HANG ON TO YOUR HATS MUGGLES!! This post is about to get extremely geeked out so if you have no interest in Harry Potter then you should probably skip on over this one... I was seriously left speechless after these past two days. They have actually been a dream come true and I am still amazed about everything I've learned. For those of you who don't know, Lindsay and I spent the last two days in London. We got there Sunday around noon for our Harry Potter walking tour of London. We met up with our tour guide, Greta Granger, distant relative to Hermione, of course... and began our journey. We had a really good time talking Harry Potter with her and learning all about where they filmed in London and just fun little tidbits about the city that we didn't know.
This is St. Paul's Cathedral. Originally, the iconic dome was built to house a telescope. However, at the time science and the church weren't something that typically mixed so the officials told the builder that he was not allowed to install the telescope, but instead he could put in a staircase. Here they filmed a few scenes on the staircases.
This storefront was used as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. The funny thing is that it is located under some pretty short overpasses. As you probably remember (or saw from the clip), Harry arrives on the Knight Bus which is this massive triple decker bus. They actually took 1.5 double decker buses and created a working vehicle. However, it was not taken into account how low some of the bridges it would have to drive under in order to get to the set were and it had to be taken apart and reassembled on site.
This ship provided the designers from the movie with inspiration for the Durmstrang ship in the fourth movie, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
We also got to visit a site from one of the most entertaining and memorable scenes from the entire series. Mr. Weasley is escorting Harry to his disciplinary hearing after using magic in the presence of a muggle (Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix) and they need to use the underground system to get to the entrance to the Ministry. The station that they chose to film in is one of the biggest and busiest in London and just so happens to be the one that many government officials use to get to work on a daily basis. They completely shut down Westminster station for filming and they apparently just didn't go to work that day! Harry Potter holiday I suppose?
(Skip to about 2:20)
When Greta brought us to this location we were all pretty confused because it was on a random side street and didn't seem like anything special. She began to explain to us that the door pictured was actually made over and used as the little room that Harry, Ron, and Hermione hid the bodies of Mafalda Hopkirk, Albert Runcorn, and Reginald Cattermole as they transformed into them and broke into the Ministry to find Salazaar Slytherin's locket that was in Dolores Umbridge's possession at the time. She also showed us the corner where Ron was scouting out and being his sketchy self and tried to demonstrate a little bit herself... too funny!!
This was a similar situation because she had us staring at a blank wall. This was where the telephone booth that was used to bring Harry and Mr. Weasley down into the Ministry at the beginning of the fifth movie was located. Greta told us that they were getting annoyed with the black poles so they decided to tear all of them out of the ground instead of just choosing an alternate place to film. I personally couldn't see what was so special about this wall that they absolutely HAD to film there, but whatever floats their boat!! She also told us that they built this random temporary bridge in the background, but nobody was quite sure why.
This was the building they used to film the inside of 12 Grimmauld place! It was very hush hush and the only people outside of the cast and crew who knew they were filming there were the employees of the pub next-door because they would bring in food and drinks for them.
Next, we wandered into this side street that felt a bit darker than all of the others. Just like Harry, we had stumbled upon Knockturn Alley. Well... kind of... JK Rowling herself picked this street out for the set designers to use as inspiration for Knockturn Alley. They weren't able to film here exactly because the street is way too narrow and they wouldn't have been able to fit all of the camera rigs in, so they recreated it in the studio, brick by brick. Earlier in the tour, Greta also showed us the old medieval street where a lot of illegal activity, such as selling magical supplest like talismans and potion supplies, occurred. This served as JKR's inspiration for Knockturn.
Just off of Charing Cross Road sits this happy little street that inspired Diagon Alley, not only for the films, but also the books! According to Greta this is JK Rowling's favorite spot in London. The street is full of bookshops and stores that sell random knickknacks and collectables. It was the perfect place to end the tour!
While the walking tour was extremely interesting and fun, it kind of served as the stocking present before the big gift on Christmas. We woke up early on Monday morning in order to get to our 10:30 tour time at The Making of Harry Potter at Warner Brothers Studios. As you can see, we were just a little bit excited when we ran (I kid you not, we sprinted with our backpacks) to the shuttle bus decorated in Harry Potter signs.
