Harry Potter Wands

As any loyal Harry Potter fan knows, there are 13 days until the final film is released and those that grew up with the books much finally accept adulthood. In honor of the films that defined a generation, I will share with you a bit of a flashback/current project: my homemade wizard wands.

Back story: Freshman year of college I decided to give myself the gift of taking a class that had absolutely nothing to do with my major. My class of choice was titled FS 121: Rereading Harry Potter. That' s right, friends, I actually took a class on reading and discussing one of my favorite book series and got credit for it. There was more to it than just reading the books and talking about it. We discussed subtle themes and messages hidden in the story and what each character represents. It was much more academic than I had thought and ended up being the best class I have taken thus far. Of course, we did take a break from all the schoolish-ness of it all and we had....a Harry Potter party! We were even required to show up dresses as our favorite character. I hand made a costume two months in advance for the party, but I'll save that endeavor for another date. The 22 of us were split into different committees (food, games, fanart slide show, music, ect). I was on the food committee but decided that that was not enough. Given that I had copious amounts of free time freshman year, I decided to take on a secret mission: to make a unique Harry Potter wand for each of my 21 classmates plus the TA and my professor. This is how I decided to spend spring break of 2010. 

The final result

  

I ended up spending literally all week making these beauties, each one unique in color and design; no two were alike. I used the instructions I found here. I wasn't about to whittle a wand for each student so I opted to use paper. To make them even more magical, each wand it made with a piece of one of my essays for that class (I had to reprint them all anyway for a final project, so this was a wonderful way to recycle them). I also typed up a "letter" from Mr. Ollivander explaining that a concerned student contacted him personally and described our class's desperate need for wands and for the class to not be concerned with payment as it had been "taken care of". I know it seems a bit juvenile to write a letter for a fictional character, but bare with me. Each wand also came with an attached description of the wand wood, length, and core. The description bore the mark of Ollivander's shop on the opposite side. 

The kicker of this whole mission was that I told no one of my plans. My TA and professor didn't even know that I had taken it upon myself to create a secret committee we had not discusses: the party favor committee. The day of the party, I came to class really early so no one would see my basket full of wands. When the class before ours cleared out of our class room, I ran in and set out the basket, the letter, and a few wands on a table close to the entrance of the room so no one would miss them (see picture) and took my seat. As my class filed in one person at a time, they noticed the wands and the letter and were so ecstatic about the whole thing. They all chose there wands with great care and took there seats, excitedly exchanging wands and examining them. No one realized it was me who had set them there and when my professor showed up and saw what I had done, she chose a wand for herself and asked who had made all of these. I finally claimed them as mine and explained to her and the class that I really wanted to surprise everyone with something wonderful; my peers and the class itself meant a lot to me and I wanted us to have something to remember it by. 

This is my class, all in costume and holding their wands. Most of them are pointing their wands at the camera.

We have all stayed in touch since the class ended a year and half ago. We recently reunited for dinner and they all said they still have their wands, and even the tags that were attached to them, safely displayed in their homes or dorm rooms just in case some casual magic needs to be done. 

I recently picked up the habit of wand making again because my roommate does not have a wand and decided that she simply must have one to take with her to the midnight movie premiere (which she is attending in a different state than me).  This is the wand I made for her. I was surprised at how quick it was to just make one wand instead of 2 dozen.

 The description, style, and color of the wand were all picked with care to match her personality. I have not yet put it in the mail, but intend to in the next couple of days. 

 I also rewrote the letter from Ollivander and personalized it with her name. I also included the Ollivander 

symbol and (although it is a bit blurry) a footer with the information on Ollivander's shop, all printed on a parchment colored paper. The effect was quite professional looking. 

Ollivander's Wands
Maker of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
Diagon Ally, London, England

For some perspective on the length of the wand, I put it on the letter from Ollivander, below. 

These wands are so easy and inexpensive to make, I would recommend this project to any die hard fan of the books who feels that they need a wand. I thoroughly enjoy making them and working with the hot glue to make the different designs, which I admit is a bit tricky to get the hang of in the beginning. I like the challenge of creating something that is meant to reflect the personality of the person receiving it, especially when I feel that I have hit the nail on head in that regard. I am so excited to hear her reaction once she get's it; after all, it is much more fun to surprise people with homemade stuff, especially if it is magical.