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Minerva the Bookwyrm Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:14 am
Wands reveal a lot about a characters' magical skills, and sometimes aspects of their personality. How did you determine what your characters' wands would be?
We discussed this before we had our own guild, but for the sake of new players, I thought that we ought to put our interesting reasonings in an easy-to-find-thread.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:59 am
So the members that explained don’t have to retype their elucidations, I’ll quote the conversation for you here:Minerva the Bookwyrm I read through Fantastic Beasts carefully to decide on wand cores and Patronuses.
I’ve done fan fics and role plays with Remus before, hence I already knew what I wanted his to be. I made Remus' core unicorn hair because in ALL of the books I've perused with the creatures they are symbolic of purity. If Remus isn’t a kind, pure, selfless person then I don’t know who is! whee The wood is Pine because Pine is an evergreen plant. It is predictable and unchanging, the way that Remus prefers his lifestyle to be.
Sapphire’s core is Augery feather since in FB they’re a bird that isn’t very dangerous and predicts the weather, just like Sapphire. Her wand is Fir because Fir tree symbolism includes honesty, progress and friendship. Sapphire is a truthful and friendly person, whose personality progresses away from her strict upbringing throughout the RP. Also, the Druids recognized the fir to be a portent of weather conditions. They noticed that the cones would open to the rays of the sun, and close against impending rain. In addition, the fir is an evergreen plant, like Remus’ pine, making them a good match.
Emmeline’s wand was the most difficult for me to decide upon. I eventually made her core an Occamy feather. (It’s not a coincidence that an Occamy is Sapphire’s Patronus.) An Occamy in FB is a two-legged, winged serpent that is aggressive and defensive of her pure silver eggs. Em is a VERY defensive person that becomes aggressive when people won’t leave her alone. Her core is a feather rather than a scale from the Occamy to represent that - despite Em’s dislike of humanity in general - she is not a cold-blooded person. Her wood is yew from the tree that indicates silence, mystery, strength, and introspection. The yew is a loner, one of the only trees that tend to grow in isolated areas where no other trees are located. It grows with gnarly contortions throughout the trunk and twisted branches. Its wood is very strong; Celtic warriors that made shields from the wood rarely had it break, thus Celtic people came to associate the solitary tree with protection and longevity in addition to the qualities already attributed to it.
I confess that I didn’t think about the wands’ lengths too much. I just decided that I ought to make them “not too big and not too small.” Suze says wand length is based on height, and Em is the shortest girl so far, ergo I might go make hers smaller. Besides, Em doesn’t reach far beyond herself out of mistrust, so an atypically short wand would suit her...Yes, I'll go switch them. Remus isn’t too tall or short for a man, making his wand 10 inches. Sapphire is a few inches taller than the average girl, making her wand 11inches. (Average height for a grown woman in Europe and America was 5 ft. 6.5 inches when I checked last year.)
Hey, Empress_Cat, not that there’s anything wrong with Gwen’s wand, but because she’s a Ravenclaw that has visions maybe you should give her a Hazel wood wand due to the fact that Hazel tree symbolism includes hidden wisdom, dousing and divination.
James' wand is brilliant! JKR made a great choice! It's made from the mahogany tree, which is so strong that it's known for its ability to withstand lightening strikes!
In case you're interested, I looked up information about the trees’ symbolisms at these websites: http://www.livingartsoriginals.com/infoforests.htm http://www.whats-your-sign.com/tree-symbolism.html Matelia legwll Yes, Min. I will say though, Peter is aware of his faults somewhat, but he doesn't think there is anything he can honestly do about them. He accepts himself, and doesn't try very hard to improve at all. He is very much a fatalist, I suppose. Oh, I'm so glad I made you laugh. lol Peter was not expecting those romance questions at all. biggrin
Ooh, how interesting about the wands. I gave the ones I got to choose, lengths for the full-grown height of that individual, and cores based on the strengths of Ollivander's three cores. Phoenix feather is supposed to do well in Defense, Charms, and Potions. What other core would work for Lily? Unicorn hair is supposed to do well in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, and those would be Peter's strengths. It's also generalized enough so that I could make it Justin's. Dragon heartstring is a more powerful core in general and excels at the more complicated magics like Transfiguration.
If you think about it, Hermione had Dragon heartstring, Ron had Unicorn Hair, and Harry had Phoenix feather. What do they excel in the most, which classes are easiest for them, and which spells are most powerful when performed by each of the trio? I've also read a couple of articles where the logic works for the Triwizard Champions, too.
I hadn't much thought about the woods, to be honest. I think I'll change Peter's though. Hawthorn fits him so much more than Ash. For Lily, Willow was provided by Jo, and I have to say, Jo makes good picks on her wands. For Justin's wood, I thought immediately, Cedar. Though I can't explain how it worked, it truly is perfect for him.
Thanks for the websites on the trees Min! That was quite interesting. SuzelovesJamesPotter Adding on to what Min said, here is some research I found. (We were talking about this in PMs, so I'll just copy and paste.) _____ Wood. <- That is actually how JK found the wood for some characters. Once I read that, I researched and changed Cayden's wood.
