London: Magical Making of Harry Potter

Ep.58

7^th – 9^th September 2012.

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Albus Dumbledore.

LHR -  London, England.

Guess Where?

When I heard the news that the Warner Brothers Studio will be opening the Making of Harry Potter open for public in London, I was thrilled. I might be not a fan of London flight. I wont fight to visit Olympics in London 2012, but this Harry Potter thing is more interesting that Olympics, for sure. As soon as I rostered for London flight, I went online to check the tickets to the Making of Harry Potter. It happened that the tickets were only sold through website, and not on the spot. Well, I will never hesitate for Harry Potter, I bought it weeks before my departure.

bus to magical land

London’s weather is not my favorite, shopping in London, on the other hand is another story. My last London trip succeed made me broke my bank to buy a handbag, this time, I carried enough to buy another. As I got a very long stay this time, I dedicated one full day for shopping. So on 7^th, right after the arrival, I took shower and headed straight to the city. Prior to this visit I contacted my acquaintances in London, Felix was on his thesis and can’t be bother. So I contacted my other acquaintance. I got few British colleague when I was working in EF as a course consultant, well, they were the teachers back then. And this time around, Daniel is in London. He was just finished his contract in Barcelona and decided to move back to his country, just for a while. We had this agreement to catch up later in the afternoon, because I bet he got no interest going all around the city searching for a handbag.

diagon alley

I searched in every Hermes store for this particular handbag and they said they got none in stock. Well, I didn’t expect to get it on my first attempt; otherwise it would be too easy. You don’t expect me to just searched for the bag and ignore the other items, right? Yes, I did buy some other items and stopped by groceries to buy some food. Actually I could meet Dan right after the shopping session, to bad, I got something to do with which I need internet connection that made me have to go back to the hotel and sit at the crew lounge. London transportation system was such a pain n the a**, in the term of fares. It deducted GBP 2 every time you tapped in your oyster card. So it was like wasting money and time if you go back and forth in London.

the knight bus

Anyway, Dan and I agreed to meet at the London’s Eye at around 5.30 pm. Easy! But I forgot to ask, which part of London’s Eye. Damn! As soon as I arrived, it was crowded as a market. Lot’s of people walking in many directions and it seems we need miracle to just bump to each other and met. Luckily, Dan was smart enough to stand on a quite high pole, that people use to sit on it, and craning over the crowd, and there, he spotted me. I think it has been over a year since the last time we’ve met. Dan leave EF few months before I do, he left for Barcelona to work there. We updated each other with some news about our life’s lately. Watch few street attraction along the Thames River and stopped to visit the museum of art. It showcases some sculpture, paintings and poems.

which house are you?

In the middle of the museum, there were these people, walking very slooowly and suddenly dashed into run. And then they laughed, they sit on the floor, and I just didn’t get it. I have never been known as a person that is full of sense of art. Dan explained that it was their way to express themselves, and if we’d like to, we could approach them and talk to them. Well, it kinda awkward. Both of us came down and sit on the floor among them and Dan asked a man sat near to us. He suddenly pouring out his regret on a dinner with hiss boss and colleagues, he even got teary. Even though it was awkward, but it was a way to release their feeling, and for us, it was like a lesson to learn, not to do the same mistakes. We shifted a little bit to the front and talked to a lady. This lady got a story about and old man that lives just up on the street and she never knew him at all. Enough for two, we headed up to the other part of the museum.

Ford Aglia

There was this part of the museum that test you on how do you interpret a piece of art. We each grabbed a pencil and paper, decided on a painting and we started to write our interpretation. 5 minutes past and we got our assignment ready. Dan wrote some words that represents the painting, me, on the other hand, wrote a story line. Oh come on! I wrote almost the whole paragraph to describe a painting. I have never been too interested in art and stuffs, but this museum offers a lot of fun. At least, some activities to do. Feeling a little bit hungry we strolled out from the museum. I am not that hungry, just want something to munch. And here’s the problem in almost all Europe, everything seems closed down at 6 pm. It was probably 8 pm already and the only thing we could find was a burritos cart. So we queued for the burritos and got one each.

