Draco's wand gives insight into character (well, duh)

JKR updated her site to answer some more book FAQs, so I plan to do a few posts about these new bits of info.

She revealed that Draco's wand is, in fact, made from hawthorn, May's birth flower/tree. However she has not said what the core is....

Hawthorn tells us something very important about Draco's character and what he might do in the future. Basically, the scene where Draco lowers the wand he'd pointed at Dumbledore is just the begining of his turn around. True, we figured as much, right? Well, hawthorn is all about healing the heart, giving psychic shield protection, opening up to love and understanding, and spiritual development.

Hawthorn is a thorny tree (of course) and we must remember that thorns are grown for personal protection. Draco is a natural at Occlumency, being able to block Snape after perhaps a single summer of practice, and with the hawthorn of his wand it's really no wonder at all that he would learn it so quickly.

For a while (once Christianity took over Rome, Greece, and Britain) the meaning was changed from one of love and fertility to one of bad luck, enforced chastity, and misfortune. It has since regained some of it's more positive aspects. Of course, Draco is most-likely in for more bad luck and misfortune before things get better for him. Losing the nerve to kill Dumbledore was the first step after "Draco's detour", but it was a really big step.

Will he take up an offer for protection if Snape offers it?

(Lots of thanks to http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/hawthorn.htm for info on hawthorn....)