Let us consider for a moment the subject of magic and practitioners thereof as they are represented to non-magical persons. On one hand, there is the British poster-boy, Harry Potter. Wand-toting and fighting against evil, bad politicians, less-than-moral journalists and acne. Across the pond there is another ideology. There, we have Sabrina Spellman, who fights acne, the system and her own ignorance of her powers. We also have Samantha Stephens, housewife, mother, and daily striving to create peace and harmony in her home between her mother and her husband. Last, but not least by any means, are the Charmed Ones, who fight demons, warlocks, and sometimes each other.
There is an obvious disparity between these two groups that has recently seen fit to shove itself in my face and set all my plot-bunnies to scattering, and it is this: the Yanks don't seem to need wands, whereas the Poms are almost completely dependant on theirs.
Is this a matter of different educations or is it a genetic difference between the British and the American magic-user? Or perhaps it is environment. After all, another difference is that the British magical person is generally isolated from and ignorant of the non-magical 'world', with no idea how to work a microwave normally, while the Americans will point at the television to make it go when they can't find the remote anywhere, and they certainly don't go around wearing robes. Unless it's a special occasion that is.
Let's not even get started on the disparity between these Western countries and the Eastern ones though. China and Japan have very different demons from each other, let alone the ones that hunt the Charmed Ones, and then there are the miko, the priestesses, the monks, the exorcists, the mana-users, the chakra-users, the chi-users, and the people who are completely normal except for their utterly inhuman strength. But like I said already, we're not going there, so let's get back on track, shall we?
Of course, Mary Poppins is British and without a wand, but her magic is very different from that used by her country-men. It is far more subtle and practical than their flashy spells, and generally she disassociates herself from them, so we shall excuse her from this particular set of comparisons just as we are excusing the Asiatic counties.
There are two great questions that arise from this realisation of course. One: what if Harry Potter was American instead of British? And two: what if Hermione Granger noticed the difference and wrote a comparative study?