Wand Core

: "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard’s wand."
: — Garrick Ollivander telling Harry Potter about the wand cores used in wands sold at Ollivanders[src]
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The core of a wand was a magical substance placed within the length of wood, usually extracted from a magical creature.
Although wand cores varied widely, certain wandmakers preferred to use certain materials; for example, Garrick Ollivander discovered and pioneered the use of phoenix feathers, dragon heartstrings, and unicorn tail hairs, whereas his father used lesser substances such as Kelpie hair and Kneazle whiskers.
== Contents ==
* 1Properties
* 2Known core materials
* 3Characteristics
* 4Price
* 5See also
* 6Behind the scenes
* 7Appearances
* 8Notes and references
== Properties ==
The core type was known to influence the temperament of the wand produced with it. For example, the wand-maker Garrick Ollivander would not use Veela hair for cores because he believed they made for "temperamental" wands. Thestral tail hair was also an interesting core — the wand couldn't simply be mastered by winning them. It could only be mastered by a witch or wizard who was able to face death, which was why Voldemort struggled to master the Elder Wand.
When more than one wand had twin cores — meaning they shared the same material from the same creature - they were known as brothers and held greater power when used together. When Chadwick and Webster Boot used them as a team, their wands with cores from the same Horned Serpent increased in power tenfold. However, when they were used in conflict with another, the connecting spells created Priori Incantatem, as seen when spells from the wands of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, which both had cores comprised of a feather from Fawkes, Albus Dumbledore's phoenix, connected.
Ollivander's shop in Diagon Alley had changed the way that wands were created. Before Garrick Ollivander's practice of using only the three "Supreme Cores", it was common for witches and wizards to present a wandmaker with a magical substance to which they had a particular attachment for use as a wand core.
However, when Garrick watched his father, Gervaise Ollivander, struggled with substandard wand cores such as Kneazle whiskers, Dittany stalks, or Kelpie manes, he decided to devote his time to studying the finest wand cores.
== Known core materials ==
Core 	Wands these cores are used in
Dragon heartstring 	Hermione Granger's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Viktor Krum's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Bellatrix Lestrange's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Gilderoy Lockhart's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Lucius Malfoy's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Minerva McGonagall's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Garrick Ollivander 's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Peter Pettigrew's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Dolores Umbridge's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Horace Slughorn's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Gormlaith Gaunt's second wand
Dragon heartstring 	Mr Boot's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Jacob's wand
Dragon heartstring 	Penelope Fawley's wand
Dragon heartstring 	An applewood wand made by Garrick Ollivander
Dragon heartstring 	A beechwood wand made by Garrick Ollivander
Phoenix feather 	Harry Potter's wand
Phoenix feather 	Lord Voldemort's wand
Phoenix feather 	Silvanus Kettleburn's wand
Phoenix feather 	Celestina Warbeck's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Mary Cattermole's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Cedric Diggory's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Neville Longbottom's second wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Remus Lupin's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Draco Malfoy's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Quirinus Quirrell's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Sybill Trelawney's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Charlie Weasley's wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Ron Weasley's second wand
Unicorn tail hair 	Penny Haywood's wand
Veela hair 	Fleur Delacour's wand
Thestral tail hair 	Elder Wand
Troll whisker 	Cadogan's wand
Coral 	Snakewood and coral wand
Dittany Stalk 	Unknown
Thunderbird tail feather 	Unknown
Wampus cat hair 	Unknown
White River Monster spine	Unknown
Rougarou hair 	Seraphina Picquery's wand
Horned Serpent horn 	Chadwick Boot's wand
Horned Serpent horn 	Webster Boot's wand
Snallygaster heartstring 	Unknown
Jackalope antler 	Unknown
Kneazle whisker 	Unknown
Kelpie hair 	Unknown
Basilisk horn 	Salazar Slytherin's wand (passed down to his descendants)
Curupira hair 	Unknown
African mermaid hair 	Eulalie Hicks's wand
== Characteristics ==
Core material 	Known wand-maker to use it	Known characteristics
Dragon heartstring 	Garrick Ollivander 	Powerful and easy to learn spells, though could easily be committed to another owner
Dragon heartstring 	Gregorovitch 	
Phoenix feather 	Garrick Ollivander 	Greatest range of magic, hard to be chosen
Unicorn hair 	Garrick Ollivander 	Most consistent magic, bonded strongly to first user
Veela hair 	Unknown 	Temperamental
Kneazle whisker 	Unknown 	Not very powerful
Dittany stalk 	Unknown 	Unknown
Kelpie hair 	Gervaise Ollivander 	Easily obtainable, frequently used in the past
Thestral tail hair 	Antioch Peverell 	Unstable
Koralle 	Gregorovitch 	Unknown
Thunderbird tail feather 	Shikoba Wolfe 	Extremely powerful, but difficult to master, particularly prized by Transfigurers. Could sense danger and cast curses on their own.
Wampus cat hair 	Johannes Jonker 	Unknown
Wampus cat hair 	Isolt Sayre 	Unknown
Wampus cat hair 	James Steward 	Unknown
White River Monster spine	Thiago Quintana 	Produced spells of force and elegance
Rougarou hair 	Violetta Beauvais 	Rumoured to have had an affinity for dark magic, although suitable for use by non-dark wizards and witches as well
Horned Serpent horn 	Isolt Sayre
James Steward 	Exceptionally powerful and sensitive to Parseltongue. Could warn its owner of danger by emitting a low musical tone.
Horned Serpent horn 	Isolt Sayre
James Steward 	Unknown
Snallygaster heartstring 	Isolt Sayre
James Steward 	Unknown
Jackalope antler 	Isolt Sayre
James Steward 	Unknown
 	Isolt Sayre
James Steward 	Unknown
Basilisk horn 	Salazar Slytherin 	Unknown, presumably had an affinity for the Dark Arts.
Curupira hair 	Unknown 	Unstable, had an affinity for powerful yet unpredictable wizards
== Price ==
All wands sold by Garrick Ollivander cost seven galleons, regardless of core or wood. Unicorn tail hair, however, was worth ten galleons a hair, as confirmed by Horace Slughorn in 1996. In 1926, wands sold by Shikoba Wolfe cost five dragots.
== See also ==
* Wand
* Wandlore
* Reverse Spell
* Wand wood
== Behind the scenes ==
* It is thought by some that Thestral hair makes for a unique personality; completely dispassionate about its allegiance and showing no emotion towards the wizard, tying in with the many changes of hands that the Elder Wand (the only known Thestral hair wand in existence) has been through. It is also a wand that has been the instrument of death many times over, which some also believe is connected to its Thestral hair core (possibly inspiring murder in the heart of its beholder(s), since Thestrals have a strong connection to death, as does the origin of the wand itself). However, the many changes of allegiance that the Elder Wand has had as well as its history of winning through murder may be simply a reflection on the nature of power itself, and the means people are willing to sink to in order to attain it.
* It should be noted that, concerning the wands of the Trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione), each wand has one of the three different cores used by Ollivander: Harry's wand has a phoenix feather, Ron's wands (both his first and second) have a unicorn hair and Hermione's wands (both hers and Bellatrix's) have a dragon heartstring.
* Out of all the wand cores, the Dragon Heartstring is the core of more character wands, with the Unicorn Tail Hair Core in second place, with the Dragon Heartstrings residing inside ten character wands and Unicorn Hair residing inside nine character wands.