Site Wandlore

In addition to the standard cores and woods available to witches and wizards at Ollivander's, Light After Darkness features a number of additional materials as options for wandmakers to choose from. These materials are set out below, along with some notes on the personalities to which they are attracted and the qualities of the wand which is likely to be produced.

For details on the canon cores, see the Wizarding World website here.

For details on the canon woods, see the Wizarding World website here.

### Cores

#### Acromantula Hair

The hair of the giant spider is a much sought-after material in some quarters, particularly in the wand markets of Asia, which has led to the creatures being hunted nearly to extinction in their native lands. For those rare few who can afford the exclusive wandmakers with a monopoly on this rare substance, it's as well to keep it a closely guarded secret; the extra punch which it lends to Dark spells in particular makes it a suspicious purchase.

#### Augurey Talon

The cry of the Augurey or Irish Phoenix was long thought to signify death, which perhaps accounts for the unhappy reputation its talons have attracted as a wand material. For those who can see past the prejudices, however, it makes a loyal and dependable wand, second only to the unicorn hair in reliability, which tends to seek out witches and wizards of a broad mind and understanding nature.

#### Billywig Wing

The Billywig is a magical creature native to Australia, and hence its parts are in short supply in the UK. Small numbers are imported every year, however, as some wandmakers enjoy the capricious and playful nature of the wands which are created with this core. They tend to seek out those of a fun-loving spirit and particularly inventive minds.

#### Boomslang Scale

The Boomslang's highly venomous nature transfers itself to the wands which feature the scale at their core. They tend to be untrustworthy and unreliable, shifting their allegiance at the drop of a hat, and varying wildly in terms of the power behind their spellcasting. Those witches and wizards unlucky enough to be matched with them tend to be mean-spirited and sly, meaning that the wand often carries with it a poor reputation.

#### Curupira Hair

The hair of the Curupira is a highly unstable wand core, given to exploding without warning and to vastly overestimating the amount of power required in any particular spell. It will choose only the most talented of witches and wizards, which is perhaps a good thing considering that it doubtless prevents many magical tragedies caused by inexperienced or inept handling.

#### Diricawl Feather

The Diricawl is a notoriously difficult bird to catch, and hence its feathers tend to be in short supply. The allegiance of Diricawl wands is hard-won and readily lost, but well worth having, for they are powerful and (once won over) reliable, with a particular penchant for Transfiguration magic. Shy individuals and outsiders will most often find themselves matched with this wand, though there are occasional outliers.

#### Dukuwaqa Hair

This material gives rise to wands with a great aptitude for Transfiguration, and is much sought after by some of Europe's leading wandmakers, though exports from native Fiji are painfully few. Inclined towards witches and wizards with a similar aptitude, and particularly towards Metamorphmagi and those who will go on to become Animagi (though chicken-egg style arguments are ongoing in wandmaking circles), these wands are highly selective.

#### Malaclaw Tail

A recent import from Europe, wands with Malaclaw tails at their core have a rather worse reputation than they deserve. The creature's ability to inflict bad luck upon all those it encounters does not transfer to the holders of the wands created from its parts, but rather to their victims, for these wands are known for particularly cruel curses, hexes, and jinxes. Their ideal partners, oddly, tend to be rather sweet in nature.

#### Nogtail Bristles

Favoured by those wandmakers who prefer British ingredients in their wares, wands made from this material are temperamental by nature. Capable of extreme brilliance, but also of extreme truculence, with no discernible pattern to either, they are distrusted by many. Witches and wizards matched to this wand tend to be inclined to spend their days outdoors, and poorly suited to desk jobs.

#### Selma Fang

Imported from Norway in small numbers, the fang of the Selma is a highly potent material. Creating wands of great power but which are exceedingly difficult to control to any significant degree, this material is used only by a small group of wandmakers whom some regard as reckless, and these wands should certainly only be matched with experienced witches or wizards. Attracted to the determined and the fierce, this core is an ideal match for some but too much for many others to handle.

#### Tebo Tusk

The Tebo tusk creates a wand which is strong and tenacious, not especially showy and generally poorly suited to charm work, but a solid workhorse of a wand in other areas which is well worth having. Though those of an outgoing and talkative nature will seldom find themselves paired with such a wand, it is otherwise unfussy regarding its matches - or else, the criteria against which it judges have not yet been fully identified.