Gideon shrugged at her first question. "Not all trees can become wands." There were some who believed that plants of all varieties had some degree of magic, just as some people believed that all people were capable of some minor amount of magic — but that was a controversial and untested hypothesis. It was one that seemed to make sense in his mind, because squibs could often produce some magic and even Muggles could have some moderate success with simple potions. Magic existing on a sort of spectrum rather than an absolute of those who had and those who had not fit his worldview, but he didn't feel strongly about it either way, so he wasn't inclined to argue for the premise. Particularly when it was, as earlier mentioned, untested — and perhaps untestable, since there was no reliable way Gideon knew of quantifying magical ability.

"You can touch them, sure," he said with a nod. "And tell me what you think of them. Wands are like people; they've got a personality all of their own," he explained. "And ebony wands are, I think, very confident in who they are, so maybe you can get a sense of it."