1st August 2012

Day two of our break and we were up early to drive up to Watford Station to meet Lydia again and for all of us to go to the 'Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour' at Leavesdon.

We arrived for our 10.30am time slot bang on time and soon were entering the Great Hall.

The Hall is filled with costumes from the movies and the only thing missing (apart from 400 Hogwarts students) is the magically created ceiling.

From here you pass into a huge room that is filled with props, costumes, scenery and secrets behind the making of the movies.

Gryffindor Common Room

Gryffindor Dormitory

Dumbledore's Office

The Goblet of Fire

Ice Sculpture from the Goblet of Fire

The Weasley's Home - The Burrow

A Corridor from the Leaky Cauldron

We spent around an hour wandering around this vast space and then moved on to the next area which was outside. This has the larger exhibits such as Harry's Home number 4 Privet Drive, His parents house, and the Knight Bus.

The Knight Bus

Number Four Privet Drive

James and Lily Potter's Cottage

The Riddle Family Grave

Next up after we had sampled some 'Butterbeer' (which tasted like neither !) it was back inside to the Creature Shop. This was where all the masks, animatronics and fantastic creatures that inhabit the Potter world were.

Aragog

Mermaid

The book of Magical Creatures

Dragon

 

 

We now passed through a series of rooms which held the technical drawings and paper model mock-ups and art work that help bring the movies to life. The next and last room though took our breath away because it held the model of Hogwarts that was used for the movies. Every time Harry flew his broomstick or Hippogriff over the castle this was how it was done. It took eight weeks just to relocate the model in its new home so goodness knows how long it took to actually make it.

Three Happy Harry Potter Fans