Potion Class

Since it got o sitting space for dining, we sat on the pavement, enjoying our burritos. Back there, when I was in EF, I often spend my time talking to different teachers about out perspective of life. *some deep though, huh?* This time, Dan told me about his plan after London. Why he was back in London and what to do next. I found out later that Dan’s mobile phone was still got Indonesian language setting, so all notification and options were in Indonesian. Cool! He said that he still can’t understand the language, he just memorize the sequence of the phone choices. Haha! We finally departed at the same place where we met. The night has not over yet, but I decided to sleep early as I couldn’t wait for the next day. Harry Potter tour!

Riddle's Tomb

A girl from my flight couldn’t get a ticket, even she tried to buy it 4 days prior to our departure. Too bad, it was on Saturday! I was all ready at 10 am, even though my ticket was on 1.30 pm. Other than the tickets were not sold on the spot, it was also got the time frame when you could enter the studio. It helped them limit the amount of people inside the studio, so it wouldn’t overloaded. Aw! I was just too excited with this trip. I have watched all the 8 movies back to back for more than 10 times that I swear I remember almost all the scenes and lines. I have also read the books for at least 4 times, all 7 of them. It was just so addictive! Even though it was already 10-11 years since the first film, which means that at that time I was still at a proper age to go all crazy about this magical things, still, I feel that I am those kids that just love magic and Harry and his story. I was enchanted!

The reason I want to start this journey early was not only because I was too excited, but also because I didn’t know how long would it takes there. The nearest railway station to get off is Watford Junction; it was like at the very end of underground line and go overground afterwards. There are direct, fast train services from both London Euston, which took almost 20 minutes.

The Mirror of Erised

From that stop, I asked the information desk and as soon as I mentioned “Harry Potter”, the lady in the booth automatically pointed her fingers on the bus stop direction. I guess I was the thousandth person that asked her the same question. A shuttle bus, operated by Mullany's Coaches runs from Watford Junction to the Studio Tour, with a journey time of around 15 minutes. Return ticket for the bus is GBP 2. The bus was recognizable from 2 kms. Why? It was all covered in HP stickers and characters. Just seeing the bus from a far made me all jumpy inside. I know what it feel to have those “butterfly in your stomach”. I want to scream ang just thank God to made this trip even happen. Bless all those people that made this book and movie come on paper and screen. They made billion of peoples like me happy!

butterbeer moustache

On the bus, Prof. Flitwick explained about the overall studio experience that we would see. *I’m sorry, I might mention those names in HP movie from this part and  on*. I trade my on line reservation ticket (GBP 28) in a machine after taking pictures, as usual. And I got my tickets one and a half hour earlier than my scheduled time. So I combed every single corner of the lobby area just to feel more into the film. If it just come to real! I hit the souvenir shop short afterward and I found my self in heaven. I looked at the wands, the uniforms, the broomsticks, all the candies, everything from the movies. If only I brought all my money here, I swear I couldn’t resist and restraint myself anymore. I got myself a t-shirt, a magnets, and a mug which is until now become my morning, day, and night beverage mug, on daily basis.

wand stock room

I tried so hard not to spend another penny before I finished this trip, so I queued up on the line for my time frame. There were a lot of family on the lines, and all of those kids were dressed up in Hogwarts uniform and robes. Some of the adult couples were also just as crazy as I do *yeah!not alone*. They got this wands on their hands, that awesome GBP 25 wand. The line started to move and the first thing that we saw is the cupboard under the staircase. As everything in the studio is the original property of the film making, we may not touch it. So, got it! Just pictures. We were guided into a large room where it got all the digital frames showcasing all covers of 8 films of HP from all around the world. Harry Potter has been one of those movies that hits every corner of the world and become legend.

to hogsmeade

Without further a do, we were guided in a cinema look a like theatre and see some of the character from the movie says hello to us through a video. And when the video’s over, the screen went up and there it was. I dropped my jaw, my heart and what ever I got. The door of the great hall. I sweared that I was walking on the cloud from that time on. It was just as in the movie. Long tables, some memorabilia mannequin with the uniforms of four houses, teachers table in the front along with the memorabilia of their wardrobes, and I stood there, awed, still taking every single inches of the room into my brain, and just feel blessed. I snapped out of my dream and took my camera in action soon after. As the door at one side of the room opens, it was another jaw-dropping moment.

