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harry potter - Can a Squib Own a Wand?




KWIKSPELL
A Correspondence Course in
Beginners’ Magic

Intrigued, Harry flicked the envelope open and pulled out the sheaf of parchment inside. More curly silver writing on the front page said:

Feel out of step in the world of modern magic? Find yourself making excuses not to perform simple spells? Ever been taunted for your woeful wandwork?

There is an answer!

Why on earth did Filch want a Kwikspell course? Did this mean he wasn’t a proper wizard? Harry was just reading ‘Lesson One: Holding Your Wand (Some Useful Tips)’ when shuffling footsteps outside told him Filch was coming back....

Chamber of Secrets - pages 97-98 - British Hardcover



In Is It Genetically Possible for a Squib to Produce Magical Offspring, the two answers given agree that it would be possible for Squibs to produce magical offspring. Going off this premise, a Squib would have to be harboring magical genes (they would be recessive, I believe?). Would a wand be able to sense these magical latent genes and "choose" a Squib, even if the Squib could never perform purposeful magic with the wand? Is there anything in the law that states a Squib cannot own a wand, even if it seems silly or stupid that they would want to?


Can a Squib own a wand?


04.26.12 - I'm still looking for answers to compare on this question. Please feel free to leave an answer. :)



Answer



Anyone could possess a wand, whether Muggle, Squib or Wizard. While it's a magical object, it's clearly visible, and generally wands have no enchantment that would keep a Muggle from picking one up (and as Squibs, while having no ability to exert magical power, do seem to have some capacity to sense magic, such enchantments may not even work on a Squib anyway). The question is whether the Ministry would allow a non-Wizard to own a wand. There are many magical creatures of (near-) human intelligence and of varying magical power which are forbidden by wizards from possessing wands.



Specifically regarding Squibs, I would think it's a question of necessity. A wand that can sense no magical power in a person simply will not choose that person. If a wand cared about recessive genes that never manifested, it could choose the Muggle parent of a Wizard. With the Statute of Secrecy, and the fact that Squibs are usually encouraged to integrate fully into the Muggle world, I would think that even if Ollivander or Gregorovitch would let a Squib walk in and purchase a wand they could do nothing with, the Ministry would have something to say about a person living wholly in the Muggle world having such an object, and the risk of exposure that could cause.


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