Some Call It Wand Core Trivia Quiz

Answer: Magical creatures and plants

All wand cores are made from hair, horns, feathers or other parts of magical creatures, from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and Kneazles. As Garrick Ollivander tells Harry: "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand." The magical properties of a wand vary depending on its core.

Answer: Yes

Wands have personalities, and the combination of wood and core can affect a wand's personality. Cherry wands with dragon heartstring cores, for instance, require a user with a strong personality, while holly and phoenix feather make a challenging combination due to their opposite natures. Unicorn hair cores, meanwhile, make ash wands more likely to lose their power when given to someone else.

Answer: Unicorn

Unicorns, both in the 'Harry Potter' universe and elsewhere, are associated with goodness and purity. They live in the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts, and have magical silvery blood; killing one for its blood will save the killer's life, but also curse them for killing a defenceless and pure creature.

The purity of a unicorn's hair makes it extremely difficult for the wand to be used in the Dark Arts.

Answer: Thestral tail hair

The Elder Wand is one of the three Deathly Hallows, said to have been made by Death himself. When combined with the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak, the wielder would become the Master of Death. The Elder Wand has been wielded by multiple characters, including Harry himself, and its core is made of Thestral tail hair, a substance known to be unstable. Only someone capable of accepting death could wield the Elder Wand.

Answer: Veela hair

Most wand makers use a variety of materials for their wand cores, but Garrick Ollivander had a policy of only using the three materials he called the Supreme Cores, as he believed them to be the best core types. Wands with unicorn hair cores are the most loyal, while wands with dragon heartstring cores are powerful, temperamental and quick learners. Wands with phoenix feather cores are the pickiest and rarest.

This may be because phoenix feathers require the phoenix's consent to be taken.

Answer: Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin's wand is the only known wand to use a basilisk horn as its core. Slytherin bred the basilisk itself and kept it in a secret room. Slytherin taught the wand to sleep, using a Parseltongue command. However, this was not a quality inherent to all wands with basilisk cores and something that had to be taught.

Answer: Dragon heartstring

A wand that learns spells quickly is perfect for an academic like Hermione. It is made of vine wood and Hermione used it to cast her Patronus, an otter, during a meeting with Dumbledore's Army. Other characters with wands with dragon heartstring cores are Bellatrix Lestrange (whose wand Hermione was forced to use after her own was confiscated), Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew; dragon heartstring wands produce powerful magic and are easily turned to the Dark Arts, hence their popularity with Death Eaters.

Answer: Willow

Ron inherited his first wand from his brother Charlie, an ash wand with a unicorn tail hair core. The wand was broken after he and Harry crashed a flying car into the Whomping Willow. After it backfired on Gilderoy Lockhart and erased his memory, Arthur Weasley bought Ron a new willow wand that also contained a unicorn tail hair. Willow wood is said to have healing powers.

Other characters with unicorn tail hair wands include Draco Malfoy, Sybill Trelawney and Remus Lupin.

Answer: True

Brother wands contain parts from the same magical creature and are much more powerful when used together; however, when used against each other in a duel, they cause a phenomenon known as Priori Incantatem. When this happens, the wands are linked by a golden thread and the winning duellist's wand forces the loser's wand to produce 'echoes' of the most recent spells cast with it, in reverse order. If it is used in the Killing Curse, ghosts of the people it killed appear. An example is Harry and Voldemort's wands, which both contain feathers from Fawkes the phoenix.

Answer: Spellotape

Spellotape doesn't come from a magical creature or plant. Dittany is a magical plant used for healing and making potions; it is used to heal Ron when he is injured. Kneazles are cat-like creatures - Hermione's cat Crookshanks is a Kneazle hybrid - and some sentimental wizards use the whiskers of their pet Kneazles as wand cores. Kelpies are horse-like creatures that live underwater. Gervaise Ollivander used all of these materials as wand cores, but they were inferior to the Supreme Cores.