hen Muggle-born witch Hermione Granger was invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she needed a wand, as all young witches and wizards need a wand to practice magic. And the only place to go is the Ollivander's Wands shop in Diagon Alley, a cramped shopping district hidden from non-magic Muggles in the heart of London. And more cramped than Diagon Alley itself is Ollivander's, a narrow shop cluttered from floor to ceiling with small boxes containing the countless wands made by the best wand purveyor, in business since 382 B.C.
In the Harry Potter book series, we never see Miss Granger get her wand, but we do know it is made from vine wood and has a dragon heartstring core. This information is available on J.K. Rowling's Web site, with the reasoning behind the makeup of each of the wands owned by the main characters. Other than this, we know little about her wand from the books, so Warner Brothers had a fairly free hand to design the wand of one of the greatest witches of her age.
And Warner Brothers has created a fine collection of wands from the movies, each beautifully designed to fit the character of the wizard or witch in question.
Hermione's wand, as produced by Warner Brothers, measures just under 15 inches in length and is meant to portray vine wood, which particularly suits Hermione because in the Celtic tradition vine is the wood associated with the month of Hermione's birthday (September). And thanks to the ivy carving on the shaft, this wand has a more feminine style.
Made of resin, this beautifully crafted wand is a collectible, not a toy. Resin can be broken if roughly handled, and warnings are given on the Warner Brothers online shop but are seemingly missing from the product packaging itself.
Hermione's wand (as with the others in the series) comes packaged in a velvet padded cardboard box from Ollivander's shop, as featured in the first film of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, complete with a designer label at each end.
Every witch and wizard needs one
Hermione's wand is cast in hard resin, painted a faded brown and well crafted to look as if it were hand-carved, with leafy vines crawling from the base about two-thirds of the way to the tip.
The paint job is convincing, as is the molding. Rather than looking too refined, this wand could have been carved by a reasonably good wood carver. The result is quite nice.
Unlike the description of the wands in the book, these wands are not "springy" or in any way flexible, and there is no visual indication of the various core materials Ollivander is said to use to create his wands. These are dragon heartstring, phoenix feather and unicorn hair.
The box, made in the way packages were made 50 years or more ago, is a gorgeous addition to the whole look and feel of this item, contributing to the immersion. Covered in pebbled blue leatherette, the box has a lush green velvet interior with a deep comfortable groove for the wand to rest in. Covering the wand in its groove are two strips of sheer ribbon made from a material that looks green or purple depending on how the light hits it. It looks as if it were an actual witch's wand from an ancient wand store tucked away in Diagon Alley.
Other wands available in the series are Harry Potter's wand, seemingly carved from a branch of holly, with bark for the handle, stripped from handle to tip; Ron Weasley's wand—ash, and resembling something roughly whittled; Albus Dumbledore's partly honeycombed wand; Sirius Black's, which resembles a fat chopstick neatly carved and etched with runes; Professor Snape's black wand with intricately runed handle and plain shaft; and Draco Malfoy's rather simple wand.
Fitting the theme of the four champions from the new film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a display set of the wands of the four champions, Harry, Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum and Cedric Diggory.
And thanks to the new film we finally get to see Lord Voldemort's wand, which turns out to be ivory-colored, with a handle carved to look like a bony claw or a dragon's wing knuckle.
Each one is designed to fit the whole character of its wielder. And each one is a treat to own for those who enjoy sharing in the world of this magical series of books and movies.
