The Next Best Thing to Getting a Hogwarts Letter

It has recently come to my attention that I never wrote about my trip to the Harry Potter set in London! Eek! I can't pass up the opportunity to achieve another level of nerd status (but the best kind of nerdiness possible).

The trip in itself was kind of a hike. You have to take the London overground to a suburb, and the whole ride is pushing fifty minutes or so. THEN we took the "Knight Bus" from the station to the actual set. Yes, it was actually a double-decker painted purple.

Walking in, the entire wall of the lobby contains huge portraits of the cast like the ones below. They made me teary!

The amazing part? Walking through the authentic sets, exactly where and as they were during filming! The door to the Great Hall...

And the Great Hall itself!

Clock

And Dumbledore's office!

And of course, I had to sample the famous (albeit expensive) Butterbeer. It was actually some of the best stuff I've ever tasted. Probably because it's magical.

Recognize this?

It's Number Four, Privet Drive!

House where Voldemort killed the Potters

Beautiful covered bridge from the third movie! This was the only actual part of the structure. The rest of the bridge was visual effects. 

Weasley joke shop

  I feel like graphic artists, set decorators, etc. never get enough credit.  Visiting the sets and seeing the props up close demonstrated the unparalleled talents of so many. Each of the hundreds of Weasley joke shop products, for example, had authentic labels with pretend ingredients. The Daily Prophet up close read like a real newspaper (they even had advertisements!) Even though such props are on camera for only about half a second (and at a distance), the crew made sure that every last detail of every prop and every costume and every set held unique authenticity.

Amazing...this Hogwarts model used for wide shots took a crew of engineers and designers over a year (I think even quite a bit longer) to construct. 

Definitely an experience I'll never forget! This trip, for me, gives the books and movies a whole new meaning.