Who lives in a house (cupboard) under the stairs?
Just walking into the lobby was extremely overwhelming for both of us so we immediately started taking pictures of everything. From the very beginning, it was extremely detailed and magnificent!! From the flying car hanging out above the coat check to the family photos of the Dursleys on the wall, we were both already blown away!!
I'm not going to spoil anything, but the way they reveal the door to the Great Hall is so unexpected and is very very shocking. And because I know a lot of you are wondering, yes, I did tear up when they opened the door. It was EXTREMELY overwhelming and I just couldn't believe we were getting to see one of my favorite sets from my favorite movies. It was absolutely amazing. There is SO much detail that goes into this room that you don't even notice until you see it in person. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves because I honestly couldn't do it justice with just words alone.
Snape's costume was the only one that didn't change at all through out the movies. We learned that they put navy blue tones in the wig to give it volume which I thought was kind of funny.
These are all costumes of the main Professors at Hogwarts.
When the guide asked who was a Hufflepuff I was the only one who yelled out. She seemed a bit frightened by my enthusiasm... Oops!
Ron Weasley's dress robes for the Yule Ball (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire)
White card model of The Great Hall!!
The chocolate feast from the Yule Ball (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire)
The Bloody Baron's (Slytherin House's ghost) wig
This was one of the coolest things I though because it just shows how detail oriented these films are. They had each actor write out a certain line to ensure that it stayed consistent if it were ever to be printed or placed somewhere. For example, remember that real cute n' fun part in the fifth movie when Harry has to write "I must not tell lies" with Umbridge's "special" quill? The handwriting that appears on the back of his hand is in fact Daniel Radcliffe's actual handwriting.
Design for my main man Sirius Black's tattoos!
Wardrobe for Luna Lovegood and Gilderoy Lockhart!! They also had a lot of Luna's jewelry on display. Evanna Lynch (the actress who plays Luna) actually made some of it!!
This is Harry's main outfit in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows pt. 2. It was interesting to see the progression of it's destruction. A fun little movie making fact we learned was that in order to destroy the clothes, most of the time they just attacked it with a cheese grater!!
The Leaky Cauldron
Harry and Hermione's outfits from Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
Gryffindor common room!
Portrait of the head of house (Professor McGonnagal) in the Gryffindor common room
We found our first of the three Hallows!! aka the invisibility cloak...
Tonk's costume
Sirius's Azkaban uniform
Ice Sculpture from the Yule Ball
The infamous ladder used by Filch to hang all of Umbridge's educational decrees
Knickknacks in Dumbledore's Office
Portraits in Dumbledore's Office
Dumbledore's final costume and desk
Hey, look!! We found the Sword of Gryffindor!!
So many books!! Many of them were actually just English phonebooks rebound in leather.
The cabinet that holds all of Dumbledore's memories. Very ornate and absolutely gorgeous!!
Dumbledore's Pensieve to go with the rotating memory cabinet...
Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!! We kept our distance because neither of us wanted to chance running into the Basilisk.
Pumpkins outside of Hagrid's Hut
Inside of Hagrid's Hut... I loved all of the cages hanging from the ceiling and of course, my pal Fang hanging out by the window!
The Quidditch chest used in Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
Harry's first set of Quidditch robes and Madam Hooch's costume
I found it interesting that both Harry and Draco have the same Quidditch number... 7...
The chest that Moody was held captive in while Barty Crouch Jr. impersonates him during Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
Life at the Weasley Burrow!! Another one of my favorite sets. The ceilings are so low!! Another fun fact we learned was they constructed the burrow fully and began taking it apart and distressing it in order to give it the worm and homey feel.
The Vanishing Cabinet and Death Eater display. The masks were all unique and they were very creepy.
Elevator from the Ministry of Magic used in multiple different movies.
Gryffindor Boy's Dormitory!! This bed belonged to Neville Longbottom. The beds are very short, only 5 ft 9, and they had to angle the cameras in the later movies so that the boys legs weren't seen hanging off the ends. Also, as they got older, their areas got more personalized. For example, Dean Thomas had a quilt for his favorite Football team on his bed and Ron had Chudley Cannon posters by his bed.
