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On the 23rd of March, Year 7 students visited Harry Potter studios and had an amazing experience, which was made better by sharing it with friends and teachers!

When we got there, we were sorted into groups then taken into the building. The first section was the cinema room where we were introduced to the magical backstory of Harry Potter then shown more about the making of the films. We were then taken into the Great Hall which was full of the costumes from the lead actors in the films, e.g. Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Hagrid. An interesting fact - Hagrid was an actor of normal height with a huge animatronic head on top of his own head to make him appear much taller. Next, we went into a large area packed with different sets and props ranging from Dumbledore’s office to Hagrid’s cabin. There were multiple stamps in this area for our passports but I preferred taking in the incredible props and sets rather then focusing on stamping and finding golden snitches - nobody could find the golden snitch for quite a while, until someone finally spotted it. We were all then each allowed a go on the greenscreen broomsticks used for flying and quidditch in the films, then went around to the next area (after a quality amount of time looking at everything). Then we went through the exciting new section, The Forbidden Forest! It was dark in the forest scene and had many twists and turns, making it easy to get lost. There were lots of buttons situated around the scene that activated special effects, such as: thunder, lightning and wind! The Forbidden Forest also was home to Buckbeak the hippogriff and Aragog, Hagrid’s huge talking spider, and his minions. After that there was a small gift shop, then we were onto the next section, the Hogwarts Express!! On platform 9 ¾, The Hogwarts Express sat awe inspiringly on the rails. There were various activities along the platform, including: taking pictures with the carts while running through the barrier between platform 9 and 10; pretending to ride the train using greenscreen technology; the gift shop and exploring the Hogwarts Express! We then ate our lunches in the café.

We explored Number 4 Privet Drive and took pictures on the bridge in Godric’s Hollow, then went inside and started seeing all the animatronic props and the monsters and mythical beasts of the wizarding world. I particularly enjoyed the animatronic Monster Book of Monsters. Everyone enjoyed the motion capturing system that was used to animate Dobby the house elf! Then we entered Diagon Alley, which was surprisingly big. Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes was awesome especially as it had a display of the puking pastilles. Then finally: the Hogwarts model! The Hogwarts model was extraordinary and had every little detail of the Hogwarts castle! It was very large and had lots of screens where you could zoom in on specific parts of the castle. Afterward was the giftshop and then we walked happily out for a long ride home. Harry Horton, 7L