The end of the school year is a busy time for Matthew Moran.
The Port Coquitlam teen is typically loaded with orders from teachers, students and parents wanting his Harry Potter-inspired wands and other magical products to give as gifts.
The 13-year-old also gets requests around the year to create wands for birthday parties, photo shoots, Christmas and other celebrations.
But, when Halloween arrives, the wands are flying out the door.
"It’s crazy," said his mom, Debby.
"People call us on Oct. 31 and wanting a wand for their kid’s costume that night."
Moran estimates he’s crafted more than 1,000 wands over the past three years — some of them were even created out of paintbrushes and pencils.
The Grade 8 student at Citadel Middle School got the idea for his business after enrolling in the Build-A-Biz Kids program for young entrepreneurs.
There, he not only learned about product fabrication, but he also gained economic skills for his trade.
Moran settled on wands as his commodity after reading his older brothers’ books.
"I really liked the series," he told the Tri-City News from his Port Coquitlam home on Monday (May 9).
"Then I got into the movies and I was just obsessed with them."
It was the combination of the characters and their fantastical stories that drew Moran in.
Although he has no favourite character, he picks Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (also called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) as his favourite of J.K. Rowling’s books.
Moran, who identifies as being in the Ravenclaw house of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, said he spends hours making the wands after school and on the weekends (recently, he also added resin bookmarks to his collection).
And usually, he’ll have a Harry Potter film showing in the living room when he’s at the table with his 13.5-inch chopsticks, hot glue gun, paints and other embellishments.
He sells his goods for under $10 a piece — an affordable price, he said, especially when he’s plugging at craft fairs or farmers markets in Clayton Heights (Surrey), Haney and Port Coquitlam.
Moran’s next big push is on June 2 for the opening of the PoCo Farmers Market in Leigh Square; he'll then return on Sept. 29.
Still, he’s also managed to get his wands on store shelves.
While part of the kids market on Granville Island in Vancouver last year, an official with Just Imagine purchased his wands for her shop.
When asked how long he plans to pursue his business, Moran, who will attend Port Moody Secondary in September as an International Baccalaureate student, said he’ll give it another couple of years.
"I don’t think I have any big aspirations with it. It’s just for fun now."
For more information about Moran's wands, you can follow his Instagram (@magicalmarvels08) and Facebook pages (magicalmarvels08).