Mirror of Erised (and the most epic mirror selfie ever)
Entrance to Dumbledore's office... There was an actual moving staircase they used when filming scenes with this iconic statue
The Goblet of Fire!!
The Skele-grow cracked me up because it is so detailed for such a little bottle.
Harry's first set of Quidditch robes and Madam Hooch's costume
As Umbridge gained more and more power in the fifth movie, her outfits got pinker and the accents in her companion's outfits did as well.
All of the furniture in these cubicles are made of cardboard because they couldn't support much weight.
Voldemort's father's grave... aka where Harry was held while Wormtail was resurrecting Voldemort in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
I got to fly on a broomstick, no big deal...
Love that Butterbeer!!
The Hogwarts bridge!! Very cool (and slippery) to walk on!!
The Potter family's cottage in Godric's Hollow. This is where Lilly and James Potter died to protect Harry from Voldemort. It is very eerie and gave me chills just looking at it.
Privet Drive!!
The Knight Bus!! The weather was just a tad different from when I saw it a few months ago!! (s/o I MISS YOU AMANDA!!)
We both got to "drive" the Weasley's flying car and the motorbike!! No worries, we kept them away from the Whomping Willow!! Fun fact: the two motorbike pictures have something in common other than just being motorbikes with a side car... the seats on both were wet because it was raining!!
They had the original Wizards Chess pieces sprinkled around the property! They are absolutely massive!!
Dumbledore's Army practice target and Inferi (aka possessed dead body)
Grindylow model and more masks
"Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Like that ^^^
Bathilda Bagshot
Gringotts Goblin masks... There were SO many of them!!
Fawkes, Dumbledore's Pheonix
Mermaid head from Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
Two of my favorite things, The Monstrous Book of Monsters and Dobby!!
The dummies used for some of the characters. George's and Hagrid's replica were SO tall!! Dumbledore's would've been bigger but it wasn't completely to scale.
Grawp and the hog's head. The hogs head actually moves and it's very very scary.
If you look carefully you can spot three pretty cool things in this photo... Kreature, Aunt Marge, and dead Harry from Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows pt. 2
They originally made a mechanical suit for the actor playing Lupin to use while he was in werewolf form, however, it got too complicated to use so they ended up not using it and just going with digitally inserting the wolf.
The Hungarian Horntail!! (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire)
Luna Lovegood's lion hat she makes to cheer for the Gryffindor v. Slytherin match (Book: Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix Movie: Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince)
Basilisk skeleton!! Thank goodness it wasn't still alive!!
Buckbeak! He moved too which was awesome!! He bowed every so often and of course, you had to bow back!!
By far the creepiest thing on the entire tour. The basilisk head. They actually created a moving head to use while filming Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets to get a more genuine reaction out of Daniel Radcliffe.
No Dad, Scabbers was not actually played by a real rat in the movie... They created this electronic one instead!
Model of Viktor Krum during the second Tri-Wizard Tournament task in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
Terrified of Aragog!!
Mini model of Gringotts Bank
Diagon Alley
SO MUCH DETAIL!!! From the signs to the little labels on containers, Diagon Alley is truthfully a work of art!!
Just a few more icon props that we spent at least 30 minutes fawning over...
They had tiny, white card models of a majority of the most memorable sets! You can see the name cards on most of them so I'm not going to type them up. Sorry!! I'm getting tired!! This is a long post, but we're almost done!!
Last, but certainly not least, you get to see the model of the castle. And let me just tell you friends, it's breathtaking. We spent about 45 minutes just walking around and looking at it from all different angles and taking it in.
This weekend was absolutely amazing and I'm not kidding when I say it was life changing. We spend over six hours wandering through the studio just smiling because we were surrounded by something that was such a huge part of both of our childhoods. We really didn't want to go home, but as JKR so nicely put it...
Mischief Managed... Until Dublin my friends!!
xoxo
SG
ps: want to see all of the pictures? https://www.flickr.com/photos/127693587@N07/sets/72157648074807217/
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