My next stop in Warner Bros studios was the design, creatures and robots room. So cool. Here there were the inner workings of the weird and wonderful of Harry Potter. Upon walking through the door I was greeted by a strange and creepy dog-like robot (left) that I could only guess was somehow werewolf related. The photo on the right was a gigantic and all too realistic figure of Aragog, the giant spider (shudder).
There was then an enormous shelf full of Goblin heads and prosthetic body parts, noses, ears, hands - everything you could think of. Both fascinating and creepy. The model of Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix was also very cool and rather lifelike.
The mandrake (left) was one of my favorite things in the room, it was a tiny robot and not only wiggled its roots but also made horrible expressions and looked generally miserable. It was awesome.
The photograph on the right shows the costume of the fantastic moment when Harry blew up his awful aunt Marge.
And then it was through some doors and it was the moment I had been waiting for and dreaming of since I read the books; I had stumbled into Diagon Alley.
All the buildings were as they should have been, from the marble pillars of Gringotts bank to the dark and dusty items in the window of Potage's Cauldron shop, to the owls and cages of Eeylops owl emporium.
My favorites were of course the famous ones, Ollivander's (Wand shop) stood out to me looking just as it should be, dusty, mysterious, slightly Victorian and definitely a little creepy.
And of course my eyes couldn't help be drawn to the fire-engine red store named Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, not quite as I had imagined it, but cheerful and fun nonetheless.
When I saw the sign for Flourish and Botts (the magical bookstore where the students obtained all their books every year) I finally succumbed to the temptation of a photo. If there was one store I could actually pick to be real, I think it would have to be this one.
And then I was out of the alley and onto the last leg of my journey. Models and concept art, it was here that the magic began.
The incredible detail of the minature Hogwarts and the 'Whomping Willow' (Left) completely astounded me. I spent far too long peering at the models, amazing by the level of detail and perfection on such a small scale. There was also a long corridor of all the concept art before the movies - there are far too many to show here although I loved almost all of them. My favourite however, was Dobby (right), and the sad, knowing, expression on this little House-Elf's face.
And then I rounded the corner and was greeted by a simple enormous, beautiful, detailed model of Hogwarts, covered in Christmas snow. They used this set for a lot of the filming apparently, although you'd never be able to tell, it's so realistic.
The absolute level of detail was staggering, and I walked around it and examined it for probably half an hour easily. It was literally huge, taking up a massive warehouse-like room.
The last room I entered was like the inside of Ollivander's wand shop. The amazing thing is not only is every single wand slightly different and unique, but there are over 4,000 here hand signed by different actors and members of the crew.
And finally, I reached the end.
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