Another 5 Obscure Harry Potter Facts

I have already listed 10 obscure facts from Harry Potter, yet I feel some of them are pretty known now, so with this list I have delved a bit deeper and the jewels can be found below.

1. The core of the Elder Wand is Thestral tail hair. JK Rowling says this is because it’s such a powerful and tricky substance and hence only possible of being mastered by a witch or wizard who is capable of facing death.

2. In the Goblet of Fire, Sirius was originally meant to live with a Figg like woman called Mopsy in Hogsmede, who was an extreme dog lover, and so happy to take in Snuffles. But this was late cut and replaced with him living in the cave.

3. The squib Arabella Figg, cat’s aren’t all what they seem, she does a roaring trade in cross breeding cats with Kneazles, creating very intelligent cats such as Crookshanks.

4. Hagrid’s wand, and the remains in his pink umbrella, are Oak. However JK Rowling has commented that if she had used the Celtic system for assigning wands, he would have been given an Elder wand. She says that as the Oak is ‘The King of the Forest’ in England and is known for it’s strength and protection. Summing up Hagrid.

5. Ron’s owl Pigwidgeon is Scops, which is a very small unshowy owl, and is meant to reflect it’s owner. (The unshowy bit, not the small!)

Nothing to do but make wands.

I’ve had all week off due to lack of shifts and stuff so decided to be really creative and make my friend a wand for her Harry Potter Themed Party. And I have to say it has been most enjoyable. Firstly finding wand shaped twigs and practicing with them, making sure they hand a nice magical feel by casting a couple of spells. Then finding out how to use sandpaper and other wood tools to, make them less ‘found them by a tree’ and more ‘very expensive custom wand’. Sanding however takes along time and creates a lot of mess… Then using some varnish to make them all shiny and pretty looking. Which really made them look more like HP wands. Obviously they don’t have a Dragons Heart String or a Phoenix Feather as there core due lack of availability at Tescos. Finally wrapping them in ribbon to create a soft handle and voilà hand made custom wands. Fabulous for a real Harry Potter geek. Unfortunately after finishing them my sister came in to ask if she could have one and I had to do it all over again. I will upload a photo once I’ve given it away, to keep some sense of surprise.