Wands

The most important tool that a wizard or witch could ever have would be without a doubt their wand. Although it is by no means required for a wizard or witch to perform magic, it does make conducting magic a lot easier for them. It is a conduit for them to have their magic flow through.

Throughout the magical world, there are various different materials to make wands out of, but some wandmakers believe that certain materials conduct the natural flow of magic stronger than others. These specific materials make those specific wands cost more, but are also more reliable than others. The best wand that any wizard or witch could have is one that is very reliable.

Wands in their make up are divided into three distinct parts or sections. There is the core of the wand, the outer housing, and then there is the grip. The core of the wand is what gives it it's immense power, and the outer casing keeps the core safe and secure. If the core of a wand is damaged, then the wand is nothing more than a twig in the owner's hands. It will not conduct any magic from it. The grip is added last in the process, and is wood or precious materials such as gold or silver that is placed on the outer casing at one end to give the user ease in casting.

Unless you have had years of experience and an apprenticeship in creating wands, the odds of the average wizard or witch crafting their own by themselves is very slim. The process required to obtain usable wand cores is highly complex and kept as a strict secret. Each wandmaker has their own preferred process to obtain the core, and knows which types of wood a specific core can work with the best. Some cores will not work at all with certain woods resulting in explosive results.

The individual designs of the wands themselves when they are made are also entirely unique. There is no standard design of wands within the magical world, each one is handcrafted, and therefore no two wands will ever be exactly identical. This has led to an almost innumerable variety of wand designs throughout the world, making them as good as an ID for several businesses such as banks.

Seen above is some wand designs that one could see in Lily's world. (I am an author, not an artist, but I thought I didn't do too bad) The three wands on the left in order are Bella's, Lily's, and Sirius's, and Sinestra's skeletal wand are added for you.

The relationship between a wizard and their wand is symbiotic. Although any wizard can use any wand to perform magic, they cannot reach their full potential with just any wand that they pick up. Certain wands will actually rebel against anyone using them except the person that they choose. It is for this reason that every wizard and witch are forced to try out several wands before they find their own destined wand. Without undergoing this process and merely handing down wands, a user will have difficulty using their magic, and will indeed in some situations never be able to perform magic with the wand.

It has been noted that some wands do choose more than one owner, allowing another to take the wand from the previous wizard or witch to have as their own. Most notably this happened with Caius Vanguard, who handled his grandfather's wand after his death to place it in the casket with him when the wand gave the golden glow that indicated it had chosen him as its new owner. Being seven at the time, he held onto the wand until he was old enough to attend school where he excelled to the great position of Italian Prime Minister of Magic in 1616.