'The Making of Harry Potter' Tour at the Warner Bros. Studios

Before Christmas, my two brothers, my cousin and I embarked on a trip to the Warner Bros. Studios for the Harry Potter Tour. It has to be one of my best birthday presents ever. I want to go back again. I don’t plan to include everything that I saw at the studios because I don’t want to spoil it for those that haven’t been. I do think everyone should go, even if you’re not the biggest Harry Potter fan.

After posing outside the studios, we went to the gift shop because we were early. So many things from the films had to been brought to life and made into memorabilia for the fans. Sweets; banners, ties, robes and other things that showed the house colours; the Marauder’s Map; Ron’s Howler; Platform 9 ¾ tickets; books that were on their class reading lists; jewellery; broomsticks; and of course, wands. This is just a small number of items that were for sale in the gift shop. Relating back to the food theme of this blog, one of the shop windows was created to look like the Honeydukes shop window, which is the sweet shop in Hogsmeade.

Enticing, isn’t it?

I have a tendency to behave like a child when I’m excited, so I eagerly took one of the passport booklets that were intended for children. The purpose of the passport is to tick off all the golden snitches that you see around the studios and you emboss the pages when you’ve been to a certain part of the studio. Like I said, I can be immature. It was good fun, though. It just meant that we all had to be more observant and inquisitive, which is not a bad thing.

Harry’s cupboard under the stairs was the first location that we passed whilst we were in the queue. As you can see, it’s extremely small and scarce of Harry’s belongings. A small toy car, a few models, and Harry’s glasses are the only objects that seem to belong to Harry.

The Great Hall was set up for Christmas so there were many Christmas trees decorated all over the hall and many crackers and presents placed on the table. To fall in line with this seasonal occasion, the food is also Christmassy - turkey and peas, with Christmas pudding, pie and fruit for dessert. Also, in the Great Hall, there is the house points system.

The main course of turkey and peas

Desserts - Christmas pudding, pie and fruit

The house points system, which I don't think they ever showed in the films

The Yule Ball, which takes place in the Goblet of Fire, is an elegant affair that is part of the Triwizard Tournament.   

The fancy drinks display

The beautiful chocolate display

There was a boxed glass display, in which there were many important props. These included the Philosopher’s Stone, Hermione’s Time Turner, Dumbledore’s (then Ron’s) Deluminator and the Golden Snitch.

The set that was Snape’s classroom definitely felt as if it was located in the dungeons. On display was Snape’s sole outfit throughout the films and Professor Slughorn’s costume. On the tables, magic was clearly occurring as the cauldrons were being stirred by themselves. From the pictures, you can see the wide variety of potions and ingredients stacked against the walls.

Dumbledore’s office was spectacular. It was full of books and portraits of the previous headmasters (which unfortunately were not moving, maybe there were too many Muggles around). There were also many important props, such as Godric Gryffindor’s sword, the Memory Cabinet and the Sorting Hat.

 Hagrid’s hut was small, cramped and full of many, many, many possessions.

The Weasley’s place, also known as the Burrows, is homely and colourful. There were two machines that allowed the visitors to move the brush to wash the pan in the sink or move the knife to cut the carrots. Below is a picture of the famous Weasley clock, which does not tell the time, but instead tells where the family members are – ‘home’, ‘mortal peril’, ‘quidditch’, ‘work’, ‘school’, ‘garden’, ‘in transit’, and ‘lost’. Magical, right?

Someone beside me excitedly pointed at the ‘Cherri Owls’ cereal brand, which I had to take a photograph

Marauder's Map that actually opens up!

A collection of edible food

The Ministry of Magic set included the cruel, shocking and controversial statue of Muggles being crushed under the Ministry logo. There were smaller versions of the entrance to the Ministry and offices. There was even the set of Professor Umbridge’s office.

Sickeningly full of pink and cats, isn’t it?

On to my Butterbeer experience. It was not at all like I expected. It is described as being a butterscotch flavour with froth that is foaming (the Prisoner of Azkaban, p149-150). Instead, I found it a bit sickening and too fizzy for my liking. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish it. The only positive was that the froth really did foam whilst it was in the cup. That was the magic that I’m glad I saw with my own eyes.

The other sights that we saw after drinking Butterbeer were the three most popular vehicles in the series (Hagrid’s motorbike, Arthur Weasley’s enchanted car, and the Knight Bus. There was also the Dursleys’ house (and their neighbours’ house, which my little brother posed outside because he was clearly confused and he is not a huge Harry Potter fan), the Potters’ house in Godric’s Hallow, the Riddle family gravestone, and the enormous chess pieces from the Philospher’s Stone.

Knight Bus, and the Potters' house is visible in the background

My little brother and I on Hagrid's motorbike

I was waving goodbye before I entered Number 4 Privet Drive (Spoiler: You can't actually enter the house)

My modern take on the chess piece's hand sign

Next, there was a room full of the creatures and face masks that were made for the actors. Not forgetting, Aunt Marge’s growing body suit in the Prisoner of Azkaban. We were privy to many secrets of how they created many of the special effects. Unfortunately, I’m not going to share any pictures.

A real-life size Diagon Alley followed. Unfortunately, it was only the shop fronts that were visible. So, we couldn't enter the shops. But there were a variety of places, such as Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Ollivanders, Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour, Flourish and Botts (which had Gilderoy Lockhart’s books in the shop window!), Weasley’ Wizard Wheezes, and many more.

This sign in a shop window caught my attention

This was placed in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' shop entrance. It moved too!

Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour

The next room was the initial creation stage, which was full of drawing and sketches and then miniature models. My older brother loved this room as this is what he had to do for his degree. We left him there because he wouldn’t leave the room.

Everything that we had seen up to this point was amazing, but this next part was WONDERFUL!!! It was a large model of the Hogwarts castle that was created by the art department. It was just incredibly detailed and intricate. This is only one side of the castle. I don’t want to give everything away, but just simply from this photo, you can see how grand and detailed and amazing it is.

The very last room was the Wand Room. I’m trying not to give so much away, however, this tiny detail made me smile. In this room, every single member of the cast and crew that helped make the films come to life over the ten years have a wand box with their name on it.

We found J.K Rowling, Emma Watson and Alan Rickman's wand boxes

Finally, we came full circle and ended the day at the gift shop. We bought a chocolate frog, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Honeydukes plain milk chocolate bar, an official guide, a ‘wanted’ poster of me and my cousin, and I couldn’t resist so I bought myself a wand (Dumbledore’s to be accurate). The chocolates were tasty and the Every Flavour Beans are just that and surprising if you don't look at the flavour list before you pick one. (I currently have the taste of black pepper lingering in my mouth. Not terrible, but not the best flavour.)

So that was my adventurous day at the studios. I loved every bit of it and I really do want to go back again. I recommend it to everyone as a fun day out. Hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing and reminiscing about it!

All photos are taken by my older brother, my cousin, my friend Sammy, and myself.