Entrance to another world

God bless Warner Bros. Studio Tour London that provides an amazing new opportunity to explore the magic of the Harry Potter films – the most successful film series of all time. This unique walking tour enables me to see behind-the-scenes and showcases of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also reveals some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the special effects and animatronics that made these films so hugely popular all over the world. How to make the ceiling at the great hall look enormous and how to make the candlesticks floating. It was superb!

chamber of secrets

Okay, if  I go one by one in detail, it would be a very long essay. So, here’s the recap. I  got a chance to explore Dumbledore’s office and discover never-before-seen treasures, which made me bumped into numerous of people. Step onto the famous cobbles of Diagon Alley, featuring the shop fronts of Ollivanders wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Eeylops Owl Emporium, which made me want to stay there forever. See iconic props from the films, including Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle, and how they made it on the green screen to become more realistic on movie. Learn how creatures were brought to life with green screen effects, animatronics and life-sized models, even with the dead body 1:1 model for those who died in the movie.

Hogwarts ground

And the best part was to rediscover other memorable sets from the film series, including the Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom and Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic. Not to mention, the shrieking shack, the Leaky Cauldron, The Burrow, and I almost couldn’t believe that all the inscription of the book cover, letter, wands or everything in the movie was hand written. There were also showcases of the dark forces wardrobes, death eaters and so on. Finished? Not yet! I headed outside the building and found a line of people lining up for butterbeer. I jumped in the queue and treat my self a big gulp GBP 4.5 butterbeer and got the glass as a souvenir. Yeah! It was actually somekind of rootbeer with peanut butter flavoring and foam on it, anyway, it was uh-may-zing!

magical chess pieces

Here’s the deal at outdoor site; the chess pieces from the first movie, the crooked bridge that connect Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, No. 4 Privet Drive, Harry’s House in Godric Hollows, Riddle Family’s Tomb, Sirius’ Bike, Knight Bus and Weasley Flying Ford Aglia. Did I miss something, well even I have took picture with each and every props and setiings there, I was still go for another round to make sure I didn’t miss a thing. Soon after that I queued myself to experience the green screen effect on a broomstick and the flying car. I was hoping to be put on Ravenclaws robe, but I got Gryffindor. Never mind. I jumped onto my broomsticks and it moves like a carousel horse. The guy gave me photo tickets and told me that it could be bought at the souvenir shop. Oh great!

Quibbler machine and Luna's wand

In total, I almost spent the whole day there, so half-heartedly, I have to headed to the exit. On my way to the exit, there were this room with a full landscape of Hogwarts with the enchanting background music going on and I got wobbly knees right on the spot. I want to stay there! I don’t want to leave. If only Hogwarts is a real school, I would study head over heels to make my way there. I spent full 20 minutes there to absorb the atmosphere. And there it goes again, the room next to it was a tribute room to the whole set of crew in the film making, they made it into a wand stock room. Every wand cases was labeled by the names of each crew, and it stacked up beautifully. It seems that this whole studio experience made me out of breath. Each room just took my breath away. And soon, I will be dying happily.

welcome to Hogwarts

By the time I reached the souvenir shop again, I bought my pictures on the broomsticks. It was 2 for GBP 15 and I bought it! Got my bag full and pocket empty, I left a big chunk of my heart in there. And it did felt empty when I reached back to the hotel room and back to reality. There was a blinking notice on my room phone, there was a message. So it happened that the crew on other flight was reporting sick, so the company asked whether there is any volunteer to go back to HK one day earlier, which means that particular night. I was interested but the spot has been taken by other crew since the message has been there since 7 pm and it was 9 pm when I got back to the hotel room.

the gimmicks! *my pict on a broom*

This whole magical experience would be my treasure for the rest of my life. Harry Potter series will be always there as a part of my growing up phase and my next destination is the one in Orlando. And by the way, just recently, I watched it on TV in Japan that they would build Hogwarts as well in Osaka, it would be completed on 2014. Just wait, I will be there.

“We got both Light and Dark inside us. What matters is the part we chose to act on. That’s who we really are.” – Albus Dumbledor.