Happy summer-is-ending, void-that-is-the-Internets-and-readers-or-dearth-thereof!
Let's go ♫ sailing off to London ♫ again now, back to the wonderful Harry Potter studios in Leavesden!
**Book, tour, and movie spoilers ahead. Protego!**
The tour, you could say, has three parts (though wouldn't it be *metaphorically significant* if there were seven?): two soundstages and the back lot in between. The first soundstage focuses on sets and props, from the tiny (Harry's cupboard) to the huge (the Great Hall). The backlot is outdoors; the displays there are the outdoor props like the beloved Knight Bus. Finally, the second soundstage features the art and special effects, from the beautiful concept artists' images and models to the creepy masks or suits of special-effect characters like Aragog or Griphook.
Greetings from the Ford Anglia and huge pictures of the major actors! That's Alan Rickman and Tom Felton (Draco's face hidden by Ford Anglia). I think I just let the fangirling fill me up here, and I just stood around with my mouth open. It's already on a grand scale, and there are only a few set pieces out in the lobby.
The first (and smallest) set is right off the lobby; it's Harry's cupboard. It was amazing to see this right off the bat; it's icon and simple and a little bit heartbreaking. Again, it was only the beginning.
Possibly the most of me you'll ever see in a photo, this is my hand as we were standing in line. Buzzing with fangirling excitement, it was the most cheerful line we saw in England, and probably the most cheerful line in the world. We were all very excited, and I just love the Potterhead fandom. C'mere, you guys. I had a blue pen with me, and I was seriously considering writing "I solemnly swear I am up to no good" or "#RavenclawPride" or "Ravenclaw is blue and bronze" on my hand. I didn't, though, partially because there were simply just too many slogans I wanted.
There are just no words. No words. No words for the sheer reality and magic and size and scale of the Great Hall. There's a reason it's the first thing on the tour past the doors. Every visitor to the studios must say it, but this place just wows you. It's the best feeling in the world, that mixture of shock and awe and excitement and it's happening, it's happening, I'm here. Of course, this isn't the only place you can feel that, but it was truly magical. It stayed with me the whole time.
It's the teachers. It's the sorting hat. It's the House mascot lamps. It's uniforms from every house, from first year all the way up to seventh. It's the Hogwartsians amongst us.
We reluctantly moved out of the Great Hall, because there was so much more to explore! The Yule ball outfits were stunning (ha, ha, Ron) from his disastrous dress robes to Cho Chang's beautiful dress (Cho is one of my favorites. Again, Ravenclaw pride!)
Then we moved on to costumes and wigs. This head with two Uncle Vernon mustaches pinned onto it was immensely entertaining to my strange sense of humor. That's a greenscreen glove for Dumbledore's dead hand underneath it, by the way.
More wigs! The long blonde one on the stand is Luna Lovegood's, another of my favorites. Quirky Ravenclaws for the win, of course! Her hair is beautiful, as is everyone's.
There are tables of wigs, there are shelves with more, there are racks of fancy clothes, there are matching shoes that I've never noticed watching the movies. And this can only be a fragment of the movie magic. Isn't that amazing?
It's a tiny rendition of Lupin's classroom! And the only lesson he cinematically taught! Merlin, I love that teacher... and Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes. I mean... who doesn't?
When you see the Gryffindor boy's dormitory, you're standing a little bit under the roof of it. You look up at the timbers Daniel Radcliffe and Devon Murray and Alfie Enoch and Matthew Lewis and Rupert Grint looked up at, the timbers Harry and Seamus and Dean and Neville and Ron looked up at. It really is cozy.
What can I possibly say about the wands? They're all there. It's amazing. You can see which characters' wands really match them: Dumbledore's elder wand, Bellatrix's claw, Voldemort's terrifying bony thing. Other wands are plainer, like Ginny's which is the second from the right here. I rather wish hers had shown a bit more of her personality, but it's beautiful all the same.
It's the Gryff common room, with the Prisoner of Azkaban costumes! This place is the coziest thing possible, with so much detail, from the paintings on the walls to the door to the stairs up to the Gryff boys' dorm.
Lupin. Tonks. Sirius. I love how they're stood so that it looks a bit like an Olympic gold, silver, and bronze pedestal. This is only partly because it means Tonks is gold, Lupin silver, and Sirius bronze. Although I love them all; this isn't quite my ranking order, either. It would probably be Lupin, then Tonks, then Sirius in my book, but Lupin and Tonks are close in rank.
Beloved Alan Rickman, and less-beloved Snape. The potions classroom is scarily detailed.
It's Dumbledore's office! Look at all those Headmasters. Dumbledore's the washed-out figure in the bottom right.
This is a cage with all the Goblet of Fire props. Look. At. That. It's insane.
The beautiful and iconic, if nonliterary, clock from Prisoner of Azkaban. It's huge.
A big look at a ton of large practical props, with the greenscreen area in the background. I love the Ravenclaw moving staircases.
The beloved Weasley Burrow. There are things here that actually move (mechanically), it's amazing.
It's the Hogwarts Express! Look at this scarlet glory. It's beautiful. I wish I were on there come this September first.
Everything from the Yule ball costumes up to this point were in this big main hall. Before I went aboard the Express, though, I just had to stop and take one picture looking back.
Hogwarts trolleys, each belonging to a different student distinctively. This is Luna's of course. Check out that aqua footlocker!
In a cabin at the end of the express. All was well. (Don't talk to me about Cursed Child!)
This gave me so many feels... it's his broken glasses. From fifteen years ago, can you believe?
I promised myself I'd only make very important images very large; I'm getting carried away. But just you look at all these paper goods! I want those textbooks...and all that is just beautiful.
What wouldn't I give to visit a bookstore with a shelf like that?
I'll end this post here. Don't worry, I'll pop you all off to the rest of the tour (we'll go to all destinations, just nothing underwater, haha) later!
A big thanks again to people who put up with long-winded and philosophical or pictoral posts. Especially to those people who put up with posts who are also the people who took me on this trip! And especially to
Lauchlan for the travel blog format. Thanks for understanding.
Happy imagining!
~Citali
