A small chuckle escaped Ollivanders lips and he smiled at Ron who missed the slight flicker of annoyance at his ignorance "The core could be described as the magical source of a wand by those who have no knowledge of wand lore," Ron could feel his cheeks turning red from embarrassment "For in reality the core acts simply as an amplifier for one's own magic so if the wand core's magic doesn't match your own magic then the spell your trying to cast might not work at all or be greatly weakened" at this Ollivander handed Ron a wand the looked similar to his mother, the wood must be the same, waving it nothing happened "that is a perfect example of what I mean, the core doesn't suit you so your magic was unable to meld with the wand and a match wasn't formed."