Length of the wand, I read, depends on height and there wasn't a chart or anything like that. Quote: • Phoenix Feather – Very Magical. • Dragon Heartstring – Hexes are a specialty of this core. • Unicorn Tail – Best for the pure of heart. • Leprechaun Hair – Somewhat temperamental to Non-Irish. • Demiguise Hair – Only the best for Transfiguration. • Hippogriff Talon – Excellent for Charm Work. • Runespoor Fang – Best for those who deal with Dark Magic. • Hair from the Mane of a Kelpie – Superb for all spells. • Chimaera Scale – Very rare, yet very powerful. • Ashwinder Ash – Casts the best protection charms. And that is how I found the cores.
To orginially do Cayden's, I combined what I knew (length and pliableness) with what I liked (the wood, the core)
Now I changed it to best represent her. ___
That was the information from the PM. Now that I see the links about the woods Min posted, I might check them out to see if this is still best for Cayden. Minerva the Bookwyrm Ooh, Matelia, you went with Hawthorn for Peter? That was one of the trees whose symbolism I found the most interesting. cool I would've chosen it, but it doesn't suit any of the characters I'm playing.
For those of you who don't know, the Hawthorn is about balance and contradictions. It has blossoms with thorns hidden among them. The blossoms can be used for healing, but cutting into the wood produces the smell of decaying flesh.
Suze, thanks for sharing the wand core info with everyone. whee Two of my three wands have cores that aren't even on that list, but because they're in Fantastic Beasts, which JKR wrote herself, I presumed that they were acceptable to use.
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Minerva the Bookwyrm Vice Captain
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Minerva the Bookwyrm Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:09 am
Since I’m still going to be playing Severus by the time he goes to Ollivander’s, I needed to design a wand for him. This is what I came up with: Blackthorn, Sphinx hair, 12 inches – good for mentally-manipulating magic
Snape is rather intimidating to almost everyone, so I imagine that he’d be on the taller side, which explains the length. Sphinxes specialise in riddles, and Sev wrote the potions riddle in Book 1, hence he’s obviously skilled at puzzles and mind games. I presume that he enjoys them as well.
This is the Celtic meaning of the Blackthorn tree:Quote: Inevitability Preparation Constraint StrifeThis tree has some wicked thorns that are ominous looking at best. Indeed, when cut by these thorns the human flesh can turn septic fairly rapidly. When these leaves drop they expose a contorted body. This mangled imagery brought the concept of strife and suffering to mind, the part of life that we often shrink back from. This tree produces some of the sweetest berries, however, these berries are at their most succulent and sweetest after a hard frost. Again, showing strife, though that blessings can come after challenges. Severus was given more than his fair share of strife, and a difficult challenge, which he didn't succeed at to get his berries in time. sad
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:04 am
Recently, I learned that a Demiguise is known for being hidden and one of their hair woven into a cloak could make an invisiblity cloak. (After recently rereading Deathly Hallows.) I think this core is now perfect for Cay. She doesn't like to show herself truly because she is scared of rejection. This is quite like the Demiguise. Before I even knew that part, I made it Cay's core. How prefect?
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SuzelovesJamesPotter Captain
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Minerva the Bookwyrm Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:27 pm
I wonder if Ollivander had any left after he made Cay's wand? I wouldn't mind having an invisibility cloak! wink
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:15 pm
]I designed Riannon's wand with her family's past in mind. Her family from India is big into Death magic and so I thought to design a wand that would attach itself to her. Her grandmother's wand has been passed down from woman to woman, on their deathbeds, it chooses who it thinks could wield it best, and who it thinks will be able to take it to it's next owner. Below is listed quotes from this site. "No wonder the Yew is associated with immortality, renewal, regeneration, everlasting life, rebirth, transformation and access to the Otherworld and our ancestors."This is the reason why I chose for the wand to be passed down from woman to woman. The wand is renewed and regenerated with each woman."The entire tree is poisonous - wood, bark, needles and seed."Like the woman that carry it, they all have "Slytherin" tendencies and have venomous dispositions if you attack their family."The Yew is sacred to Hecate, and the Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess; both are guardians of the Underworld, death and the afterlife.."Hecate was a witch in some myths, and according to Shakespeare. This is an association to yew meaning death."The Yew is considered to be the most potent tree for protection against evil, a means of connecting to your ancestors, a bringer of dreams and otherworld journeys and a symbol of the old magic. In hot weather it gives off a resinous vapour which shamans inhaled to gain visions. Yew wood was regarded as especially magical to the Celts, due to its connection with the dead and the ancestors which were deeply respected."Another association with death. It safeguards against evil, but we will see if it works for Riannon. "Our ancestors revered the Yew above all other trees. It has always been held sacred and understood as a link with death and rebirth. It was used by early man for making weapons, tools of death, and now thousands of years later it is providing a possibility of averting death for cancer patients. It is a powerful reconnection to humankind for this tree when you consider that each person with cancer has to face their own death, whether they are cured or not. One of the most valuable abilities of the Yew is to provide the opportunity for people to turn and face death, to progress beyond fear to a communication wtih what is beyond our reality, which will bring understanding, clear insight, enriched by a deeper experience of life."This also talks about death and the like. Another interesting fact is that yew has been found to possess a substance called taxol that could be a cure for cancer, but use of this will cause the yew tree to become extinct within a few years. As for the core I chose Thestrel because it is probably not common and it is associated with death, not evil. The length of the wand is of importance for the first wielder because she came across the yew wood on a trip north, the branch it was attached to fell on top of a would be attacker and killed him. The piece of wood attached itself onto her outfit and went with her as she ran to safety. She later turned the wood into a wand and inserted a piece of hair from the first thestral she saw. Thirteen was the woman's lucky number. She was thirteen when this happened and the piece of wood was thirteen inches long. (I like the number thirteen.. biggrin )
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:16 am
Well for Terra I picked Cherry for the wood because of how beautiful that type of wood is and a Peryton feather because of it's rarity.
