Summary
Wands are iconic to theHarry Potterseries, just as much as circular glasses and a lightning bolt scar. That’s not just because of the magical feats they can perform, though. Their real magic comes from how each character’s wand is completely unique. In many regards, each wand is strange in its own way. Some haveunusual handles, like Fred Weasley’s pinecone design, while some have bizarre etchings, styles, or some other oddity that makes them unique, like how Gellert Grindelwald’s wand still retains its sharp thorns.
The strangest wands in theHarry Potterseries are more than just magical instruments – they’re an extension of their owner’s personality. The Art Deco style of Queenie Goldstein’s wand says just as much about her character as the skulls on the handles of Alecto and Amycus Carrow’s wands. What really makes the strangest wands unique is the story behind them and what they tell about the witch or wizard who wields them.
15Gilderoy Lockhart’s Wand
9 Inches, Cherry, Dragon Heartstring, Slightly Bendy
There’s a reason why cherry is a rare wand wood and highly prestigious among witches and wizards in Japan. Cherry wood makes particularly powerful wands, particularly when paired with a dragon heartstring core and requires a wizard with remarkable self-control and strength of mind.
On the surface, this should be perfect for a dashing and swashbuckling hero like Gilderoy Lockhart – except that he’s a fraud who takes credit for other people’s adventures after wiping their minds with a Memory Charm. If the wand did indeed choose Lockhart, it’s possible it saw his potential rather than what he would actually do with his life. More likely, though, Lockhart probably put his vanity first and chose this wand because of its power and prestige. Then again, this wand is shorter than usual, hinting that Lockhart lacks something, such as honesty.
14Horace Slughorn’s Wand
10¼ Inches, Cedarwood, Dragon Heartstring, Fairly Flexible
At first glance, Professor Slughorn’s wand stands out because it’s thicker than usual for a wand and looks far more metallic than others. However, there are some interesting details on this wand that make it specific for Slughorn and say a lot about who he is.
Slughorn’s wand appears to be less wooden than regular wands, perhaps showing that he prefers the finer things in life, and boasts a unique handle that bears a remarkable resemblance to a slug’s head, likely a flourish he chose to add himself. Interestingly, the grey-silver pattern on the shaft looks similar to tentacles, much like how Slughorn likes to wrap himself around prized students as he “collects” them. Although viewers don’t see the wand close up, there are plenty of details in this strange wand that make it perfect for Horace Slughorn.
13Draco Malfoy’s Wand
10 Inches, Hawthorn, Unicorn Hair
On the surface, there’s nothing overly strange about Draco Malfoy’s wand. However, considering who Harry thought he was and what his father expected him to become, the details of this wand say a lot about Draco’s character deep down.
Because of the rumor that only pure-blood wizards can cast magic with an elm wand, many fans would expect Draco to wield an elm wand. However, Draco uses a wand made from hawthorn, a complex wand wood that’s best suited to wizards with inner conflict and turmoil, something we see in Draco when he is tasked with killing Dumbledore and becoming a Death Eater. His wand even has unicorn hair for a core, making it particularly unsuitable for the Dark Arts.As vile as Draco can be at times, it’s almost as though the wand could sense the good in him and wanted to help him.
12Cedric Diggory’s Wand
12¼ Inches, Ash, Unicorn Hair, Pleasantly Springy
Technically, Cedric Diggory’s wand is quite normal, containing the same wood and core as Ron Weasley’s first wand. In fact, this wood says a lot about Diggory since ash wands tend to choose the bravest wizards with a strong moral compass.
However, although the unusual etchings make this wand’s design slightly strange, what makes it most interesting is that renowned wandmaker Ollivander nearly died making this wand. During the Wand Weighing ceremony as part of the Triwizard Tournament in the books, we hear Ollivander himself recall the making of this wand. Unicorn hair may be a fairly standard core, but this one came from a large unicorn that nearly impaled Ollivander with its horn after he plucked the hair from its tail.
11Viktor Krum’s Wand
10¼ Inches, Hornbeam Wood, Dragon Heartstring, Quite Rigid
A slightly more unusual wand wood, hornbeam wands tend to choose witches and wizards with a specific passion or obsession. For Ollivander, it was wandlore; for Krum, it was probably Quidditch. However, what makes Krum’s wand particularly interesting is that it was one of the last wands sold by legendary wandmaker Mykew Gregorovitch.
The strangest part of this wand’s design is the absence of a handle. However, that seems to be Gregorovitch’s preferred style since the wand he made himself after Grindelwald stole the Elder Wand also had no handle. In the films, keen-eyed viewers might see a carving of a bird in place of a handle, perhaps a reference to Ollivander using the wand to cast a bird-conjuring charm during the Wand Weighing ceremony.
