Wand Cores

Over the centuries, a variety of cheap materials have been used as cores of a witch or wizard's wand. Such examples include the hairs from a kelpie (a shapeshifting water demon native to Britain and Ireland) and a Veela (a race of semi-human, semi-magical hominids).

However, Garrick Ollivander, arguably the best wand-maker in the world, selects a wide range of wand woods but only three cores that he calls the Supreme Wand Cores: Unicorn Hair, Dragon Heartstring and Phoenix Feather. His research has concluded that these rare and costly materials-when combined with several unique wand woods- produce the best wands.

From the Story

"Wands each have cores made of magical substances. Those from Ollivanders have cores of phoenix feather, unicorn hair, or dragon heartstring."

New from J. K. Rowling

"The following description of the powers and properties of the three main wand cores used by Mr Garrick Ollivander are taken from his own notes.

"Early in my career, as I watched my wandmaker father wrestling with substandard wand core materials such as kelpie hair, I conceived the ambition to discover the finest cores and to work only with those when my time came to take over the family business. This I have done. After much experimentation and research, I concluded that only three substances produce wands of the quality to which I am happy to give the illustrious name of Ollivander: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring and phoenix feather. Each of these costly and rare materials has its own distinct properties. The following represents a short summary of my researches into each of the three Supreme Cores. Readers should bear in mind that each wand is the composite of its wood, its core and the experience and nature of its owner; that tendencies of each may counterbalance or outweigh the other; so this can only be a very general overview of an immensely complex subject.'"

Unicorn

"Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

"Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may 'die' and need replacing."

Unicorn Hair

While this core does not generally produce the strongest wands-although the wand wood may enhance its power-wands that have unicorn hair in them are the least flamboyant, decreasing its susceptibility to fluctuations and blockages. Advantages of this core are that it usually produces the most consistent magic, and that it is the most faithful to its owner of the three cores. A wand with a core of unicorn hair is harder to turn to the Dark Arts than dragon heartstring and phoenix feather, a factor that many witches and wizards like.

Owners of Unicorn Hair Wands

Quirinus Quirrell
Ron Weasley First and Second
Mary Cattermole
Neville Longbottom Second Wand
Cedric Diggory
Draco Malfoy

Trivia

Currently, the most common wand core is Unicorn Hair