Harry Potter Studio Tour

London is one of the greatest cities in the world.  Counting my trip there this past weekend, I have now visited London three times in the past year.  It has world class art, architecture, food, history, theater, music, culture, and even royalty.  It lays claim as one of the greatest cities in the world.  Despite all of this awesomeness, I was most excited about our planned visit to the Harry Potter Studios just outside the city.  Here, we can walk through all of the sets used throughout the Harry Potter film series and see many of the props and costumes actually used in the films.  I'd like to pretend I kept it together and didn't react like a 13 year old girl.  But the truth is, I took more pictures at the Harry Potter Studios than I did in all three trips to London combined.

The cupboard under the stairs.  I always thought Harry was a little whiny about his accommodations,
 but it was smaller than I expected.

The entrance to the great hall

The great hall

I'm totally in Ravenclaw house

One of my favorite photos - three fantastic professors at the front of the Great Hall

An ice sculpture from the Yule Ball

Gryffindor boys' dorms.  Interesting tidbit.  These beds were built for the first year when they were all tiny 11 year olds.  By the time they filmed the last few films, all of their legs hung off the end of the 5'9" beds, so they had to shoot carefully not to show their feet.

Gryffindor common room.  I love the seating INSIDE the fireplace!

Entrance to Dumbledore's office

Dumbledore inside his office

Snape in the potions dungeon.  Fun fact:  The potions dungeon was never the same in any films.  They shot on location initially and then modified this set in every subsequent film.

The portraits of witches and wizards.  None of these moved - that's what the green screen frames are for - but many of the witches and wizards in the photos were actually crew members dressed up for their cameos.

The Horcruxes - my favorite part is that the deathly hallows symbol is etched inside the ring -
it's a detail that never made it into the film, but is totally awesome nonetheless.

The Floo Network fireplaces inside the Ministry of Magic

Trying to get into platform 9 3/4

Hogwarts' Express!

The Knight Bus - made from three double-decker buses

#4 Privet Drive.  Originally shot on location, they recreated the house so they could do more stuff in the neighborhood.

Dobby!  Monster Book of Monsters!

Buckbeat!  He actually moved around and looked at you.

Diagon Alley.  This was the coolest and most detailed set in the studio.

Weezley's Wizarding Whizzes!

At Flourishes and Blotts, you could buy the complete collection of Gilderoy Lockhart non-fiction literature.

The other super-awesome thing was this huge model of Hogwarts used for numerous exterior shots.

Seriously, look at how awesome this is!  I did not spend 20 minutes just staring at it in awe.