved were not brothers, the piece of Harry that was an unintended Horcrux recognized Voldemort as both Harry’s “brother” (of sorts) and his mortal enemy. This caused Harry’s wand to defend Harry despite Harry being incapacitated at the time.
When And Why Did Harry Potter’s Wand Break?
In “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows” both Harry and Hermione make the decision to travel to Godric’s Hollow to visit Bathilda Bagshot while they are searching for the Sword of Griffyndor.
Believing it’s possible Bathilda either has the sword or information about where the sword may be, they follow her back to her home.
Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione, and Harry’s wand, Voldemort foresaw this as a possibility and used Nagini as a trap. Bathilda lured Harry up to a room where Nagini was waiting to attack. As Nagini tried to attack, Hermione used a blasting curse which, while saving them both, ricocheted and caused Harry’s wand to break.
Harry saved the pieces of his wand out of nostalgia as he knew based on Ron’s experiences in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets that wands could not be repaired once broken to this degree.
Why Did Harry Potter’s Wand Change?
Harry’s wand changes mostly due to the breakage of his wand with the blasting curse Hermione cast. After his wand is broken Harry and Hermione take turns sharing her wand while they keep guard on their travels and hunt to find the Horcruxes.
Wizards can also cause a wand to change allegiances when they are “won” during a duel. If one wizard defeats the other during a duel, the defeated wizard’s wand then belongs to the victor. Because of this Harry was also able to take possession of several other wands during the course of the series, mostly within Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.
Which Other Wands Did Harry Potter Use Or Own?
Harry used Hermione’s wand during the time that they were out hunting Horcruxes after his wand had been broken. He did not ever “own” Hermione’s wand and found that her wand did mediocre magic at best while using it. He always felt that the wand knew it was not its true owner, and that Hermione’s spells like their protection charms were stronger when she cast them herself with her own wand.
During “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows”, Harry, Hermione, and several others are captured and taken to the Malfoy Manor. While there, Harry overpowers Draco, winning Draco’s wand. Draco’s wand was 10 inches long, made of hawthorn wood, and had a unicorn hair core. His wand was made by Garrick Ollivander, just like Harry’s own original wand.
After they all escape from Malfoy Manor, Harry confirms that Draco’s wand has changed its allegiance by talking with Ollivander himself. Ollivander does reiterate that the wand chooses the wizard, but upon holding Draco’s old wand he tells Harry he senses the wand’s “allegiance has changed.”
How Did Harry End Up Owning The Elder Wand?
The rightful owner of The Elder Wand was actually Draco Malfoy because he had disarmed Dumbledore prior to Dumbledore’s death. In disarming Dumbledore, Draco won the allegiance of The Elder Wand, although no one realized this at the time.
As Voldemort tried to use The Elder Wand during The Battle Of Hogwarts he did not have as much luck as he expected. He mistakenly assumed it was because Snape was the rightful owner, and killed Snape to try and gain the wand’s allegiance.
This was ineffective because Draco was the rightful owner (and not Professor Snape), and Harry had defeated Draco, The Elder Wand rightfully belonged to Harry Potter. This is how Harry Potter wound up owning The Elder Wand. Had he not overpowered Draco prior to The Battle Of Hogwarts, Draco would’ve remained the rightful owner of The Elder Wand.
How Did Harry Use The Elder Wand?
This is one of the main and biggest differences between the book series and the movies. In the book, Harry Potter uses The Elder Wand to repair his own original wand. It works because, as the lore tells us, The Elder Wand is the most powerful wand in the wizarding world.
After he repairs his wand, Harry returns the wand to Dumbledore’s grave. He believes as long as he (Harry) dies a natural death the power of The Elder Wand will die with him. Harry explains his plan to Dumbledore’s portrait in the Headmaster’s Office at Hogwarts. Dumbledore agrees that this is the best plan possible.
In the movies, however, Harry snaps The Elder Wand in half and throws the pieces into the viaduct at Hogwarts. The movie does not address the repair of Harry’s own wand, or what new wand Harry might acquire since his wand remains broken in that version of the story.
Conclusion:
There are still some questions among true fans of the series about how Delphi’s actions in “Harry Potter And The Cursed Child” affect the allegiance of The Elder Wand. To date, we do not have a concrete answer anywhere on this specific topic. Because of this, most fans agree that according to wandlore Harry Potter went back to using his original (repaired) wand, which he’d always loved.
The Elder Wand remains with Dumbledore, and when Harry Potter dies his natural death the power of The Elder Wand will die with him. Wandlore in the Harry Potter series is a fascinating topic. There are many intricacies involved in how a wand chooses the wizard and under what circumstances that allegiance can change.
One thing is very clear through this story though. Had Harry never won the allegiance of The Elder Wand, Voldemort may never have been defeated. Thankfully Harry was smart enough to see the power of The Elder Wand as more of a curse than a blessing and wanted to use the wand that had always felt best to him.
The holly wand with Fawke’s tail feather is the true wand of Harry Potter and without it, he never would’ve been the wizard he became.