HBO Gives Us Our First Official Look at the New Harry Potter Wands — Wood, Core and Length Included
No two Ollivander wands are the same, and HBO has finally photographed five of its new ones properly enough for us to see it.
The official Harry Potter Instagram account published a six-card carousel on Friday, fronted by a title plate reading “The wand chooses the wizard” and an invitation to swipe for “the magic behind the match.” Behind it sit five plates, each pairing a clean, full-length photograph of a series wand with the wood, the core and the length fans already know from the books. The lore is not new. The wands are.
The spec sheet
Harry Potter — Holly with a phoenix feather core, 28 cm. The card notes that Harry’s and Voldemort’s wands share a core from the same phoenix, and that Ollivander describes them as “brother wands.”
Ron Weasley — Ash with a unicorn hair core, 31 cm. Confirmed on the card as a hand-me-down from his older brother Charlie.
Hermione Granger — Vine wood with a dragon heartstring core, 27 cm. Vine, the card says, is a rare material said to favour those who seek a greater purpose.
Draco Malfoy — Hawthorn with a unicorn hair core, 25 cm. Per the card, hawthorn is best suited to wizards with a conflicted nature.
Neville Longbottom — Wood and core unknown. Length unknown. The only line offered: the wand was inherited from his father.
Why Neville’s card is blank
It reads like a withhold, and it may well be one. But the books never specify the wood, core or length of the wand Neville inherits from his father — there is nothing to put on the card.
None of the rest is a revelation either. Harry’s holly and phoenix feather, Hermione’s vine and dragon heartstring, Draco’s hawthorn and unicorn hair, Ron’s ash hand-me-down from Charlie — that is long-established wand lore, restated in centimetres. HBO is not rewriting anything here. It is showing us the objects and hanging the familiar details off them.
It is a fast follow to Thursday, when the same wands turned up in rotatable 3D inside Snap’s SPECS launch experience. These are those wands, shot properly and labelled by the people who made them.
Whose wand surprised you most — Ron’s bare branch, or Neville’s blank card? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to follow along for more Harry Potter news.
