Nobody Cared Enough !

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 13

28 Sept 1991 - Saturday

The weekend found Harry still in the Infirmary and bored. He was eyeing the ceiling, counting the cracks, and wishing for some homework when Draco and Hermione arrived. As Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, they both jumped onto his bed. Hermione hugged Harry and then dragged her bookbag between them.

"Draco told me you wanted to learn more about your wand, Harry, so we found this book in the library so you could look it up," said Hermione as she pushed Wand Lore & History by Imelda Sparks towards him.

Harry grinned at the book. "Yeah! Thanks, Hermione!" As he flipped through the book, Hermione sat on his left and Draco on his right so all three of them could read.

"Applewood!" Harry pointed as a drawing of a lovely apple tree blowing in the breeze, its blossoms falling like pale pink snow to the ground. Harry began to read aloud...

Applewood is one of the unique woods used in making wands. Rarely used, but quite powerful as it engenders transformative magic and the positive magics of love, truth, honesty, and peace. It is a healing wood prized by the Celts of old who worshipped the magics of the Elements. Thus, Healers often gravitate towards an applewood wand.

Harry paused, thinking aloud, “It might be nice to be a Healer.”

Draco nodded. “You could help a lot of people, Harry.”

“It’d be nice to take care of kids,” Harry mused.

“You’d be a great paediatrician, Harry!” enthused Hermione. “Go on. Does it say anything else?”

Harry began reading again...

The applewood is also considered to be strongly related to the magic of motherhood and a child who is blessed with an applewood wand will often discover that its magical warmth is similar to that of a mother's loving warmth.

Harry tried not to squirm uneasily but he could not help himself.  He had no idea what a mother’s loving warmth was. He then smiled, but very briefly, and wondered if Professor Snape’s hugs had that warmth. Taking a breath, he continued...

A wand made with applewood can also be highly prized by a witch or wizard who is born with the power to create spells. This is the transformative power in applewood. The wielder of such a wand and who has such creative power within them, will discover that their creativity is enhanced threefold.

Cores that are complementary to applewood are: phoenix feather, unicorn hair, and ashwinder ash.

Note: a true applewood wand will resemble the branch it is taken from. A wandmaker of great skill will know better than to force the wood into the standard wand shape most witches and wizards are familiar with.

A quick consult of the table of contents led them to the meaning behind various wand cores. Harry found ashwinder ash and read that aloud.

The ashwinder is a curious, magical snake that is born from the hot embers of the remains of a magical fire. They only live an hour, long enough to lay their eggs, before dissolving into a pearly grey ash. Their eggs and ashy remains are highly prized by potioneers. It is the ashy remains that are used as a core for wands and it is a difficult wand core for wandmakers to work with.

Harry spared a bright look for his best friend who returned his. Ashwinders were ‘wicked!’

Ashwinder ash has magical protective properties and a wand with an ashwinder ash core will give the wielder an easier time of casting protective spells and shields. Fire magic will also come easier to the wielder.