Magic is Might

The day we had been waiting for had finally arrived! After sitting through a "Declaration of the Rights of Man"-heavy class with Dr. Foy, a small band of us set off to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour at Leavesden Studios! Way up north, we had to take the London Overground to get to Watford Junction, where a shuttle would pick us up and take us to the studio. The Overground was an entirely separate experience from the Underground. The Underground may be quiet, but the Overground is hilariously silent, and we all couldn't suppress a few nervous giggles every once in a while. We traveled through the quietest of little London towns, through some industrialized areas, and even past a few cricket fields. But finally after an hour or so, we made it, and a mad dash to the shuttle later, we were at the studio! It was an experience of geekery that I can't quite put into words. We all loved it.

Our bus!

The group in front of the entrance

Excited!

Actor portraits

Emma, Daniel, and Rupert's handprints

Warner Bros.

The real Great Hall!

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

The Hogwarts Crest on a fireplace

Slytherin

Gryffindor

Sitting in the Great Hall with Laura and Lynn!

Dumbledore and Faculty

The directors and their thoughts on the series. A nice touch!

Sirius Black's tattoo designs and Dumbledore's wig

Luna's accessories and Fleur's uniform

The Umbridge wall of rules!

Olivia, Laura, Lynn, and Marissa in front of the Hogwarts gates!

The girls in front of the Mirror of Erised

Hermione, Harry, and Ron!

Dumbledore's office

Key props: Azkaban number, remembrall, and the time-turner

Snape in the potion's dungeon

Tom Riddle's Diary

Portaits

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the homages to the crew throughout the production. All of the portraits in the movies were made with a crew member as its inspiration. The prominent one here is of David Yates! It's the little things during the tour that got to me!

The Chamber of Secrets door! Surprisingly, not CGI, but completely automated!

Quidditch

The Burrow

 The Baddies!

The "Magic is Might" statue from the Ministry

Umbridge!

"I must not tell lies"

Umbridge is my favorite because you just have to love to hate her! And her office (with the kitten plates) was perhaps the most ridiculously wonderful thing that I have ever seen in a movie.

 

The graphic design department had it going on!

Up to this point was all within the first sound studio! There was so much to see! However, we still had another sound studio to go, so we made our way outside to see the outdoor props and even get some real butterbeer from the concessions! Since butter beer is essentially pure sugar, we got a little too excited to be outside on Privet Drive...

At Privet Drive!

On Hagrid's motorcycle!

Fun with the Knight Bus!

Concerned at Tom Riddle's grave

The Potter's house and wizard's chess pieces

The special effects magic

And the suddenly... We were in Diagon Alley! It was crazy to think that the actors had walked those same streets.

Mood lighting in Diagon Alley with the girls!

Some shopfronts: Olivander's, Flourish & Blotts (complete with a Lockhart book display), the Animal shop

The best part, however, was the "secret" that the studio saved for last. After the excitement of Diagon Alley, everyone rounds the corner into a quieter space of concept art, models, and architectural diagrams. After all that, the crowd goes slowly through a dark doorway, anticipating the end of the tour, and come out to see...

It's Hogwarts!

Needless to say, I don't think anyone was expecting a small-scale, fully detailed model of Hogwarts to be in the next room. I hate to say that I got emotional over seeing a model of a movie set, but with the most dramatic of music swelling in the background along with some mood lighting, I got a little misty-eyed. This was indeed my childhood, and to see it live was overwhelming. The pictures really don't communicate how huge this model was. It took up a large portion of a closed-off area of the sound stage. There were also computers all around showing how this was the model that was used for exterior shots of the grounds, along with a little CGI for the most intricate bits. This is Hogwarts. It was marvelous to see, and not something I will be forgetting the experience of anytime soon.

The wand room, with the names of the entire production crew

I'm picking mine out!

The tour ended with a final room full of handmade wand boxes. Each box had the name of someone who had worked on the film embossed on the side (I happened to glance over and find Helena Bonham Carter's right away). The room was massive, which showed just how many people had to work to make the film! It was certainly an extremely exciting experience. Overall, the tour was wonderful. Seeing the work that got put into the movie didn't make it any less magical -- it made it even more magical. We all stopped in to the gift shop, bought our swag (and maybe a gift or two), and headed back home.

Laura, Olivia, and I made friends with two of the other girls in the Harry Potter group, Lynn and Marissa, and we went out to dinner on the way back. After a haphazard search for a fish and chips restaurant that I recommended, we settled on a hole-in the wall Italian place in Leicester Square out of pure hunger. The food was great, and very Italian, and we all happily wandered home via the Tube. No readings for the night finally meant an early bedtime for all!