Elizabeth Lily Potter: The Girl Who Lived

Author's Note about Chapter 12!!!

Hello to all my lovely little bookworms! Now, I know that I don't really like Author's Notes in the middle of stories that I'm reading, so I'll try to keep this short and to the point! Before I start talking about what I'm really here to say, I'd just like to give a quick thank you to everyone who's reading my story! 300 reads!!! That's amazing! Thank you!

Okay, let's get on topic now. So, in the last chapter, Elizabeth got her wand (duh). Now, I spent QUITE a while researching in order to determine what her wand should be. I debated on whether or not I should include my reasoning behind my choices, or let you figure it out on your own. But I doubted that most readers would stop in the middle of the story to read about the characteristics of that wand (if you would, you are amazing and I love you).

Because of that, I decided to include everything here.

Now, Elizabeth's wand is Cypress wood with a dragon heartstring core, 11 1/4 inch, and fairly rigid.

I will go piece by piece, giving you the information that I used from my research.

Now, I chose Cypress as Elizabeth's wand wood because I feel like it truly suits her character. This is what the Pottermore article, written by J.K. Rowling herself, on Wand Woods says about this type of wood:

"Cypress wands are associated with nobility. The great medieval wandmaker, Geraint Ollivander, wrote that he was always honored to match a cypress wand, for he knew he was meeting a witch or wizard who would die a heroic death. Fortunately, in these less blood-thirsty times, the possessors of cypress wands are rarely called upon to lay down their lives, though doubtless many of them would do so if required. Wands of cypress find their soul mates among the brave, the bold and the self-sacrificing: those who are unafraid to confront the shadows in their own and others' natures."

Keep in mind that this does not mean that Elizabeth will die. A.K.A., check the underlined sentence.

Next is the wand core. Notice that I did not give her a Phoenix feather core, like most other "Harry Potter twin sister" stories do. I instead tried to be a little more original. In my opinion, it's kind of cliche that both she, Harry, and Lord Voldemort would share the same wand core. But, I then had to make the choice between dragon heartstring (like Hermione and me!) or unicorn tail hair (like Ron). Even though I didn't want to copy either person's wand, I obviously had to make a choice. Here's why I chose Dragon Heartstring, also from a Pottermore article by J.K. Rowling:

"As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner.

The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental."

I wanted Elizabeth to have a strong wand, so this core was a fairly simple choice. Obviously, the part about the changing of allegiance and turning towards the Dark Arts made me a little conflicted, but I decided that I could compensate for the first thing with the wand's flexibility and the second part with the wood (and the fact that Liz is a good person who will not become evil).

Now, for the wand's length of 11 1/4 inches, that was more "made-up." Harry's was 11 inches long, Hermione's was 10 3/4 inches, Ron's first was 12" and his second was 14" (but that's a little extreme for Liz, in my opinion), and my own personal wand is 11 3/4". (According to Pottermore, mine is a Laurel wand with a dragon heartstring core, 11 3/4", slightly unyielding flexibility. What about all of you?). So, I didn't want to make Liz's wand too long or too short, so I think this is a fair length.

Now, the flexibility was the hardest to decide. Pottermore really doesn't give much information, besides saying that flexibility determines how easy it is for the wand to transfer its allegiance to a new owner if it is won. So, I went on http://pottermoreforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=2198 because a list of different flexibilities and their meanings were posted. Keep in mind that the information may not be accurate, since the post was not written by J.K. Rowling. Here is why I gave Elizabeth a rigid wand:

"A wand of this flexibility will only give its complete loyalty to an owner who has faced great personal tragedy. It is particularly good for practical magic use, and thus usually doesn't perform well for magic that is frivolous or silly. Rigid wand owners are cautious and have difficulty trusting others, but they are not usually unkind people. Generally, they prefer to be left alone so that they can do what they want to do, regardless of what anyone else says."

So, the wand's flexibility counters the fact that dragon heartstring cores can more easily switch owners, because it will bond very tightly to Elizabeth.

I hope you all enjoyed this little insight into my mind! TIME FOR CHAPTER 13!!!