If you haven’t, that’s okay. I wasn’t too sure who or what he was until I got here. Apparently, a British woman, J.K. Rowling, wrote a whole series of seven books about a boy named Harry Potter who finds out that he’s not like you and me (and Kim). He’s a wizard! The books are very good, but can be hard to read, so don’t feel bad if you can’t read them yet!
Because the books were so good, the people in Hollywood decided that they should make movies based on the books. They decided that since it takes place in England and Scotland (which are all part of the United Kingdom) and the kids would all be British, that they should film the movies in London (and some other places around England, including my home base of Oxford!) instead of in Hollywood. They took over these studios called Leavesden Studios, just outside of the city of London, and there the world of the Harry Potter movies was created. The movies were filmed there for about ten years, and when they finished the last movie, they decided to turn part of the studios where they were filmed into a museum, with all of the stuff that they used to make the movies in the museum. There are costumes, and sets (the backgrounds and rooms), makeup, props (the things that actors will carry or touch often), and wands!
Kim and I went to this fabulous place on Saturday the 23rd of February. We took a bus from Oxford to London, got off at the Victoria Underground station, took the subway to Kings Cross, which is a train station that is mentioned in the books and the movie. It’s how Harry gets to his special school for wizards, called Hogwarts. We went to the special platform, which is called Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (9 and 3/4). We got our picture taken ‘going through the barrier’. You can’t see me in the picture, but I’m in the front of the trolley (that’s what the British people call a cart). Here’s our picture, along with our ‘ticket to Hogwarts’!
After we went through Kings Cross, we went back on the subway to get to London Euston, which is another train station. We took an express train from there to Watford Junction, and then a shuttle bus from that station to the Studios. Ooooh, so exciting!!! So, here are some of the pictures from our fabulous Harry Potter experience. I’m only including a handful, but I think Kim took almost 300 pictures! It was a very awesome place to visit. (Better than the creepy museum about doctors.)

This is the snitch that Harry caught in his first game of quidditch. It’s a magical game played with brooms!

This is the special drink that wizards and witches get. It’s yummy, and it tastes a lot like cream soda with whipped cream on top!

This is on what is called the backlot. They built Harry’s house where he lives with his Aunt and Uncle, at 4 Privet Drive

This is the Diagon Alley set. This is where Harry buys his school supplies and his pet owl is given to him as a present.

This is a miniature version of Harry’s school, Hogwarts. The filmmakers used this model for filming overhead shots and other scenes of the castle. It is very detailed. It even has lights that work, and miniature owls flying and people walking!
Well, it was a very exciting trip. Which was good, because the week before was so boring! All Kim did was study, study, study! And the next week after this it was more studying. But that was okay, because the next weekend, we took another special trip. I’ll tell you all about it in my next post, hopefully later. But for now, it’s past my bedtime!! I need some sleep!!!