Wand Wood

Wands are not just sticks of wood one waves around flippantly. The wood used to craft them is carefully decided based on their magical properties. Some woods make excellent wands while others can by dull, dumb, or downright dangerous. Wandmakers use the utmost care and skill to craft a wand with the finest wood and with a wand core that compliments the wood rather than clashes.

Alder
Often thought to be unrelenting and powerful, the stereotype that the Alder wand goes to powerful wizards is quite wide spread. However this is not the truth. Instead it looks for qualities such as helpful, kind and considerate and is known to choose owners who seem to have a personality that is quite different than the Alder’s own.

Apple
Apple wood is very soft, gentle, and outdoorsy. It is an easy wood for beginners to work with, however it greatly favors muggle-born students over other blood types. Apple wood works best with individuals that have an affinity for Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures as it enjoys more nature based magic. It is certainly not a powerful wand and is overwhelmed by powerful cores like dragon heartstrings, phoenix tail feathers, and hippogryff talons.

Ash
The wood from an ash tree has been known to produce a sugary aroma, very sweet-smelling and calming. This wood is often used in combination with more destructive cores such as dragon heartstring or hippogriff talons that clenches its magical power in control, which makes it very wizard-friendly for first-years whom have never used magic before.

Aspen
White and fine-grained, Aspen wood looks almost like ivory. It is known to be used for charm work, and it is rumored that those who wield these wands are destined to be great duelists. The wand itself is known to have a strong will and determination, meaning that those craving adventure will have a nice companion by their side.

Blackthorn
The blackthorn wood was considered a tree containing anomalies of magical impurities that gave off a variety of effects. As such, not many wandmakers like to make their wands with blackthorn. The results are often unpredictable. However, if you’re lucky enough, wildcard wands made from blackthorn can give your wand a powerful edge when casting spells.

Birch
Though known for being a weak wandwood, birch is the finest, lightest of woods used for crafting. It is associated with purity and used for getting rid of evil spirits and great with healing magic. A wand made of Birch will cast a very strong Patronus and is great for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Cedar
One of the more docile wood matierals, cedar is a motherly sort of wood that lends itself for protective spells. It is best used by students who are or have been learning Occlumency as it wants to protect its user. Cedar wood is also known to draw itself towards sensitive individuals, possibly those with low self-esteem.

Cherry
Cherry wood is fragrant, calming, and rather fragile. In exchange for its fragility, wands made from cherry wood are very efficient in giving passive wand cores such as Veela hair, grindylow teeth, and mandrake root the extra magic “drive” they need when a wizard needs to cast a powerful spell with those cores.

Chestnut
Favoured for its strength and beauty, chestnut wood is used merely for fashioning aesthetically-appealing wands. Versatile with magic and well-balanced and receiving for most cores, chestnut wood is heavily favoured by wizards who want a stable, no-hassle wand.

Dogwood
Quite playful and mischievous, users have reported that the wand will sometimes randomly shoot out flowers. Yet don’t doubt the power and the use of a Dogwood wand when the serious magic is called for. These wands usually work best with those who are clever, able to do very unorthodox things. The major downfall to this type of wood however, is that these wands usually are very noisy, and it is quite difficult to perform non-verbal magic as well.

Ebony
A jet-black sleek wand, many admire it for its physical appearance. Yet, the main strength of the wand is transfiguration and combative magic. However, only those with the courage to fight will be able to harness the true power of this wand, and those without any will of their own, will probably find themselves at a loss.

Elm
Elm wood is valued for its resistance to splitting, their beautiful grainy and rich texture, and their flexibility. They are often combined with the more exotic cores that simply aren’t compatible with any other types of wand wood. The long history of elm trees gives it vital magical strength. The older the elm tree, the more magical power it has imbued.

Fir
The fir tree is a very positive, energy-generating ingredient for wands. It’s often used in combination with phoenix tail feathers and unicorn tail hair to increase their innate affinity for the more friendlier of spells, such as healing, charms, and transfiguration. Their sturdiness also makes them more resistant to wear and damage.

Hawthorn
The wood of hawthorn is highly valued for its medicinal properties. As such, many medical wizards and witches work with hawthorn wands for that extra boost in healing magic. Hawthorn is a little finicky with wand cores however, and at best it can only be combined with a unicorn tail hair or a mandrake root.