10Seraphina Picquery’s Wand
13½ Inches, Swamp Mayhaw Wood, Rougarou Hair
Although the strangest wands in theWizarding Worldare found in theHarry Potterseries, this wand fromFantastic Beasts And Where To Find Themcan rival some of the best wands in theHarry Potterfilms. Belonging to the former President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, Seraphina Picquery’s wand looks gorgeous on the surface, with a stunning pink jewel as its handle.
However, this pink jewel hides something more sinister. This wand was made by Violetta Beauvais, one of the four wandmakers in North America at the time. Like all Beauvais wands, it’s made from swamp mayhaw wood with a Rougarou hair as its core, a swamp-dwelling magical creature similar to a werewolf. This makes it a particularly strange wand for a witch of such importance since wands with a Rougarou hair core are ideal for the Dark Arts.
9Ron Weasley’s First Wand
12 Inches, Ash, Unicorn Hair
Ron Weasley’s first wand isn’t particularly noteworthy at first but it quickly becomes one of the most memorable of the series inHarry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets. After Ron broke it when he crashed the Flying Ford Anglia into the Whomping Willow, his wand constantly malfunctioned throughout his second year at Hogwarts, even backfiring a curse and causing him to vomit slugs. Still, in many ways, this wand was never going to work well for Ron anyway.
Ron wasn’t this wand’s first owner; it originally belonged to his older brother, Charlie Weasley, but was passed down to Ron because of the Weasley’s money troubles. However, this type of wand was not suited to changing owners. Ash wands form strong bonds with their true owner, while wands with unicorn hair cores are particularly faithful to their original owner. This might show that Ron wasn’t as weak a wizard as he initially seemed and might even have something in common with Neville Longbottom, who also inherited a temperamental wand from his father.
8Peter Pettigrew’s Second Wand
9¼ Inches, Chestnut, Dragon Heartstring, Brittle
Peter Pettigrew lost his first wand shortly after betraying the Potters, framing Sirius Black for the murder of twelve muggles, and faking his own death to start his life as a rat. However, after Lord Voldemort’s return, the kidnapped Ollivander made a replacement wand for Pettigrew. Its design is strange, although the zig-zag shaft and snake carved into the handle are details that make for a deliberately sinister aesthetic befitting a follower of Voldemort.
Still, what makes it more fascinating is the hidden details Ollivander included. Described as brittle, it subtly hints at how weak Pettigrew really is and how he doubts his abilities. More interestingly, chestnut wands that contain a dragon heartstring core are more suited to amoral, materialistic wizards.
7Fleur Delacour’s Wand
9½ Inches, Rosewood, Veela Hair, Inflexible
The handle of Fleur Delacour’s wand may be strange, but it’s just as beautiful and elegant as you would expect from the Triwizard Champion forBeauxbatons. In fact, it’s very appropriate that it’s made from rosewood as that’s the type of wood used for making fine furniture and luxurious perfume.
What makes Fleur’s wand particularly strange, though, is its core. Veela hair is not a core typically used by wandmakers like Ollivander, but even more strangely, the Veela who gave their hair for this wand was none other than Fleur’s grandmother. Veelas are magical creatures known for their startling beauty, but legend has it that if a hair is plucked from their head, they will either die or change into a non-human shape, begging the question of what happened to Fleur’s grandmother. Sadly, although rosewood and Veela hair make for beautiful wands, they also make weak wands, which perhaps explains why Fleur came last in the Triwizard Tournament.
6Bellatrix Lestrange’s Wand
12¾ Inches, Walnut, Dragon Heartstring, Unyielding
More than any other wand, Bellatrix Lestrange’s looks the most like a regular stick, although the slight bend in the shaft does make it look like a bird of prey’s talon or an evil witch’s finger. However, this wand has a sickening history; it tortured Neville Longbottom’s parents, murdered countless people for Voldemort, killed Bellatrix’s own cousin Sirius Black, and cast the Unbreakable Vow between Narcissa Malfoy and Severus Snape. Even Harry was so sickened by this wand that he was tempted to slice it in two with the Sword of Gryffindor in the seventh book.
Its impressive length and unyielding characteristic suggestBellatrix’s loyalty to Voldemort, but it’s the wand wood that’s most interesting. Made from walnut, this wand harks back to European superstitions surrounding walnut trees, which many believed were sites where witches used to gather and in which the spirits of the dead lived. In fact, some medieval societies were so fearful of walnut trees that they didn’t even plant anything nearby for fear that the tree would kill any other plant.
