Harry Potter Exhibition Part 2

Costumes and Sets

The exhibit was a linear path and from this point on we were free to go at our own pace. The walls were covered in paintings like the halls of Hogwarts castle. Some of the paintings were video screens that moved just like in the movies.

The first area featured sets that looked like the Hogwart's Dorm rooms or various other locations. There were displays dedicated to specific characters.

Here's the Gryffendor boy's dorm with Harry's and Ron's costumes.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all had their own displays with costumes worn by them hung on mannequin forms. You quickly discover how tiny the main actors are especially Emma Watson. She is so petite to fit into those clothes! Many of the areas had tv monitors showing movie clips of the characters in action.

There were also teacher's costumes such as Slughorn above.

Slughorn and Snape had their own areas surrounded by potion artifacts.

Gilderoy Lockheart's area included one of the Cornish Pixies. His costumes were surrounded by paintings of "his exploits."

Professor Sprout.

Professor Sybill Trelawney. "Are you in the beyond?!"

The area for Delores Umbridge was totally priceless. It was pinker than Pepto Bismol and covered in disgustingly cute cat plates on the wall. There were even hidden speakers with the tiny meow noises!

Quidditch anyone?

They had an area dedicated to Quidditch and the different team uniforms. An arcade-style game in this area added an interactive element where you could try tossing a Quaffel through a hoop. I wanted to try and catch a Snitch but they didn't have any brooms to ride on. Sigh.

Artifacts and Props

Along with the costumes and set recreations mentioned so far, there were also glass cases containing props and artifacts from the movies. Many items were documents such as letters or invitations with amazing detail. Surely these tiny details don't show up in the finished movie, but it goes to show the extent the artists go in making the films.

Near Lupin's area there was the giant Jack-in-the-box thing that was seen in the Prisoner of Azkaban during the Bogart lesson in Lupin's class. Next to it was the big wardrobe that the Bogart was kept in during the movie. The wardrobe shook and banged when you went by it. Clearly a Bogart was still trapped inside.

Can you recognize all these artifacts associated with Harry? This case included Harry's wand, the box of chocolates that had a love spell, the Marauder's Map, His invitation announcing his acceptance into Hogwarts and the photo album that contain's his parents pictures. Oh and can't forget, there was also his famous round-lens spectacles.

One of my favorite type of artifacts included in the exhibition were the wands. Yes you got to see close up all the character's wands.

Dumbledore's wand was very earthy looking, almost like a tree brand or like a reed you'd find growing near a pond.

The best one I think was Slughorn's wand. It looks like a slug! Check out the speckled texture and the little knobby slug tentacles on the handle.

Here are some other artifacts and props included in the Harry Potter exhibition.

The Tri-Wizard Trophy

Jars of Slughorn's potion making ingredients.

Tom Riddle's Diary and Basilisk fang.

Umbriges' proclamations. The tiniest lines of type on these had little inside jokes and stuff. No one could see anything that small inthe film even with an HD television set.

The Bad Guys

This part gets a little skeeery. The evil character's from the films had their own area too. As you turned the corner you were greeted by the huge statue that was above Tom Riddle's father's grave. It's a very intimidating looking skeleton, but as you get close you see he's not bad he just needs lotion. "You wouldn't happen to have any Aveeno on you? Maybe some with natural colloidal oatmeal blended with rich emollients?" Yea he's really chafed the poor guy.

Draco Malfoy and his father Lucious Malfoy had a nice display (or should I say a mean display). Look at Lucious' costume. Check out the snake heads on his knife holster strap, on the head of his staff and on the slithering on the fur of his coat. That guy sure loves snakes, I guess cuz he is one.

Here's some Azkaban prison garbe. They seem like they'd be a bit drafty. As if Dementors weren't bad enough, drafty attire is another reason to avoid being sent to Azkaban prison. Yes that is sour old Kreacher lurking by the costumes, but more about him later.

There were also wanted posters for all the most notorius denisons of the dark forces.

Here's a close up of Belatrix Lestrange's wanted poster. The ink coverage is patchy and bleedy which really make's the poster look like it came off of an old-style printing machine. There is a reward offered by the Ministry of Magic for any information on Belatrix's whereabouts. So be sure let them know if you happen to spot her. Just be careful, she is a known death eater and convicted murderer!

Speaking of the Death Eaters, their costumes were also on display. And jeepers creepers you do not want to run into these guys in a dark alley! The death eater masks always freaked me out a little. You can see on closer inspection that the all have individualized textures and detailing. Very kewl.

But if you are really want goosebumps take a look at the awesome Voldemort robe. Oops, I mean, He Who Must Not Be Named. I was surprised to see that his robe has a slight green tint to it. I didn't really detect that in the movie, but it's a very nice touch. Voldemort's robe was hung on a very tall and intimidating mannequin form with hidden fans giving the sheer fabric a soft eerie flutter.

Inside Hagrid's Hut

Moving away from things that go bump in the night we find a much more welcoming place to be, Hagrid's Hut. We got to explore the whole inside of it!

Everything in the hut was Hagrid-sized including a huge chair you could sit in. (When my niece sat in the chair she looked even more tiny than usual. She accidently and unknowingly dropped her cell phone in it too. Luckily the nice museum staff helped us find it later, while speaking in forced British accents of course).

On the table in the hut was a dragon egg that really moved. That's right it was little Norbert trying to break free! I want a pet dragon too, as long as it's not a Hungarian Horntail (more about that later).

Hagrid's costume looked great. I'm guessing it was one of the real costumes that the actor wore, but to me it looked even larger. I can see why Harry and his friends like hanging out at Hagrid's. I wanted to just pull up a gigantic chair and have a butter beer with Hagrid. But we didn't have time for him, there was lots more to see. Aw, "I shouldn't 'ave said that." There's always time for good ol' Hagrid.

Still lots more to see in the third and final part of this epic guide including magical creatures, the Great Hall and an extremely over-priced gift shop!

Continue to Harry Potter Exhibition Part 3