The amount of lore in the Harry Potter franchise has shown that there's much to uncover, even in a story that only spanned seven books at first. The main way the lore was conveyed to fans was through the various systems in the Wizarding World. One of the best examples of this was the practices of the Ministry of Magic and how it did things like tracking students who used magic underage or monitoring any Muggle sightings. But other systems were far less invasive, such as the wand selection process.

In Ollivander's wand shop, the selection process allows wizards, like Harry Potter, to find a wand that best suits them. Through trial and error, young witches and wizards learn that wands are more than wood. They channel the user's magic and can amplify or hinder them based on the connection or core of each wand. Some wands can have siblings, while others can be much older than expected. But they all carry immense power. They can even inadvertently reveal the user's character. In the case of Dolores Umbridge, her wand foreshadowed her villainous side.

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Wand Length Was Never About the User's Height

Everyone raising their wands after Dumbledore's death in Harry Potter.

In Harry Potter, wands come in all shapes and sizes, with some being more curved or flexible and others ranging from nine to 14 inches. However, while it would seem that shorter wizards and witches get shorter wands, this is hardly the case. In fact, long wands are actually representative of one's character and allow keen-eyed individuals to have an idea of the type of person they are encountering. For example, Hagrid had an abnormally large wand that reached 15 inches, which was indicative of his big personality and kindness. However, Dolores Umbridge's wand was much shorter and represented a much darker truth.

As a young witch, Dolores subscribed to her father's pure-blood mentality and saw herself as superior to her mother and brother, who lacked magic. In fact, her attitude toward them contributed to the two leaving the Wizarding World forever. When it came time for Dolores to get her wand, it showcased her mentality perfectly, as she had an incredibly short eight-inch wand. Shorter wands indicate that the user is lacking in something. In this case, it was likely a telltale sign that she lacked empathy and kindness toward others. But her time at Hogwarts further proved this.

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Dolores Umbridge's Wand Proved She Was a Bad Egg

Dolores Umbridge smiling in her all-pink office at Hogwarts

As seen throughout her time in the Harry Potter series, Dolores Umbridge carried herself with a cheery disposition while in the presence of others. But her attitude betrayed her selfish ambitions. Even worse, it revealed that she would step on anyone to get what she wanted. At Hogwarts, she was an equally ambitious student in Slytherin who desired any title of success she could obtain, from House Prefect to Head Girl. That said, as time went on, she got nothing of the sort and actually despised her time as a student. She had even earned the disdain of professors like Horace Slughorn, who saw her as foolish.

Had individuals who knew about wands seen hers, they would've quickly deciphered that Dolores Umbridge lacked qualities that would've made her a good person. It also would've made her actions in Harry Potter make more sense, as her facade led many to believe she was a wholly good person. Essentially, her wand was a clue from the beginning that she needed to be watched because she was missing something crucial in her character. Perhaps if someone had, there would've been time to turn her around from becoming the person that would later make life so hard for Harry and his classmates.