Mischief Managed at the Harry Potter Studio Tour!

Hello Everyone!

I apologize for the slight blogger-silence.  You wouldn't believe my week!  Because of the program I am on is research intensive, I spent the majority of this week in the London Library ... a truly magical place: over 1 million volumes, including countless primary sources (some dating back over 400 years!). It's probably the quietest place in London, a real haven!

In any case, the real magical times were had when I travelled to the Warner Brothers studios in a suburb north of London.  Sound stages J and K (yes, I share your elation!) were home to the Harry Potter franchise for 8 films and 10 years.  This post will include some of the iconic things I saw, and may even reveal some secrets about the films that will blow your mind!  So ...

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!

Hagrid, Snape, Dumbledore

Our tour began in the Entrance Hall, in front of those famous oak doors, with the stone soldiers McGonagall animated during the Final Battle of Hogwarts.  From there, we entered the Great Hall where there was a display of costumes - Hogwarts uniforms from each house, including the tiny robes and cap Dan Radcliffe wore in the first film, as well as the faculty costumes.

Flitwick, Moody, Trelawney, McGonagall

Fun Fact: those strange, pointed Hogwarts hats were only used in the first film because when they threw them up at the end of that film, the chandeliers in the Great Hall had actual flames.

The Great Hall

This was the end of the guided tour.  What followed was so overwhelming ... in every corner of the huge space (in the area just outside of the Great Hall) were various "stations," whole sets or collections of props.  It'll be easier if I just show you!  You should know, however, that I stopped taking pictures of absolutely everything so that I could soak it all in ...


This gate, even though we hear about it all the time, only first appears in HP and the Order of the Phoenix.  It's pretty huge, and was apparently modeled after a medieval cemetery gate somewhere in Italy.

And speaking of entryways, I found the Fat Lady, portrait guard of Gryffindor Tower, and the Griffin at the bottom of the rotating stairs leading to Dumbledore's office.  Fun Fact about the boy's dormitory: the beds were only 5'9", which was fine when Dan, Rupert, and the other actors were 10 and 11 years old, but when they eventually outgrew the beds, they filmed with their feet hanging off the ends or sides - all hidden by camera angles.

The Fat Lady

The Griffin

 Here are some of the full sets:

Dumbledore's Office

The Burrow

Because these Muggle pictures don't move, some of the experience is lost.  The knife you see on the nearest table is actually slicing food by itself, and the knitting needles on the far end by that awesome Weasley clock are knitting that scarf without assistance!  It might be hard to tell from this angle of Dumbledore's office, but some of these sets were actually quite large and elaborate.  Fun Fact about Dumbledore's office: all the books on his shelves are actually phone books, and all hand painted!  In fact, and this is part of what makes the the production of these movies so incredible, the shelves are made to look dusty and the instruments well-used.

Office of Dolores Umbridge, Ministry of Magic

AND, how could I not include this monstrosity of an office?!  It belongs to the character we all love to hate: Dolores Umbridge.  Never was a character so well written in a book and so perfectly casted (Imelda Staunton) in a film!  Of course, everything in here is either pink or stamped with a fuzzy kitten.

And now for some of the cool props that I wish I could have taken home with me, just because it was unreal to see them up close:

The cool things we call "movie magic" are often so simple!  Harry's Invisibility Cloak has that beautiful design on one side and green screen material on the other!  The items in the middle picture include Serious Black's Azkaban prisoner number tablet, the Deluminator (green to the right), Hermione's Time-Turner, Neville Longbottom's Remembrall, and Harry's "I open at the close" Golden Snitch.  On the above-right is a picture of some of the Horcruxes - I would have gotten a picture of all of them, but there was a huge crowd around these, for obvious reasons - Tom Riddle's diary (my personal favorite) and a basilisks fang, the locket, and the Hufflepuff goblet.  And, the object that started it all: the sorcerer's stone!  J.K. Rowling's editors changed it from the philosopher's stone in the US edition because there was a fear that Americans wouldn't know what a philosopher was (hint: not someone who thinks all day).

These robes - yes, those horrible dress robes Ron wore to the Yule Ball in book 4 - were the other item that I simply could not leave out.  You're welcome!

I was so amazed by the craftsmanship that went into these props!  Here are two tickets for the Hogwarts Express, departing from King's Cross Station, September 1, 11am.  I have yet to visit King's Cross, but will post pictures as soon as I do!

All of the above were things I saw in Stage J alone.  Before going to Stage K, we stopped to sip our butterbeer (essentially butterscotch cream soda), ran over a bridge, hopped on the Knight Bus, encountered a few giant chess pieces, and found ourselves at 4 Privet Drive!

If all that wasn't enough, Studio K was a whole other adventure!  There we got to window shop in Diagon Alley after withdrawing our Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts from Gringotts Bank.

As you can see, Diagon Alley was quite a busy place.  Check out this Flourish & Blotts display of Gilderoy Lockhart works and paraphernalia!  Also a wonderfully written and casted character.

Other than Diagon Alley, Stage K mostly showed us all the craftsmanship that went into creating mystical creatures, wigs, masks, as well as buildings of the magical world!

Here is a really cool miniature of Hogsmeade Village, home of the Three Broomsticks pub and where you will find Aberforth Dumbledore.  There were dozens of models like this one: the Shrieking Shack, Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, Gringotts Bank, the Ministry of Magic, etc.

But, the greatest model of all - and I purposefully do not call it a miniature - was the probably the best part of the tour and responsible for the iconic shots we all know and love: Hogwarts Castle!

You can't tell from these pictures, but this model was GIGANTIC!  There was a video that was a time-laps of the assembly of this model.  It took a total of 30 days, start to finishing touches.

I really hope you enjoyed this post ..... because if you did .....

Mischief Managed!