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]

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.

## 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.