As for Lockhart. Well they only had a picture of his wand anywhere I looked and not what it was made of just that it looked expensive so I looked at a real online shop that sells real wood wands and looked for a wood that looked similar. Which turned out to be Bloodwood which IS really expensive.
Also I took into consideration that he was bad at almost every sort of magic and found that there was a possibility that a Peacock feather could be used for a core, so I thought that if his core didn't have any real magical properties to it that might explain why he was so bad at magic: his own magic wasn't very strong to begin with and his wand didn't amplify it much on top of it....
Wow that was a long explanation. And yes. I put A LOT of thought into this.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:04 pm
Crystal, I like a peacock feather for Lockart's core. I don't know if non-magical creatures' hair/feathers were ever used as cores, but it suits his personality, and you gave a decent reason to justify why you chose it. whee
Since Matelia and I wrote the scene of Lily and Sev in Ollivander’s getting their wands I had to come up with a wand for Eileen, for upon seeing her Ollivander was bound to recite the wand he’d given her.
Kelpie hair is good for all magics, and – given Sev’s power - I imagine that she must’ve been a good witch. If there was a core that JKR had mentioned was associated with only Potions skills I would’ve chosen that, but she never did…at least, not as far as I know.
Heather is the wood of Eileen’s wand because the Celt’s used it in: Brooms (Eileen tried to clean away the dirt of her family by leaving them). Medicines that cleansed blockages in the body (Eileen is a good potion-maker). Mead because heather a strong hallucinogen (Eileen takes more Muggle pills than she should).
I imagine Severus being tall. I don’t think Eileen was quite as tall as him, but perhaps a half-inch or an inch taller than most women, which is why I made her wand 10.5 inches.
I describe Eileen’s wand as “unbendable” because she always stands by her decisions; good or bad.
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Minerva the Bookwyrm Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:08 pm
I'm not sure how to bring this up, so I'll try to do my best. Please don't take offense. I'm simply explaining my reasoning for how I've decided to do this next rp post.
Since Min and I are doing the Ollivander's scene with Lily and Sev, I was going to have Ollivander rattle off his same little selling speech he does with Harry in SS. But it is in that speech that Ollivander states he only uses the three dominant cores--Phoenix tail feather, Unicorn hair, and Dragon Heartstring. This bit of information is not consistent with how we've decided wand cores so far and the fact that our characters are all getting their wands at Ollivander's.
In Suze's post that Min quoted, Suze quoted a list of wand cores and their uses. I recently found that exact list at theorderofthephoenix.net. To be fair, I also found that same list on Facebook, Nerd-fighters, and MuggleNet Fanfiction, as well as on other message boards. I just can't find an official source for it. And so, I'm not sure how canon we should consider the other cores and what they do. On the webpage I linked it gives source information for the chart of canon characters and their known wands, but it looks like the cores and properties are something that some fan came up with. The spells charms and incantations include spells from the books as well as from the movies and that list looks alright, but quite frankly that site does not seem to have been updated since 2003, and is in fact still providing links to some of the false titles that were rumored for book six and seven, including "Harry Potter and the Mudblood Revolt," and "Harry Potter and the Quest of the Centaur." On the other pages I found that same list at, it seems clear that the list of cores is fan submitted, fan made, and not anything official.
However, since we have such a variety of cores in our RP, and they all have had much thought put into their reasons and reactions, I've decided that I'll alter Ollivander's speech slightly for the rp. Also, just to let you know, for my characters, I've decided to go with my original cores, and not to change it to any of the more exotic ones based solely on the chart.
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Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:58 pm
No offense taken, Matelia. I'm really impressed by how much thought so many people have put into their wands. cool It was clever of you to make the speech suitable!
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Minerva the Bookwyrm Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:40 pm
Sarah would have gotten hers from America. That's why I did that for her and Lockhart's was bought at one of the other wand shops in England.
In fact, by what I would think, Lockhart would in fact get his from the cheapest place possible that he could get to, thus explaining why it would have such a useless component used as its core.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:13 pm
Oooo! If you have been on Pottermore, Jo gave us a really detailed list of what the woods mean along with how the wand cores and lengths fit the wizard.
The only one that's missing is mahogany... Oh well. I came up with my own spiel for that one. ^_^
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