is that a wand in your sleeve or are you just stiff?

[arcanetrivia]

One thing that annoys me in fic is when people keep their wands up their sleeves.*

Why not try this easy experiment? (Kids, get your parents' permission first!)

Get something that's slender and roughly a foot long. (If you have nothing else, a ruler will do.) Put on a long-sleeved garment if you are not already wearing one. Slide your "wand" up one of the sleeves. Either the inside or the outside of your arm will work for the purpose of this test. Make sure you get it all in there, so the tip disappears under your sleeve cuff.

Now try bending your elbow.

Yeah, that's what I thought.


I'm no gorilla, but my sample wand, about 13" long, goes halfway up my bicep to begin with. Even an 11" (what, don't you have multiple wands sitting around your house?) slides hopelessly back out when I bend. If I prevent it from doing so, it jabs out the other end, by the elbow.

All in all, not the most practical storage location. (I always imagined robe pockets designed for the task.)


* - If anyone can point out to me where this is done in canon, then I'll have a piece of that crow pie, thanks, but it would only mean JKR has no idea what she's talking about (no! you're kidding!).

Comments

[sylvanawood.livejournal.com]

Now that you mention it... (feels rather silly with the ruler sticking out of her sleeve and poking her biceps). I've used that line, too, since it's such a handy concept. I always imagined the wide sleeves of billowing robes, some kind of pocket or sticking charm, and swish, you have your wand when you need it, and don't have to worry about hexing your arse off. (We've been warned by Moody, after all). But this practical little test has convinced me. Where do they carry their wands? Back pockets and pockets of trousers always strike me as too dangerous to brake the wands... something like a breast pocket? Luna's way of sticking it behind her ear suddenly becomes a lot more interesting...

*edited to add* I just remembered: when Harry got his wand, there were measurements taken, of his arms, too. So maybe the wand length isn't some esoteric length determined through who-knows-what, but actually an estimate as to how long your underarm will grow, so you can hide the wand in the sleeve.
Swish. ;)

[elethian.livejournal.com]

If you have long hair, you could use it as a hairstick. :)

Back pockets really make no sense. At least bending your elbow is unlikely to apply enough force to break it (depending on the thickness -- I gotta wonder about some of these wands that are "quite whippy" and the like). Only Hagrid and Olympe should be able to keep their wands in their sleeves! Maaaybe really tall people, if they have shorter wands.

[ninth-myth.livejournal.com]

so far i've had a wand stashed in my hair, down my boot and down my corset. provided you don't have too large a handle on it the corset works pretty well (Durmstrang student so wand hanging out fit the image).