- "Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."
- —Strapline.[src]
Ollivanders was a wand shop that was founded in 382 B.C.[1] Located in Diagon Alley South Side in London, England, it was owned by the Ollivander family, widely acknowledged to be the best wandmakers in Great Britain.
Diagon Alley[]
History[]
382 B.C.[]
It is believed by Garrick Ollivander, a descendant of the original Ollivander, that the founder of Ollivanders Wand Shop arrived with the Romans, setting up a stall (which, in due course, evolved into a shop) to manufacture and sell wands to the ancient British wizards, whose wands were crudely-made and inferior in quality and performance.[2]
1991[]
- Ollivander: "Curious...very curious..."
- Harry Potter: "Sorry, but what's curious?"
- Ollivander: "I remember every single wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar."
- — Ollivander on Harry Potter's wand[src]
In 1991, Harry Potter was taken to Ollivanders by Rubeus Hagrid in order to get Harry a wand for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry tried dozens of wands before he was chosen by a wand of Holly and Phoenix Feather. Mr. Ollivander said that he had remembered every wand he had ever sold, and he found it curious that Harry should be destined for a wand that was brother to the one that had killed Harry's parents, and had almost killed him.
1992[]
During the Christmas holidays, Ollivanders was closed with a small notice on the door, which read "Wandered out for a spell, will return later".[3]
1996 and 1997[]
- "Oh no - not Ollivanders, everybody got their first wands from here."
- —Hermione Granger upon discovering Ollivanders shop abandoned.[src]
In 1996, Alexandra Walker attempted to rob the shop. This event made Daily Prophet headlines. When Harry Potter visited Diagon Alley in his sixth year, he found Ollivanders shop boarded up and its owner gone as he was kidnapped by Fenrir Greyback and a group of Death Eaters. He was tortured for an explanation why Voldemort's wand and Harry Potter's wand couldn't battle. Under the Cruciatus Curse, he told Voldemort that it was because of the twin cores, and that all Lord Voldemort needed to do was use another wand.
Ollivander was tortured and held in the cellar of Malfoy Manor until Dobby rescued him, Luna Lovegood and Dean Thomas. After recovering at Shell Cottage, He went to the Weasley children's great-aunt Muriel's place to be protected under the Fidelius Charm. Whilst there, he made a wand for Luna as a thank you gift for the comfort and care she had given him during the incarceration. His shop is most likely to have reopened after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Description[]
The shop was described as narrow and shabby with peeling gold letters over the door of the shop read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
The interior of the shop
The shop's display consisted of a solitary wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. The shop was tiny, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes containing wands were piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place had a thin layer of dust about it.
Hogsmeade[]
There was a branch of Ollivanders Wand Shop in Hogsmeade. Located in High Street, this branch was very similar to its counterpart in Diagon Alley. It was run by an associate of Garrick Ollivander.
Behind the scenes[]
- Despite Garrick Ollivander's claims that the original Ollivander arrived to Great Britain with the Romans, this individual started his wand-making business in 382 B.C. but the Roman conquest of Britain (Britannia) only began effectively 45 B.C.,under Roman dictator Julius Ceasar.
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (film)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Seen on the Daily Prophet)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book
- LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
- LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- LEGO Harry Potter
- Harry Potter Trading Card Game
- Pottermore
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 5 (Diagon Alley)
- ↑ Pottermore background information on Garrick Ollivander (transcription available here)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) - PS1 version