English oak

English oak (Quercus robur)
Species information
Endemic to	Europe North Africa
Sentience	Non-sentient
Usage	Wand wood
Status	Extant

English Oak (binomial name Quercus robur) is the type species of the genus (the species by which the oak genus Quercus is defined), and a member of the white oak section Quercus. English oak is indigenous to most of Europe, and to Anatolia to the Caucasus, and also to parts of North Africa.

Wandlore

A wand for good times and bad, this is a friend as loyal as the wizard who deserves it. Wands of English oak demand partners of strength, courage and fidelity. Less well-known is the propensity for owners of English oak wands to have powerful intuition, and, often, an affinity with the magic of the natural world, with the creatures and plants that are necessary to wizardkind for both magic and pleasure.

The oak tree is called King of the Forest from the winter solstice up until the summer solstice, and its wood should only be collected during that time (holly becomes King as the days begin to shorten again, and so holly should only be gathered as the year wanes).

Folklore

The divide between holly and oak aforementioned is believed to be the origin of the old superstition, “when his wand’s oak and hers is holly, then to marry would be folly,” a superstition that Garrick Ollivander found to be baseless.

History

Oak trees grow in the Forbidden Forest. The front doors of the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts Castle are made of oak. In 1992, Rubeus Hagrid pulled Harry Potter and Hermione Granger behind a towering oak when they were serving detention, after he heard an odd noise. A bit later, after he had been paired with Draco Malfoy, Harry spotted a clearing through the tangled branches of an ancient oak. The doors to the Auror Office in the British Ministry of Magic were made of oak, as were the walls of the "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn Ward of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Oak trees could be found in the Forest of Dean.

Harry Potter once saw the wing mirror of the Flying Ford Anglia snap off as they squeezed pass a large oak tree while being chased by Aragog and Mosag's children.

Notable English oak wand owners

• Rubeus Hagrid
• Merlin (rumoured)

Behind the scenes

• For the film series, the Elder Wand prop, first designed years before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published and the wand's backstory was revealed, was carved out of English oak.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Pottermore

See also

• Red oak