Harry Potter Studios, aka the most magical place on Earth.

On Monday, I lived out a childhood dream of mine. I am quick to admit that I am a huge Harry Potter fan. Always have been, always will be. Luckily, Kathleen and Anna share this sentiment, and even more luckily, I'm studying in London, where Harry Potter was filmed (!!!).

Kathleen and I have been anticipating visiting Harry Potter studios pretty much since we decided we were studying in London this semester. It's located only about 15 minutes outside of London by train, and we were scheduled for entrance at 2:30 PM.

Naturally, we decided to make an entire day out of it, starting first at Leadenhall Market in London. This market area was featured briefly in the films--it is the area of London that Hagrid brings Harry through to go to the Leaky Cauldron.

Sadly, there is no real Leaky Cauldron here, but it is a beautiful part of London nevertheless.

After a bit of exploring, we sat down outside for a spot of tea and coffee.

Next stop on our Harry Potter day was King's Cross Station, where Platform 9 and 3/4 is located!

Catch you all on the other side.

They even had these handy guys that would hold out your scarf, also provided by them, and make it appear as if you're running fast into the wall.

Tired from all of our cart-pushing, we took a lunch break at the nearby Grain Store restaurant.

Filled with pumpkin risotto and butternut squash ravioli goodness, we set off onto the highlight of the day--Harry Potter studios!!

After a short tear-jerking film about the success of Harry Potter films around the world, the screen lived up and revealed the doors to Hogwarts. The first set we saw was the Great Hall. In our ears played an audio guide narrated by Tom Felton, the actor who plays Draco Malfoy, and the iPod used for the guide was loaded with behind the scenes interviews about the making of the films.

The next section involved a nice little trip back to the Yule Ball, complete with Hermione's beautiful tiered pink gown and Ron's horrible dress robes!

Every costume was replicated several times for shooting. Harry tends to end up covered in dirt, blood, etc. throughout the movies, and the seamless transition between clean Harry and dirty Harry is partially due to the fact that the actors have several versions of the same outfit that are progressively more destroyed.

The Gryffindors' Boys Dormitory was next, featuring the Chudley Cannons posters by Ron's bed and Harry's trademark trunk. A fun fact--they never changed the sizes of the beds, which were originally designed to fit the actors in the first movie, when they were all around the ages of 10-11. So, the older (and taller) they all got, the more they had to scrunch up in a way that camera angles could capture it as if they still fit comfortably.

The Mirror of Erised made an appearance.

As did the Fat Lady!

Because this was Hogwarts in the Snow at Harry Potter studios, the Gryffindor Common room set was decked out in Christmas decorations! The common room is so much smaller than how it looks on screen--this is mainly because the walls can extend and they use some really brilliant camera angles to enlarge the room.

Harry's invisibility cloak.

Lots of great props were located in the center of the studios.

The Tri-Wizard Cup and Harry's golden egg clue.

Next up was Dumbledore's office!

Complete with both his pensieve and his memories, as well as the sword of Gryffindor. 

Next up--the horcruxes.

Ravenclaw's tiara was especially beautiful.

Snape's potions classroom in the dungeons was as creepy as ever

It was even complete with self-stirring cauldrons!

 The various animal actors were given the spotlight over on the cork boards. They each have their own personalities and the various animal actors were interchanged depending on the nature of the scene.

Next was a look into Hagrid's Hut.

The hut basically existed in two forms--one that was larger in scale, in order to make characters like Harry, Ron and Hermione look small in comparison to Hagrid. The other was smaller in scale in order to make Hagrid a believable half-giant.

The handy Weasley clock was present in the Burrow. 

Next was a little focus on death eaters.

The eerie statue in Voldemort's infiltration of the Ministry of Magic took center stage,

Next is a whole slew of pictures of one of my favorite portions of the studios--the graphics section.

 The ginormous fireplaces that led to the Ministry of Magic were at the back wall.

Next up was Umbridge's office, decked out in her own specific creepy shade of pink.

 Also present on the wall was the Black family tree, which showed where Sirius and Tonks were disowned.

We also got to go in front of a green screen and simulate flying over Hogwarts and London--I basically was a professional.

Next was the outdoor back lot.

Delicious butterbeer was served up.

We went knocking at Privet Drive--however, no Dursley came to answer the door.

Next door was Harry's parents house from Godric Hollow.

Giant chess pieces from HP 1 flanked the walls.

A triple decker night bus was parked smack dab in the center.

Next up, the creature's room.

The highly anticipated walk through Diagon Alley surely did not disappoint!

Sketches and paintings meant to portray inspirations for the films lined the next hallway.

Then, it was time for the big finale: the model of Hogwarts!

I can't even begin to describe how intricately detailed this model is. It took 40 days to build, and it's easy to see why. It was complete with a light dusting of snow for the holiday season as well.

Well, there you have it folks--the most magical day of my semester in London ;) But truthfully, seeing it all was something like a dream come true! This post is unnecessarily long, I know, but I think every part is worth sharing! Hope you enjoyed, and remember- Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!