"The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wangs."

He had reached his wang before he'd thought what he was doing.

"Go, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly, drawing out his own wang.

Jets of light shot from both wangs, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles - Harry's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione.

"…nothing to worry about, it's just the wang weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wang weighing?" Harry repeated nervously.

"We have to check that your wangs are full functional, no problems, you know, as they're you're most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman.

…she pulled out a handful of candles, which she lit with a wave of her wang…

"The Weighing of the Wangs is about to start…"

"He will be checking your wangs to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Harry had met Mr Ollivander before - he was the wang-maker from whom Harry ad bought his own wang over three years ago in Diagon Alley.

Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr Ollivander and handed him her wang.

"Hmmm…" he said.

He twirled the wang between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches…inflexible…rosewood…and containing…dear me…"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzers."

"Yes," said Mr Ollivander, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course, I fin it makes for rather temperamental wangs…however, to each his own, and if this suits you…"

Mr Ollivander ran his fingers along the wang, apparently checking for scratches and bumps, then he uttered and a bunch of flowers burst from the wangtip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr Ollivander, sweeping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wang.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm as Cedric handed over his wang. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn…Twelve and a quarter inches…ash…pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition…You treat it regularly?"

"Polished it last night," said Cedric, grinning.

Harry looked down at his own wang. He could see finger marks all over it. He gathered a fistful of robe from his knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously. Several gold sparks hot out of the end of it. Fleur Delacour gave him a very patronizing look, and he desisted.

Mr Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wang and pronounced himself satisfied.

He thrust his wang and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm," said Mr Ollivander, "this is Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wang-maker, though the styling is never quite what I…however…"

He lifted the wang and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.

"Yes…hornbeam and dragon heart string?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees…quite rigid…ten and a quarter inches…"

The hornbeam wang let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

"Good," said Mr Ollivander, handing Krum his wang.

Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr Ollivander. He handed over his wang.

"Aaaah, yes," said Mr Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."

Harry could remember it too. He could remember it as though it had happened yesterday…

Four summer's ago, on his eleventh birthday, he had entered Mr Ollivander's shop with Hagrid to buy a wang. Mr Ollivander had taken his measurements and then started handing him wangs to try. Harry had waved what felt like every wang in the shop until at last he had found the one that suited him - this one, which was made of holly, eleven inches long, and contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. Mr Ollivander had been very surprised that Harry had been so compatible with this wang…Mr Ollivander had explained that the phoenix in Harry's wang had come from the same bird that had supplied the core of Lord Voldemort's.

He was fond of his wang…

Mr Ollivander spent much longer examining Harry's wang than anyone else's. Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.