In the Harry Potter universe, there’s a saying that a wand is only as good as the wizard using it. Due to this, it’s mainly the most powerful witches and wizards you will find here. However, that’s not always the case as we’ve seen some wizards who aren’t so powerful, yet their wands rank quite high.

Wandlore is an art form in the Harry Potter universe and the individual wands of wizards more or less define who they are as people. You’ll find some surprises in this list as some wands are far more powerful than others despite the wizard’s reputation.

Gilderoy Lockhart’s Wand

Much more information than what’s available in the books has been revealed on Pottermore, where Gilderoy Lockhart’s backstory is also provided. His name might sound like a surprising inclusion, but this is based on the fact that his wand has been noted to be especially expensive.

Even extremely wealthy families like the Malfoys have used the standard rate from Olivanders, while Lockhart had a wand specifically created to bolster his talents. It showed in his feats as well, seeing as Lockhart cast extremely powerful Obliviate charms that left no hope of the person’s memories from ever returning.

James Potter’s Wand

His arrogance over his abilities made James progressively worse as a person, although he had good reason to consider himself a big shot due to the power his wand provided. It was noted that his wand was designed to be “excellent for Transfiguration,” which wizards are aware is the most dangerous form of magic if used right.

The highest class of wizarding duels have featured Transfiguration as primary attacks rather than jinxes, meaning James Potter was well placed to destroy most enemies. Considering he was a top student at Hogwarts and was killed by Voldemort because he didn’t have the wand on him, it’s safe to say his wand lived up to its reputation.

Remus Lupin’s Wand

Lupin’s ability in Defence Against the Dark Arts is well known, having created Patronuses with no difficulties at all. However, his wand’s powerful quality comes from its wood being Cypress, which is noted to be matched to wizards who have a self-sacrificing nature.

This means that Lupin had his wand to thank for all the spells he aced at, as the wand amplified his abilities by tapping into his heroic nature. This also gives his wand a sentient quality as it derived power straight from its owner.

Lucius Malfoy’s Wand

Lucius might not have shown his powers onscreen as he did in the books, but he was a formidable enough wizard that Voldemort made him the leader of the Death Eaters over Bellatrix or Dolohov. His wand was also significant enough for Voldemort to choose it to try and take out Harry in Deathly Hallows.

There’s also the fact that the wand just looks pretty darn cool with the serpent head inserted at the end of it for a makeshift handle. Maybe a greater wizard like Voldemort would’ve done wonders with it; we’ll never know for sure.

Antonin Dolohov’s Wand

Most of the terrible things the Death Eaters did have the name of Antonin Dolohov attached to them. He has his wand to credit for this, as it allowed him to conjure immensely complex dark magic without Dolohov even having to utter any words.

This was seen when he non-verbally struck Hermione, who almost died and was in the hospital for days. Of course, the wand was also the instrument to Lupin’s death, as Dolohov killed the former with it. Not to mention how the wand seemed to revel in torture and pain, with Dolohov excelling in these areas.

Madam Bones’ Wand

Everything ever heard about Madam Bones was from other characters. The only time she was seen was in court in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. However, what is known of her is that she was very intelligent and supremely powerful.

Madam Bones was so powerful, in fact, that she put up a big fight against Voldemort himself. There’s no way she could’ve kept up with Voldemort had she had a subpar wand. This means her wand must have been made of something special for her to have garnered her reputation. It’s a pity we never actually got to see her do anything.

Professor Flitwick’s Wand

Every time Professor Flitwick was seen, he was doing some kind of Charms related magic that left the students in awe. Not only was the professor adept at Charms, but he was also said to be a champion of dueling in his time.

This wasn’t just an informed ability as we saw him in the Battle of Hogwarts where we went undefeated, only losing to Voldemort. His wand must contain powerful tendencies toward Charms for Professor Flitwick to use it, so it must also be particularly powerful for the professor to defeat opponents with it.

Professor McGonagall’s Wand

Professor McGonagall could be called the refined version of Madam Bones. She displayed all those extraordinary levels of magic and always making them look as awesome as ever. Professor McGonagall was without a doubt only a notch lower than Snape amongst the Hogwarts staff and much of her powers are attributed to her wand.

