(Left to right: Voldemort, Harry, Snape)
I have grown up with a relatively big immediate family. I am one of four girls, so as you can imagine getting Christmas presents for everyone can become rather expensive. Because of this in my house, we do secret Santa among my siblings. Last year for Christmas my sister Sara got me a collection of Harry Potter pens that are made to look like character wands. In the set, I received Harry’s, Snape’s, and Voldemort’s “wand”. I tend to get a little wary when asking for pens because I can really only use ones that are ballpoint. Gel pens are an absolute disaster in my hands, as whenever I use them a trail of smudged ink will follow (blame it on being a lefty). I also have a thing against blue ink pens, as they tend to make my notes look sloppier.
Upon inspection of the pens I received, I was beyond pleased to realize that they were both ballpoint and black inked. Over the last year, these pens have become my absolute favorite, and I use them whenever I can. Unlike some pens that tend to have a lighter ink (I’m looking at you Bic Round Stic), these pens are prominently black and almost have the same boldness as a fine point sharpie. They also have a medium point tip allowing the writing to be more fluid than when using a fine point pen, which can write choppily.
As found in the “about this item” section on Amazon these pens are made from ergonomic durable plastic and are officially considered part of the Harry Potter Merchandise. The plastic from Harry’s “wand” was molded to mimic the wood used for the wands. The plastic shaft has been painted the color holly (the wood his wand is made from). When you reach the “handle” of the “wand” it becomes wider in size and is carved to match the jagged wood handle we see in the movies. The handle of the pen is no longer holly colored but black.
Severus Snape’s pen is fully jet black and is said to be made from ebony. Unlike Harry’s wand, there is no molding to be made to look like wood, instead, the shaft is completely smoothed. The handle of the “wand” is divided into two columns separated by a thick black ring. These black rings can also be found at the top of the first column and the bottom of the second. The columns contain intricate carvings of symbols that have been hypothesized to make the “wand” more capable of dark magic.
The last wand/pen is Voldemort’s. The entirety of the pen is ivory, as his wand is said to be made with yew wood. Just like Snape’s wand, the shaft of the wand is completely smooth. The handle of this wand is where we see incredible detail. “Carved” in a hook-like manner the handle of this wand was created to mimic bone. When looking carefully at the handle of this wand there are small areas that are left unpainted (assumingly to give it more depth) which expose a clear material underneath. This material seems to be the plastic the exterior of the pen was molded from.
When looking at the shaft of the pens in small black writing is information from how these pens are created. The first title I recognize is Seven20. Seven20, also known as Underground Toy company in the U.K. This company was initially stationed in the U.K. but has begun to branch off into the U.S. for marketing and production time reasons. This company is also known for the infamous Funko Pop toys as well. This product is designed and licensed under the Seven20 brand.
Once the product is designed it is sent over to a factory in China where the pen is then produced. I couldn’t find anything on the factory that produces these products. However, once created these products are sent to warehouses located in both the U.K. and the U.S. From the Seven20 warehouses, products are then distributed to stores and warehouses such as Target and The River Colony trade, which is the company Amazon uses to sell and distribute these pens. The River Colony Trading resells goods produced from other companies (such as Seven20). This business address is located in Connecticut.
When trying to map out the journey my pens took, this is how I believe it proceeded. It started in a design studio in the U.S. From there the product design was sent over to the factory in China, where workers manufactured the product. After manufacturing, it was sent back over to the United States on a plane or cargo ship. The Seven20 warehouses then distributed the product to the specific warehouse, in this case, the River Colony Trading site, where it sits until someone purchases the product through a site (like Amazon). Once the item is bought it is packaged, labeled, and shipped to the buyer’s house.
Link to References
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
First off, I love a pen that makes your handwriting look better. As someone who has mediocre handwriting, I am always looking for the neatest-looking pens.
In the first sentence did you mean immediate family rather than intermediate? I looked up intermediate family and it refers to grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Just wanted to point that out!
I would have expected the Harry Potter pens to be rather poor writing utensils. I may have to invest in some for taking notes or journaling.
If you love ballpoint pens definitely invest they’re such good quality!
Hey Meg! This article was very interesting to read. I prefer writing in pencil, so I never knew how much the design and style of a pen affect a person’s writing. Even so I liked how much detail you put into describing the pens, and using the details from those descriptions to elaborate on the process of the pens’ creation. I especially enjoyed how you created a theoretical timeline of the production of the pens at the end, it was quite satisfying to see all of the little details about the pen’s creation come together to create a story of how the pens were made.