
S3E4 - What does the wand choose?
Published: August 19, 2026
Duration: 50:55
Critical Magic Theory returns with Part 1 of a two-part series on wands, tracing what Ollivander's promise that "the wand chooses the wizard" actually determines about belonging in the wizarding world. Professor Julian Wamble builds on the show's recent Squibs episodes to ask who gets access to a wand, and what that access reveals about who counts as magical in the first place. The episode moves from Filch and Ariana, who never get the chance to try, to Merope, who had a wand and still struggled, to Neville and Ron, whose late and secondhand wands complicate the idea that wands are...