Draco Dormiens
Nunquam Titillandus
3/18/2014
That is the Hogwarts’ school motto in the Harry Potter films
and books.
I started getting into Harry Potter a few months before the
first movie came out when my aunt bought me the set of the first four books for
Christmas one year. I wasn’t quite done with the first book when the Sorcerer’s
Stone came out in the movie theater. Ever since the first book and the first
movie, I was addicted. I would go see all the movies at least two to three
times in the theaters when it came out, I’ve read every book at least two times
also.
Starting with the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I started going to the
midnight showings of the movie with my previous daycare teacher who absolutely
loved the series. She also took me to go get the new books at midnight on
release date at the closest Barnes & Noble to home. I just couldn’t get
enough of Harry Potter. I grew up reading and watching the movies, that to me,
no other “children’s” series could compare. So when I found out that there
would be a walking tour of Harry Potter that showed places that were inspiration
or used for filming in London, naturally I wanted to attend!
We started at King’s Cross before the tour started and took
pictures with the carriage that was in the wall where we took pictures of
ourselves pretending to be running onto Platform ¾.
Me at King's Cross pretending to go to Platform 9 3/4
When we started our tour, the first stop was where a portion
of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban was filmed. The section where the knight bus comes to a screeching
halt outside of the Leaky Cauldron after Harry blew up his aunt.
Next there was an inspiration for the Azkaban Prison which
happened to be the Clink Prison. Apparently the Bishop of this area built this
prison to deter crime from the city. If the person was jailed in the Clink
Prison, it was a very good possibility that they would never get out. And if
they tried to escape from the Prison they would be hung in a metal cage just
outside of the prison, completely naked in the public and people could throw
fruit or whatever else at them when they passed by.
We ended up going towards the London Bridge to see the Millennium
Bridge. Here was where the Death Eaters destroyed the bridge in the Half Blood Prince.
One of the next stops was Westminster tube station. Here the
Harry Potter company was able to close the tube station for a whole day to film
a portion of Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix. It was the portion where Mr. Weasley and Harry get off the
escalator to get out of the tube station and when Mr. Weasley was trying to get
out of the tube station by just waving his hand over the magnetic sensor.
We also went to go see Big Ben and the London Eye since they
were used in Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix when Harry and part of the Order were flying towards
Grimauld Place after Harry used the Patronous Charm to save himself and Dudley.
We also went to go see the building that the studio used to film the inside of
Grimauld Place.
In Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows Part One was the scene that they had to hide the bodies
of three Ministry of Magic workers and pull out some hairs to be able to try
and steal the real Horcrux of Voldemort.
And lastly but not least we were able to see J.K. Rowling’s
inspiration of Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley.
inspiration for Knockturn Alley
inspiration for Diagon Alley
Overall, the tour was a great one! My feet ended up hurting
in the end but it was absolutely worth it to see some of the places that were
inspiration and used for filming in the Harry Potter movies and books!
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