The Harry Potter franchise is undoubtedly one of the best and most magical franchises of all time. There is an undeniable magic that inhabits the franchise and for many was a very important movie franchise to many audiences childhoods. This is a magic that we have since forgotten; the Fantastic Beasts series has since attempted to recapture that magic, but ultimately never delivered what made Harry Potter so special in the first place. From its mystical world and setting, strange and unique creatures, and the memorable and iconic characters of which we have all fallen in love with.
Updated, October 2022: To keep the article fresh and relevant by adding more information and entries, this article has been updated by Olly Dyche
What sometimes gets overlooked in the Harry Potter movies are the aesthetic designs of the magical wands and the lore behind them. Indeed, each and every wand chooses its owner and is made from different materials, branching from unicorn hair to a dragon’s heartstring. Let’s take a closer look at the coolest wands, and their strengths, in the Harry Potter franchise.
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11 Bellatrix Lestrange’s Wand
Warner Bros.
Whether you like her or not, Bellatrix is a badass character thanks to Helena Bonham Carter herself, who did an incredible job playing the villainous witch. There is no wonder that her wand compliments her perfectly. The wand is 12¾-inches long, made out of dragon heartstring core and walnut wood with unyielding flexibility. Dragon heartstrings tend to add an immense amount of power to the wand, making it capable of the fiercest of spells. Wizards with these types of wands usually incline towards the Dark Arts, and we can clearly see it with Bellatrix. Her spells are designed to torture people. On top of it all, she can turn her wand into a whip.
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10 Harry Potter’s Wand
Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s only natural that the main character has to have a wand that is very uncommon among wizards. Harry’s (Daniel Radcliffe) visit to the Olivander’s is the only one we actually experience and see on the screen. All of us remember the magical moment when Harry’s wand finally picked him. The wand is 11 inches long, made of holly and a Phoenix feather core donated from Dumbledore’s Phoenix. Because a part of Voldemort’s soul exists in Harry ever since he tried to kill him, both of their wands consist of the same Phoenix feather, which is eventually the reason why they can’t use the wands to kill each other. Harry probably felt a big emotional attachment to it, since he decided to repair it after it was broken, instead of taking the Elder wand.
9 Minerva McGonagall’s Wand
McGonagall’s (Maggie Smith) wand is simply stunning and extremely elegant. 9½ inches long, made of fir wood with a dragon heartstring core; the wand’s round handle looks comfortable to the grip. As a cat Animagus, the wand later proved to be extremely useful for Transfiguration. All of us are aware that McGonagall is an extremely powerful witch and would have certainly showcased her powers more, if given the time. The scenes which show the capacity of her power the most are definitely when she pulls out her wand at Snape (Alan Rickman) and instead of fighting her, Snape decides to flee. Her Piertotum Locomotor spell still sends shivers down our spines.
8 Sirius Black’s Wand
Although it’s uncertain how Sirius (Gary Oldman) got his wand back after he escaped Azkaban, he has it with him when flying away from Hogwarts and during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. It’s disappointing that we don’t know much about its material, nor its length. Yet, from the quick glance that we get, the wand’s simple structure with small ornamental engravings totally suits Sirius’ aesthetic. He is capable of performing strong spells with it, as we can see in the Order of Phoenix, without having to say the words.
7 Luna Lovegood’s Wands
Being the unique character that she is, Luna (Evanna Lynch) has had two wands - both of them extremely eye-catching. Although of unknown length and material, just like with Sirius, Luna’s first wand had a light yellow color with black linings decorating the length of it. Unfortunately, her wand gets taken away from her once she’s abducted by the Death Eaters. Thanks to her good connection with Olivander, he makes her a new second wand, which is just as distinctive. Even if not that colorful, its plain brown shade attributes to the tulip-like handle.
6 Ginny Weasley’s Wand
Even though Ginny’s (Bonnie Wright) wand is not described in the novels, we know that it’s made of yew wood, colored black and with a spiral that serves as the handle. Now, we can all agree that compared to the books, Ginny is poorly portrayed in the movies. Ginny is arguably one of the strongest wizards in the wizard world. She was one of the first ones to cast the Patronus spell when Harry was teaching them. She is also capable of casting a very powerful Bat-Bogey Hex.
5 Draco Malfoy’s Wand
It’s interesting that wizards whose wands consist of unicorn hair are the least likely to turn to dark magic, and yet, Draco (Tom Felton) has never gotten his redemption arc. The 10-inch-long, hawthorn wood is one of the few that stays the same throughout the eight movies. From the details that we know of, it seems like Draco’s wand was purchased by his mother Narcissa (Helen McCrory), meaning that it never truly chose him. Funnily, Draco’s wand was eventually carried and used by his archenemy Harry during the Battle of Hogwarts.
4 Lucius Malfoy’s Wand
A member of Voldemort’s deadly army of Death Eaters, Lucius’ wand may not be very powerful, but is very unique in its design. Sporting a metal snakes head at the end of its handle, Lucius Malfoy similarly fits the wand into the end of his cane, like a sword into a scabbard. The wand is made up of wood, with its core being that of Dragon Heartstring. Elm Wands were highly desirable among pure-blood supremacists, which Lucius Malfoy was known to be. As the head of the Malfoy family, this wand is an heirloom of the family, which was inherited by Lucius from an ancestor.
3 Voldemort’s Wand
As one of the most infamous wands in the Wizarding World, Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) wand comes with much death and destruction. Although mostly known for killing James and Lilly Potter, as well as later killing Cedric Digory (Robert Pattinson), his wand carries many more souls of some very unfortunate wizards, muggles, and half-bloods. Being 13 and half inches in length, Voldemort’s wand stands as one of the longest in the universe. The wand is certainly unique in its design, while looking hauntingly similar to some sort of white bone. What makes this wand so important is that the core of this wand is Phoenix feather, and the only other wand in the Wizarding World to share such a core, is Harry Potter’s wand, making the two wands brothers.
2 Elder Wand
Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s finally time for the most powerful wand in the entire Harry Potter universe: the Elder wand — one of the three Deathly Hallows. Made out of the tail hair of a Thestral, the wand can only be handled by the strongest of wizards that are able to control it. It was passed from one great wizard to another: Dumbledore attained it from Grindelwald himself, before it was stolen by Voldemort. The last owner of the wand was none other than Harry Potter. What’s interesting to note is that while in the books Harry returns the Elder wand back to Dumbledore’s grave, in the movies he breaks it in half and throws it away.
1 Hermione Granger’s Wand
The smartest, strongest witch for her age has to have a mighty wand accompanying her at all times. And that is exactly what her 10¾ inches long, vine wood wand possessing of a dragon heartstring core wand, is. Hermoine’s wand helped her character be among the best in the franchise and deserving of her own spin-off. Beginning with the third movie, Hermione’s (Emma Watson) wand is a light brown color with a vine design which is according to her birthday in the Celtic tree calendar. It’s unknown whether Hermione retrieved her wand back from the Snatchers after the war, but what we are sure of is that it served her perfectly for the entirety of the ownership.
