Mr Ollivander
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter character | |
 John Hurt as Mr Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. |
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| Mr Ollivander | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | White |
| Eye colour | Silver |
| Allegiance | Ollivander's (owner) |
| Actor | John Hurt |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Mr Ollivander (first name unrevealed) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling. He is a purveyor of magical wands. Mr Ollivander is played by John Hurt in the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Mr Ollivander runs Ollivander's, a prestigious shop which sells magical wands in Diagon Alley. He has appeared only as a minor character in the series so far, with little revealed about himself and his past. While it is mentioned that there are other businesses which manufacture and sell wands in Britain, they have never been mentioned by name, or frequented by the characters; Ollivanders' craftsmanship and reputation seems to outshine all competition. It is the traditional outlet for new Hogwarts students - and apparently most of the wizarding world in Britain - to obtain their wands. Despite the popularity of his wares, and the implied length of time that he has been in business (Mr Ollivander sold Harry's parents and even the future Lord Voldemort their first wands as well), Mr Ollivander claims to remember each and every wand he has sold, and to whom. So far, all evidence seems to support his claim: he has shown that he can easily name off the materials and attributes of several wands he has sold over the years.
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[edit] Olivander's involvement so far
Mr Ollivander only appears in two of the novels thus far, although numerous references are made to Ollivander's throughout the series. To date he has only appeared once in film, and that was in the very first film, though that appearance is a much abbreviated version, with some alterations, compared to his appearance in the book. Ron Weasley gains a replacement wand for his broken one from Ollivander at some point between the events of Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban, but Ollivander himself is not shown in either book nor film versions of these parts of the Harry Potter Saga.
[edit] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
In Book One, Mr Ollivander assists a young Harry Potter in selecting his first wand (31 July 1991, Harry's 11th Birthday) - or more accurately according to him, finding a wand that would select Harry. Finding Harry a particularly difficult customer to match, Mr Ollivander finally selects a wand containing a feather from a phoenix (later revealed to be Albus Dumbledore's companion Fawkes) which is perfectly suited to Harry. Mr Ollivander seems very thoughtful that the two should be matched, revealing that there is only one other wand he has ever made which contains a feather from that phoenix, and that wand now belongs to none other than Lord Voldemort. Mr Ollivander tells an uneasy Harry that he believes the world can expect "great things" from him.
[edit] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Mr Ollivander's second appearance, in Book Four, was as an official during the preliminary ceremonies of the Triwizard Tournament, where he appeared as an expert judge for the Weighing of the Wands (13 November 1994). As a specialist in magical wands, it was his task to evaluate the suitability of the wands of the contestants. His close attention and seeming hesitancy over Harry's wand again makes Harry Potter nervous. He also display slight favouritism for the wands he himself made over others during this appearance.
[edit] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
In Book Six, it is mentioned that Ollivanders has closed and boarded up, and that Mr Ollivander himself is missing. It is unknown whether or not he left on his own accord. This is, of course, distressing to the wizarding world who must rely on other - less reliable - competitors of Ollivanders to supply wands. Neville Longbottom claims to have bought one of the last wands Mr Ollivander sold prior to his disappearance.
[edit] Name
His name is possibly a fusion of the Greek name "Evander" ("good man") with "olive"; the tree tied in Greek myth to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Hermes wand, the caduceus, may have been made of olive wood. Otherwise, it may be a variation of the sound of the words "all" and "wand". His name is also an anagram of "An Evil Lord".
