I love the Harry Potter books and the idea of having my own Harry Potter Wand was exciting. So I decided to make my own.
What makes up a Harry Potter wand?
I am sure you remember Harry Potter’s first trip to Diagon Alley and his experience in Ollivanders. “The wand chooses the wizard Harry” Harry’s wand is holly and phoenix feather measuring 11″ ‘nice and supple’ . There are three main parts to any wand. The wood, the core and the length.
In Harry Potter they talk about a few different types of tree that their wands are made from. These trees are Acacia, Alder, Apple, Ash, Aspen, Beech, Blackthorn, Black walnut, Cedar, Cherry, Chestnut, Cypress, Dogwood, Ebony, Elder, Elm, English Oak, Fir, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Hornbeam, Larch, Laurel, Maple, Pear, Pine, Poplar, Red Oak, Redwood, Rowan, Silver Lime, Spruce, Sycamore, Vine, Walnut, Willow and Yew. For more information about these wood types click here.
How to make your own Harry Potter wand
Step 1
The first step to making a wand is to go around your neighbourhood and look for one of the trees or plants listed above, If you don’t have any in your neighbourhood then choose one you like. I live in Australia so my wand is made of Boxtree wood. They are all along my street.
Step 2
The next step is to find a stick laying around that is about the width and length you like. Mine was a bit too long so I snapped the end off. If the stick is in a shape you don’t like you can carve or file it with help from your parents into the shape that you would like.
Step 3
Which brings us to the next part which is the length. Wands are about 8″- 18″. The shortest wand measures 8″ and belongs to Dolores Umbridge. While Lucius Malfoy owns the longest at 18″. J.K Rowling measures the wands in inches. But if you are used to metric measurements that is about 20cm-45 cm. So choose your length and work out what it is in inches.
Step 4
The final and most important part of a wand is the core. J.K Rowling talks about the magical substance inside the core of each wand which gives it it’s magical power. Some of the substances are: Unicorn Hair, Dragon Heart-string and Phoenix Feather, Thestral Tail Hair, Dittany Stalk, Troll whisker and Basilisk Horn. My wand is Phoenix Feather. So choose your magical substance (or see below to have your wand choose you) and you are done!
And that is how I made my wand! Just be careful with Expelliarmus, my wand was on the roof for a week!
J.K Rowling has an awesome site that allows you to be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses and have your wand choose you! I am in Ravenclaw and my wand is Beech Wood with phoenix feather core 12 3/4″ unyielding flexibility”. There is one more surprise too… click here it’s so cool.
Of course, if you want a ‘real’ wand this is my favorite! Click here to see my favorite wand and prices on Amazon
Or if you are heading to any of the universal studios’ theme parks I highly recommend an interactive wand!