Her wand enabled her to do transfiguration of the highest order and she used this to win her duels as well. From what was shown of the wand’s dueling capabilities, it was powerful enough to fight Voldemort and hold up pretty well at that too.

Severus Snape’s Wand

There was a lot of magical ability innate to Snape, which is why his wand is ranked lower than some others. Snape could brew potions like no other, fly without a wand, and do Occlumensy without Voldemort finding out. So, his wand can’t be attributed to those successes.

However, his wand was still powerful enough to cast original spells like Levicorpus or Sectumsempra, and all these were done with precise accuracy. Snape never lost any of his duels either, unless it was James Potter cornering him with his gang and the wand must have been devastating to anyone who faced its aggression.

Gellert Grindelwald’s Wand

From what can be gathered, Gellert Grindelwald spent all of his days in power with the possession of the Elder Wand, which meant his original wasn’t as powerful. However, let’s not forget Grindelwald was a prodigy who had committed such horrific magic that he’d gotten expelled from Durmstrang.

It was most likely Grindelwald’s spell that took the life of Arianna as well, along with causing Aberforth immeasurable pain due to Grindelwald using the Cruciatus curse on him. He wouldn’t have defeated the highest-ranking wizards with his original wand, but Grindelwald would most definitely beat all the supreme level wizards for sure.

Bellatrix Lestrange’s Wand

Bellatrix wasn’t more powerful than Snape, Grindelwald, or McGonagall, but her wand sure was stronger than all those people’s. It was specifically called “unyielding” by Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for its brutal capabilities.

The wand also felt sinister to Harry when it was in his hands, a notion also shared by Hermione. It was used by Bellatrix to drive the Longbottoms to madness and had taken lives numerous times. The wand’s most adept feature seemed to be causing pain as the Cruciatus curse was Bellatrix’s signature spell. Ollivander even looked at the wand with significant fear.

Harry Potter’s Wand

When you’ve got a wand whose core is only of two ever created, and a wand whose twin is that of Voldemort’s – throw in the fact that the phoenix whose feather was used for the wand core was none other than Dumbeldore’s own Fawkes – then you can bet the wand was powerful as heck.

Harry’s wand played hero to him most of the time as it saved him in the graveyard in Goblet of Fire, then repeated the feat against a flying Voldemort in Deathly Hallows. It was strong enough to conjure patronuses for a 13-year-old and Harry outpaced everyone else in Defense against the Dark arts because of it.

Lord Voldemort’s Wand

Although this wand was said to be the twin of Harry’s wand; let be fair, it was far more powerful than Harry’s. The wielder of the wand was none other than the most powerful dark wizard who ever lived, so it had to be powerful enough to keep up with Voldemort’s magic.

This wand’s supreme feature was the Avada Kedavra curse as it was Voldemort’s signature spell. It was also capable of unimaginable levels of dark magic such as conjuring a fire serpent and making Horcruxes.

Professor Dumbledore’s Original Wand

People keep glossing over the fact that Professor Dumbledore didn’t always have the Elder Wand as his own. He had used his original wand at the time when he was still called the greatest wizard to have ever lived. More significantly, Dumbledore used this wand to defeat Grindelwald – did we mention Grindelwald had the Elder Wand at the time?

This wand got Professor Dumbledore and you could say it represented the benevolent side of the professor as it didn’t carry the bloody history the Elder Wand did. It was this wand that brought the transfiguration skills out of Dumbledore and the rest is history.

Merlin’s Wand

This one goes without saying even though Merlin never showed up in the series. That’s because the Wizarding World unanimously agrees that Merlin was the greatest wizard that ever lived.

He’s ranked even higher than Dumbledore, and it would take a wand like no other to channel this power. Because of this, it’s easy to see how Merlin’s wand was something else entirely, with the wizard attaining a legendary reputation due to the feats he achieved while wielding it.

The Elder Wand

Of course, while Professor Dumbledore’s original wand beat the Elder Wand, there’s no denying the latter wand is still the most powerful ever made. Only a couple of wizards ever lost when they had the wand in their possession and the wand is known as being unbeatable for a reason.

There’s no use in naming achievements the wand made, as its reputation precedes it. No one knows how it was made, but everyone knows very easily that no wand can ever beat the Elder Wand. Had Dumbledore been evil, no one on Earth could’ve stopped him with the Elder Wand in his possession.