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A recent comment exchange (here) got me thinking: are there any examples of non-wooden wand in canon? I always assumed it was the core of the wand itself that was being used in the channeling of magic, but I recall Ollivander mentioning something about the wood of the wand playing a part in how difficult a wand was to make.

Are there any examples of wands made of different materials than wood or, if not, does the wood itself play any part in the strength of the wand?

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4 Answers4

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I'll say yes, they must be made of wood. Because not even all trees can produce wood that can make wands.

Only a minority of trees can produce wand quality wood (just as a minority of humans can produce magic). It takes years of experience to tell which ones have the gift, although the job is made easier if Bowtruckles are found nesting in the leaves, as they never inhabit mundane trees. The following notes on various wand woods should be regarded very much as a starting point, for this is the study of a lifetime, and I continue to learn with every wand I make and match. pottermore article on wand woods

The article gives a breakdown of all the materials used to make wands and their various quirks and there is no mention of any non wooden material.

Furthermore, the Pottermore article on wands states

Made from various kinds of wood, containing a core from substances such as dragon heartstring, unicorn hair or phoenix feather pottermore article on wands

Harry Potter Wikia has a list named wands. And they're all wooden.

Voldemort's wand (according to the above article) has a bone handle in the film.

Himarm
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    The Pottermore article is from Ollivander's notes. Other wandmakers may do things differently. – ibid Jan 13 '16 at 20:04
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    @ibid Olivanders family have been making wands since 382 BC. You expect him to know, mention or dismiss other materials. There is nothing in canon to support a non wooden wand. –  Jan 13 '16 at 20:08
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    He doesn't include Veela hair in his list of Wand Cores. – ibid Jan 13 '16 at 20:33
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    @ibid he knows of it though, because he says he doesn't like using it in Goblet of Fire –  Jan 13 '16 at 20:35
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    Exactly my point. The notes that he has on Pottermore only list the materials that he uses. – ibid Jan 13 '16 at 20:37
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    @ibid The article on wand cores states "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." Not all the cores he uses –  Jan 13 '16 at 20:42
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    By the same logic, the forty wand woods listed may be a just a sample of the possible materials. – ibid Jan 13 '16 at 20:53
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    @ibid the wand wood article doesn't have a disclaimer saying its a sample like the wand cores. If you've not got anything constructive to add beyond "prove something doesn't exist" this discussion is over. –  Jan 13 '16 at 20:54
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    Hagrid somehow made his wand's pieces into an umbrella, and with it he could still use magic to some degree. It seems that while the wand itself probably must be made of wood, you may be able to make cosmetic additions that are not. – Kai Jan 13 '16 at 22:33
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    @Kai his wand was inside the umbrella. –  Jan 14 '16 at 06:03
  • @Kai It seems the handle doesn't affect the actual wand - it can be made out of anything. Hagrid's umbrella that contains his wand has been mentioned, also (movie) Voldemort's bone handle. (Movie) Lucius Malfoy has his wand in a type of swordstick which appears to have a metal handle. So it seems although the actual wand must be magical wood, other attachments don't change the magicalness of it. (I also wonder if adding a handle to make your wand longer = compensating for something?) – NiceOrc Jan 14 '16 at 20:53
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    @NiceOrc I think Hagrid's wand pieces are just hidden and poorly functioning inside his umbrella, not really a part of it. In Deathly Hallows Part One they make it clear that Lucius Malfoy's wand is still made of elm tree wood, just with a fancy metal attachment on the end. It is Voldemort's that it more curious, I agree. – ThruGog Jan 16 '16 at 16:58
  • RE:Your second quote: Those Pottermore fact files aren't written by Rowling. They're written by the Pottermore team based off of other canon with the intent of not adding anything new. (They have been known to slip up at times.) Not exactly a primary source. – ibid Apr 01 '16 at 20:04
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From what we know about wands they include a case of wood, which contains a magical object at its core. The wood itself seems to be slightly magical, as wand wood bearing trees attract magical creatures. but its the combination between the wood and core that makes the wand.

I would speculate that certain other organic items could work for a wand casing, for example bones, filled with a magical core could possibly work. especially bones from a magical creature, like Dragon bones. However AFAIK in cannon we never have a non-wood example of a wand.

Himarm
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    There are definitely no non-wood wands in the books. In the films, Voldemort's looks like it's made of bone, but we are told in the books that it is made of yew. – ThruGog Jan 13 '16 at 20:04
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Possibly ivory

This concept art picture from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 'Conceptual Artist' Dermot Power shows a wand made of carved ivory (with a brass handle).

enter image description here

This wand (along with many of the other art pieces by Power) doesn't appear to have made it beyond the concept stage.

Valorum
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  • Not surprised. Ivory carved that thin would be extremely brittle and likely to crack and shatter even at minor impacts. The way wizarding children (Cedric Diggory excluded) tend to treat their wands, one like this wouldn’t be likely to last more than a week at Hogwarts. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Aug 26 '18 at 15:11
  • @JanusBahsJacquet - Plus ivory is deeply controversial at the moment. I can't imagine the studio would allow it, even in a film about wizards and magic – Valorum Aug 26 '18 at 15:18
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    There’s that too. Narwhal tusk would be more stable in this shape, but no less controversial or banned, so probably also not an ideal option. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Aug 26 '18 at 15:19
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If you look at the Ilvermorny founder family, they had some wands made with bone. Just something to look up as I just woke up but I think deer bone and horned serpent were used as wands.

ChaosTheory818
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  • Hi, welcome to SF&F! This would be quite a nice answer if you can find a quote that backs this up. – DavidW Sep 03 '19 at 14:29
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    This is a nice find, it would be a lot better though if you could [edit] it to include evidence that this is indeed the case. For example, if it is a book quote edit in the relevant quote(s). – TheLethalCarrot Sep 03 '19 at 14:30
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    I'm pretty sure you're wrong. The wands had a horn core but we're wood exteriors – Valorum Sep 03 '19 at 15:11
  • I double checked and saw that it was the core....that being said I’ve never posted before so have no idea how to remove this. – ChaosTheory818 Sep 08 '19 at 01:58