I Want a European King Bed: A Visit to Diagon Alley

Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England

Do doo dodo doo do dooo do. Doo dodo doo doo doooo.

That’s my interpretation of Prologue by John Williams, in case you were confused, the song currently playing for your enjoyment. Do doo dodo doo do dooo do. Doo dodo doo doo doooo. We went to Warner Brother’s Leavesden Studios where the 8 Harry Potter (HP) movies were filmed! Get ready for some serious geeking out! It’s a Potter Post!!

My interpretaion of fantasy fiction.
Image from Zazzle Posters

My first encounter with Harry was in the 7th grade, in Canada. This was the first year of its publication and a friend was trying to get me to read it. I blew her off saying I didn’t want to read about witches and wizards. When I said no to her, I was thinking about super nerds, and imagined an artful unicorn poster come to life. Not really something I was interested in; instead I stuck to my mysteries, learning to love Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

The Head Table in the Great Hall at Leavesden Studios
Hertfordshire, England

Later, Harry became harder to avoid. I really hate reading trendy books, so I was still refusing to read Potter, but now for 2 reasons: the aforementioned aversion to fantasy, and the unwillingness to participate in something popular. When the first movie came out on DVD, Harry became impossible to ignore, and I had to suffer through the first movie at a youth group lock in. But it wasn’t bad, and I wasn’t suffering. It was funny, thrilling, and engaging. I was hooked. I hadn’t slept all night, but when I got home, I tore apart my sister’s closet; I remembered my mom had bought the books for my sister a couple years earlier, and that’s where any of us had last seen them.

I raced through the books, each more amazing than the last. Yes, they were for children, but the writing was beautiful, and I was able to lose myself in it. Then came the agony; only 4 books out of 7 had been published. I’d read greedily, knowing I had easy access to more, and then silence. Waiting. Re-reading. I had to wait years to finish the story. In the meantime, I busied myself with guidebooks, dissecting the language of the world I so loved, and trying to divine the future of the story. It was from these unofficial guidebooks that I really began to appreciate the depth of Rowling’s writing—the amount of thought behind each sentence, each name. This wasn’t haphazard writing; she had a carefully devised plan, and was leaving clues behind for us to follow.

Professor Umbridge was one of my favorite characters because
she was so well written, I loved her because I hated her.
Educational Decrees from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Leavesden Studios. Hertforshire, England.

Harry was my escape. Here was a world entirely different from my own; I could forget the stress of being an angsty teenager, the personal responsibility of college, the fact that I was planning a wedding while fiancé was in a war zone, the nightmares. It all fell away while I was at Hogwarts. I still read the books, once or twice a year, and they still captivate me, every time. I envy those who haven’t read them. It would be wonderful to begin again without knowing what I know now, but with each read comes new perspective and new appreciation of the writing.

While waiting in line, we were treated to the
cupboard under the stairs from
Harry Potter and the Socerer'sStone.
Leavesden Studios. Hertforshire, England.

When the movies were released, they brought my imagination to life. On screen, before my eyes, Hogwarts was revealed. I could almost believe it was real, at least for a few hours. Many of the props and sets have survived the decade long franchise, and these are kept at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, another town of my imagination, about 40 minutes outside of London.

"Password?"
Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England.

Leavesden Studios is an immensely popular attraction. I booked our tickets several months in advance, and reserved the first available time slot. When we arrived, we exchanged our vouchers for tickets and queued up inside. We still had to wait about a half an hour before we were able to enter. Later tours had to wait even longer; the queue had tripled in length when we exited.

The Black Family Tapestry was enormous, this is only one fourth of it.
The tapestry was on screen for less than five minutes.
Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England.

The tour is self-guided, and you can linger as long as you like. Around the studios is a well-educated staff, only too willing to talk about Potter and the movie magic required to bring the stores to life. I enjoyed listening to the staff, but I wish I knew where they were standing. I often wandered up in the middle of an explanation, wishing I could have heard it from the onset.

Ron Weasley's Bed
Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England.

The details in the props were amazing. They displayed a level of craftsmanship not easily observed in the films. The devotion to the characters and plots comes through in the sets. Sure, there were some creative liberties taken *cough, cough Burning Burrow cough, cough* but overall the people designing the sets tried to stay true to the books.

One of my favorite rooms was the boys’ dormitory. This room featured in many of the films, but it didn’t get a whole lot of screen time. Nevertheless, the beds and night stands were outfitted for each particular student. On Ron’s bed was a homemade, patchwork blanket. Was this blanket mentioned in the books? No, but knowing the Weasleys, it is easy to believe such a blanket could have been there the entire time. In the stories, J.K. Rowling didn’t concern herself with minutiae, like how many cauldrons were stacked outside Potage’s Cauldron Shop, but the movies makers did, and as a result, the world experienced a place that could exist in real life; outside of our collective imagination.

Cauldrons stacked outside Potage's Cauldron Shop.
Diagon Alley, Leavesden Studios
Hertfordshire, England

My one complaint comes from the gift shop, and the actual studios. (Platform Nine and) Three quarters of the gift shop was full of cheap, plastic souvenirs for children; slapping an HP logo or school crest on anything. The last quarter of the store was real souvenirs; things kept in cases and behind glass, things the average collector couldn’t afford. There was no middle ground for someone like me. I loved the concept art, but a non-signed print would have been fine. I don’t need the limited edition, framed version, and I certainly can’t afford it. On the flip side, I don’t want to tack a poster of Daniel Radcliffe to my wall either.

Concept Art of the Goblet of Fire
Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England

If you loved the movies, and you definitely know Hogwarts isn’t real, Leavesden is worth a visit. If, however, you can’t handle learning the truth about the movie magic behind the Potter magic, you may want to skip it.

Scroll down for more pictures, and important links.

This owl is real, and she was one the birds that played Hedwig.

This is one of the cats that played Crookshanks, and he is
mesmerized by a treat his trainer is holding.

On the day we visited, the studios were in the midst of celebrating their one year anniversary, and as part of the celebrations, the animal actors were on site.