Visiting The Harry Potter Studios

Hi, Harry Potter is a big thing right? Even if you haven’t read the books there’s a good chance you grew up watching the films about the wizarding world. A few weeks ago now I jumped on a package coach trip by National Holidays with my family to finally visit the Harry Potter studios.

I have a rather funny story which at the time was so annoying. The Harry Potter studio is the perfect place to take photos and guess what I did, I left my battery that I had been charging that morning in the charger. I didn’t realise my mistake until moments before we started the tour so I didn’t have time to go get it. Because of this daft moment all the photos in this post are curtsy of my mum (Thanks mum).

The first part of the tour is the great hall minus the enchanted sky, which made it look so strange. It took me a little while to get my head around the fact that these where the real sets and not replicas of sets. There are photo opportunities throughout the tour and so much stuff to see. The level of detail on the sets is mind blowing, you could easily get caught up in it all.

The studio was celebrating the 15th anniversary of the philosopher's stone film being released at the time of my visit so they had a demonstration of the visual effect of the letters flying through the letter box of 4 privet drive. We even got to take away a replica letter.

We couldn't go to the Harry Potter studios and not try some of the famous butter bear (which we where told is only sold in four places in the world). We chose to get the souvenir steins as another little reminder of our visit. I don't want to spoil the taste of butter beer in case you get the chance to try it in the future but I will say that it's one of the weirdest combinations I've ever tried, it was nice though.

The massive miniature Hogwarts was enchanting. There was so much detail but it was so weird knowing that that was how Hogwarts was created and animated.

The Gift shop was full of so many things, it was a fans wildest dreams. It was just as full of shoppers too so it was a bit of a squeeze to look around. I didn't know what I wanted to buy, I finally decided to buy a wand because why not. My only issue was which to pick, I personally didn't want Harry's wand for example so opted for Dumbledore's wand as it has double reference also being the Elder wand and the boyfriend chose Sirius's wand, the gift shop is expensive.

I wouldn't call myself a super fan but I really enjoyed seeing some of the behind the scenes pieces and being in that environment. I'm really looking forward to going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them over Christmas, it looks amazing.

Have you been to the Harry Potter studios? or would like to go?

Sam

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling | #Sassybooks April

Hi, I'm back with another #Sassybooks review. This month we decided to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which I think for the majority of us is a re-read. Don't forget to check out Charlotte's and Hayley's blogs for next month's book choice.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Author - J.K. Rowling
Page Count - 223
First Published - 1997

I have mixed feeling about re-reading this book, I can't remember when I got into Harry Potter but I think the third book was released so quite late in the game really. I originally read these books via copies from the library, funnily enough they didn't have any of the kids covers left so I checked out the adult versions, which had much moodier cover artwork. I think the Harry Potter series was the first set of books within the fantasy genre I read and made me truly fall for the characters and the world they occupied. The fact they are fantasy is really minimal and the books reflect a lot of parallels between the two worlds so it's really easy to relate too. Please don't judge me on this really dog eared copy of Harry Potter, my mum bought it for my sister hoping that Harry Potter would be the book to get her into reading but nope.

On to the story, so you'll already know it unless you've lived under a rock the past 19 years, if that's the case here's a summary. Harry Potter is a young boy who thinks he is as ordinary as they come and has been dealt a bad hand in life, he lives with his Uncle and Aunt in the cupboard under the stairs after his parents untimely death. On Harry's eleventh birthday he finally receives his letter of acceptance to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry and that’s when things get interesting. This book will be 20 next year, when did my childhood become so distant I would have been 8 when the first book came out. This book of just over 200 pages is where it all began, the ignition spark for the flame that set the nation a light for the wizarding world and it has a lot to answer for with all the people awaiting their letter to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione will forever be a big part of a generation of kids lives.

My mixed feelings come form the fact that on re-reading this book I've found that the film has altered my memory on what happened and there where characters all over the place I wasn't expecting, which was rather amusing. I felt that the language of the book was a lot simpler than I remember, but I totally get why as I was a young kid when I first read this book and I'm sure that was Rowling's intention. The stories along with the characters gain experience and become so much moodier along the time line and my most recent memories are of the last books. With that said I truly enjoyed the experience of indulging back into my childhood and the plan is to continue re-reading the rest of the Harry Potter series.

Have you ever re-read the Harry Potter series?

Sam

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