The Study of Wands

Looking at Hagrid's skills, Ryan had tentatively confirmed that Hagrid was a descendant of the King of Monsters.

Bored out of his mind, Ryan looked toward Hagrid's hut. It was made of wood, and through the window, he could see that the little cabin had only one room, with hams and pheasants hanging inside.

In the middle of the room stood a huge wooden table, piled with leftover weasel sandwiches.

A large bed sat in the corner, covered with a patchwork quilt. Several copper kettles hung from the ceiling, along with a long bundle of soft, smooth white hair.

A copper kettle boiled water over the brazier in the opposite corner.

Pumpkins and peas grew in a field behind the hut.

A pink umbrella patterned with flowers leaned against the wall.

A crossbow and a pair of rubber boots stood before the front door.

It was truly shabby yet luxurious. That casually hung white hair was unicorn hair. According to Horace Slughorn, the Potions Class professor in the sixth book, Unicorn Tail Hair cost ten Galleons per strand.

Harry's wand had only cost seven Galleons.

Yet Hagrid merely thought Unicorn Tail Hair was very sturdy and could be used to bind the wounds of injured animals.

Unicorn tail hair had many uses.

First, Unicorn Tail Hair could be used in potion-making, such as beauty potions. It could be bought at potion shops in Diagon Alley for ten Galleons per bag. Yet the amount in one such bag did not even compare to a single hair from Hagrid's bundle of Unicorn Hair. It had merely been processed and trimmed, and packaging it in bags made it look like more. Still, considering it was used to make beauty potions—witches' cosmetics—there was a reason it sold for so much.

Second, Unicorn Tail Hair could be used to make wands. Wands made with Unicorn Tail Hair produced the most stable magic and were rarely affected by fluctuations or blockages. They were also the most loyal; regardless of whether their first owner was an outstanding wizard, they maintained a strong bond with that person. Such wands had drawbacks as well. They were difficult to use for Dark magic and would not become the most powerful wands, though the wand wood might compensate for this weakness. They were also as sensitive as their owners when it came to contact with young maidens. If handled improperly, Unicorn Tail Hair could easily become melancholy. This meant the hair had "died" and needed replacing.

Ryan suddenly felt rather fortunate that his wand was not made with Unicorn Tail Hair. Although wand wood could compensate for the lack of power in Unicorn Hair wands, they were still somewhat inferior to Dragon Heartstring and Phoenix Feather. If a Unicorn Tail Hair wand could use excellent wand wood, could Dragon Heartstring and Phoenix Feather wands not use it too?

Aspen Wood, an outstanding wand wood, had already made up for that deficiency. On top of that, Ryan's wand had an unprecedented Unicorn Heartstring core. According to what Jack later found out, this wand had been made by Ollivander in his early years. He had rejected more than one wizard who later became outstanding on the grounds that they lacked talent, which showed just how powerful it was.

Still, Unicorn Hair was already one of the three most magical substances in the eyes of Ollivander, the wand master, apart from dragon and phoenix materials. Unicorns were somewhat like phoenixes: the only parts of them usually usable for wandmaking were their hair. Dragons were different. Every part of a dragon could be used to make wands, such as its nerves and heartstrings.

Unicorns looked noble and sacred, but their other body parts carried powerful curses that could plague a wizard for life. Only their least magical hair could serve as wand cores. Phoenixes had many feathers and shed often. Though they could not be captured, feathers could always be found where they lived. Dragons, the strongest of the three, were simply too useful and too fertile. Even Dumbledore had specifically studied the twelve uses of Dragon Blood in his youth.

The breeding of dragons had even been specifically prohibited by legislation passed by pure-blood wizards, who banned private dragon breeding and built dragon sanctuaries in Romania to monopolize it.

As for the other Child of Prophecy, Harry Potter, his wand combination could truly be called extraordinary. The more Ryan learned about wands, the more he understood why Ollivander in the original story could not bear to part with this wand.

Holly Wood, Phoenix Feather, supple, eleven inches long.

Holly Wood was itself a rare wand wood. It was generally believed to possess defensive properties and favored owners who needed to overcome their anger and impatience. It also tended to follow those who engaged in somewhat dangerous pursuits and valued spiritual ideals.

The performance of a Holly Wood wand depended heavily on its core, and it was rather difficult to pair with Phoenix Feather. Its instability clashed strangely with the phoenix's detachment. Yet under special circumstances, such a pairing could occur, and then no one and nothing could stop it.

Its owner, Harry Potter, fully displayed these traits as well.

Harry Potter was very good at controlling his emotions, perhaps even somewhat insecure. After entering the magical world, he gradually became more confident and courageous. At critical moments, he dared to sacrifice himself and fight on.

What he excelled at most was the Patronus Charm, which perfectly embodied Holly Wood's defensive qualities. He drove away hundreds of Dementors in one go. Even in the seventh book, when facing its master's enemy, it proactively unleashed an unprecedentedly powerful spell and repelled Voldemort.

Interestingly, wizarding superstition held that the owners of Holly Wood wands and Oak Wood wands were incompatible and could not be together. Hagrid's wand was Oak Wood.

This was because the oak was known as the King of the Forest from the winter solstice to the summer solstice, and its wood could only be harvested during that period. When the days began to shorten again, holly replaced the oak as King of the Forest, so Holly Wood could only be harvested in the latter half of the year. That was why they were incompatible.

Such extraordinary combinations at Ollivander's Wand Shop numbered only around a dozen since 382 BC, and most of them had never found their owners. Only after repeated testing would Ollivander carefully bring them out for young wizards to try one by one.

Perhaps this was also because most wizards did not value the study of wands. Most of them felt that a wand that worked well enough was sufficient.

Muggle-born young wizards, on the other hand, would actively go to Ollivander's to buy wands. Of those born to wizarding families, only some chose it because Ollivander's wands were the best. Others would rather buy from secondhand wand shops, saving money for things they considered more important, such as potion ingredients and clothes.

The vast majority who did not buy wands from Ollivander's inherited the wands of their relatives.

Ron and Neville both used old wands from family members. Ron was poor and inherited Charlie's Unicorn Hair wand. It remained loyal to its first owner, causing Ron to perform rather mediocrely in his first year. Neville's grandmother simply did not value this issue, so he continued using his father's old wand until his fifth year.

One detail many people had not noticed was that Lucius Malfoy's elm wood and Dragon Heartstring wand had also been inherited from his father, Abraxas Malfoy.

What a pity. Harry's performance in the original story proved the power of a compatible wand. Neville's poor performance in the original story was also partly due to his wand being incompatible with him. It was not until the end of the fifth book, Order of the Phoenix, when his wand was damaged in battle, that he went to Ollivander's before his sixth year and got a new wand.

Interestingly, this was also the last wand Ollivander sold before Voldemort kidnapped him: Cherry Wood and Unicorn Tail Hair.

Finally, thanks to Ming Ziyang and Yinhe Yibei Suodun for their four monthly votes.