Quidditch, Anyone?

No, Quidditch is not an Olympic sport, but if the International Quidditch Association gets their way, maybe we'll be watching it in Rio in 2016.  In the meantime, Sonia and I took a break from the Olympics to go to Leavesden, just northwest of London, to tour the Warner Brothers studios where all the Harry Potter movies were filmed.

The Making of Harry Potter: Warner Brothers Studio Tour

This is no theme park -- these are the actual sets, props, and costumes from all eight movies.  The studio was the home away from home for the cast and crew of all the Harry Potter movies for more than ten years.  We learned how the magic of the books was brought to life through a combination of computer effects, forced perspective, and some incredibly complex sets and props.  The tour was mostly self-guided, but there was so much to see and do, that it takes about three hours to go through the whole thing.  Here are some highlights of what we saw...

Harry's cupboard under the stairs

The Great Hall (the ceiling was all CGI...)

Gryffindor fashions

Professors Flitwick, Moody, and Trelawney

McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Snape

In the unlikely event that anyone got bored on the tour, there were also 17 golden snitches hidden in various spots.  We found a few of them, but there was so much to see that we stopped looking early on.

A golden snitch

Refreshment table from the Yule Ball

Formals from the Yule Ball.  A replica of Hermione's dress
was for sale in the gift shop for £240 ($375)

Ron's dress robe

Wigs and hairpieces

The actress who played Luna Lovegood helped design some of her own costumes

Proclamations

The gates of Hogwarts are guarded by (what else?) winged warthogs

Gryffindor boys dorm (note the trunk marked 'HP' under the bed)

Forced perspective makes this hallway look much longer
(it's really only about 6 feet deep)

The Fat Lady

The mirror of erised

Wands!

Gryffindor common room

Portrait of Minerva McGonagall as a young witch

Invisibility cloak

The stair-elevator to Dumbledore's office

Dumbledore's office

The Pensieve

The Goblet of Fire

Horcruxes!

The Potions classroom

Door from the Chamber of Secrets

 These doors were built by skilled craftsmen -- the locking mechanisms really work!

Door to Gringotts Vault

Quidditch uniforms

Some of the animal actors who played Hedwig, Fang,
Mrs. Norris, and Crookshanks

Inside the Burrow

Death Eater masks

Ministry of Magic fireplaces

Graphic arts

Weasley's 'U-NO-POO: The Constipation Sensation that's Gripping the Nation'

Harry's Hogwarts acceptance letter

Dolores Umbridge's costumes. 
The shades of pink grew progressively darker, along with her character

Umbridge's office.  Very pink.  Lots of kittens

Ministry of Magic monument

 The next part of the tour took us outside to the backlot for some of the outdoor scenes.

Of course, they had butterbeer at the refreshment stand

The Knight Bus

The Riddle Family crypt

No 4, Privet Drive (the Dursley's house)

The covered footbridge from Hogwarts

Giant chess pieces

The Potter's cottage (where Harry's parents lived)

 Back inside, we walked through the creature shop, where we saw many familiar faces...

The head of Nearly Headless Nick

The goblins of Gringotts

Dobby

Buckbeak

Aragog with a Death Eater and the head of the Basilisk

 Next up: Diagon Alley!  It was amazing how detailed the shop window displays were.  It was also very crowded and dark and hard to get decent photos.

Diagon Alley

Olivander's Wands

Flourish & Blotts books

Eeylops Owl Emporium

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Puking Pastilles

Beyond Diagon Alley we saw incredibly detailed models, blueprints, and concept art for sets and scenes, costumes, and props from the movies.

blueprints and scale models

Scale model of The Burrow

Gorgeous concept art for the Whomping Willow

But the most amazing of all the amazing things we saw was the massive scale model of Hogwarts that filled an entire 2-story room.  This model was used for many of the exterior shots, particularly aerial shots where the camera takes the point of view of someone flying over the castle.

Hogwarts!

It was incredibly detailed, down to individually painted bricks, tiny fiber optic lights, and real plants and rocks.

Herbology greenhouses

Crappy photo, but it gives you a better sense of scale

The final room of the tour was the interior of Ollivander's Wand shop, with hundreds of individually labeled wand boxes.  Each box bore the name of a member of the cast and crew from all eight films

Ollivander's wands

Sonia spotted at least one familiar name among the boxes

After spending some time browsing in the massive gift shop and having tea and scones in the cafe, we embarked on the somewhat complex journey home: shuttle bus to train to tube to another train.  A long trip, but totally worth it!  If you are a Harry Potter fan -- witch, wizard, or muggle -- and have a chance to come to London (or live in London), this is a must.  And don't think you've already experienced the tour through my blog post -- there are plenty more surprises that I haven't revealed here...