The Trace

The trace is a spell that the ministry puts on every underage wizard and every wand, so that they can monitor magical activity, especially the illegal and dark. They also put it on criminals as a punishment and to stop them from escaping.

The average wizard would know that their body has a trace until they reach seventeen. Some know that their wands also have a trace, but this is less widely known. The last trace, which the ministry only dishes out only as a punishment, is not very known. Ministry workers would know, the purebloods definitely know and avoid it, and some students like Cedric would know because their family has been intertwined with the ministry for a long time.

In regards to the legality of Un-traced wands It’s illegal, because such a wand would not send an alert if an unforgivable curse was cast. The ministries all take the statute of secrecy really seriously, it’s about the only system that works pretty much most of the time. Normal witches and wizards usually only own one wand at a time, given by a ministry approved wandmaker.