Holly
Holly wood is a little uncommon, but not impossible to craft into wands. All in all, it is very capable wood, making it a good all-rounder for all sorts of spells and a very good partner for the popular phoenix tail feather core. However, other recent and popular combinations include Hippogriff talons, and even Basilisk Scales for the core will absorb the natural toxins in the wood.

Hornbeam
Also known as Ironwood, Hornbeam is the most stubborn wandwood and the most difficult to learn to control. It only ever bonds to witches or wizards who have a strong will, for a wand made with this will be a powerful one.

Larch
Warm in color, and thought to be very powerful, many find themselves flocking to get such a wand. It is said that with whoever wields the wand, they will gain courage and confidence well above any normal level, or at least that’s what the rumors say. However despite the mass popularity, many people do not own such a wand, why? Simply because the wand itself is hard to please, and quite tricky to handle.

Mahogany
Mahogany is a very rich and beautiful wood used for wands. It is prized for its beautiful, dark sheen and ability to “sharpen” any spell casted by the wizard. As such, it’s often used along with destructive cores that “have too much power for their own good” such as dragon heartstring to combine together, a powerful and balanced wand.

Maple
Maple wood, like the tree it comes from, is very sturdy and more magical than oak wood is. Very versatile this wood is used with every core by all crafters, it lends itself best to witches and wizards who show very composed personalities.

Pine
Pine is quiet and well balanced, it is neither powerful nor weak and is soft and plyable. It offers a yielding hand which makes it easier to learn. Pine is the exceptional for those prone to Divination or people blessed with the Sight. It is used best with gentler cores such as unicorn hair and fairy wings.

Redwood
Redwood is exceptional for casting charms, hexes, and is great in all other categories. It is a well balanced wandwood with a mild temper and lends itself best to those who are equally calm under pressure. However, you should probably avoid letting it touch your potions, it tends to react poorly to being a stirring tool.

Rosewood
Similar to mahogany, rosewood is beautifully tinted and its timbers are used for fine-tuning out the magical impurities of a magical wand core. Their excellent polish and flexibility to handle magical vibrations allow them to be very popular amongst witches, and are often combined with Veela hair for that extra “oomph” in casting Charms and bewitching spells.

Rowan
Thought you be quite defensive, strengthening defensive charms, or spells in general, it is a wand used for good. In fact the Rowan wood seems to be quite pure, not allowing any forms of evil to take place, and is said to excel in duels as well. It is used by some Aurors due to its defensive properties.

Sycamore
Some find this wand to be quite useless in school because of how it loses its sheer brilliance due to boring activities. Let's face it, school can be that way. In fact, this wand is known to burst into flames if given mundane tasks or activities. However, this does not deter those that live for adventure, and are quite curious themselves. If there are quests around, you can be sure that a Sycamore wand will be at its partner’s side.

Vine
A little uncommon for most wands, vine wood is very tricky to utilize due to its “whiplash” trait. It’s not used by many wizards and witches who favour power over control, but for the clever wizards vine is a very nice choice when combined with Pixie Wings to give that extra sting in Jinxes and Hexes. It’s also one of the few woods that can take in Ashwinder Eggs as its wand core due to its strong fibres and strength while maintaining its flexibility.

Walnut
Walnut wood is highly decorative, hence they are mostly used for ornamental wands. The natural oils found in the wood have cleansing properties and thus many wizards, especially older witches, like to use walnut wood to experience a restorative, refreshing feeling when casting spells.

Willow
Willow wood has been since the old ages, highly praised and highly sacred as they were often used in many religious rituals. When used in wand-making, willow wood is favoured for its flexibility, strength, and balance in the holder’s grip that allows successful spell-casting.

Yew
Yew trees are considered sacred, for a yew tree grows very tall and very strong. Its isolating personality crafts into powerful wands that have been in the hands of many supreme leaders and ambitious wizards in the world. Combined with a powerful wand core, it can prove its worth since its wood is very sturdy and capable of muting together with a destructive core. The yew wood is also poisonous and is very compatible with cores such as the Ashwinder Egg, Runespar tail, or the Basilisk Scale.