Hogwarts in Real Life!
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| Hogwarts in Oxford! After reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books and seeing the movies, it's nearly impossible not to fantasize about taking a trip to Hogwarts. What if that dream could come true? In a way, it can. Many of the locations used by filmmakers to portray Hogwarts in the movie can be visited in real life. Some of the most famous Harry Potter filming locations are in Oxford in the United Kingdom. They include: Hogwarts' infirmary and the room where McGonagall teaches her students to dance before the Yule Ball (Bodleian Library's Divinity School), Hogwarts' library (Bodleian Library's Duke Humphrey's Library), the courtyard with the old oak tree where Professor Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret (New College), the staircase where the first year students meet Professor McGonagall and where Harry reunites with Ron and Hermione at the end of the first movie and where Filtch scolds Harry and Ron when they arrive at Hogwarts via flying car (Christ Church College), and the hallway where Harry learns that his father was a star Quidditch player (Christ Church College). In August 2018, Jen (AKA: J.W. Lynne) from mydreamcametrue.com journeyed to the U.K. to see what all of those sites look like today. Given that many of these locations are historic buildings, it is not surprising that they appear almost exactly as they did when they were filmed for the Harry Potter movies (minus the set pieces brought in by the film crew). Hogwarts' infirmary (aka: Bodleian Library's Divinity School) Dumbledore visits Harry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (aka: Philosopher's) Stone: |
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| The Divinity School in 2018: |
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| The room where McGonagall
teaches the students to dance before the Yule Ball
(aka: Bodleian Library's Divinity School) McGonagall and her students in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: |
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| The Divinity School in 2018: |
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| In case you're curious, here's a look out one of the windows at the Divinity School: |
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| Hogwarts' library (aka: Bodleian Library's Duke Humphrey's Library) Hogwarts library in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: |
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| A view similar to what we saw during our tour of Duke Humphrey's Library: |
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| (Note: The above photo is from wikimedia.org. We were not allowed to take photos of Duke Humphrey's Library.) |
| If you go: If you only want to visit the Bodleian Library's Divinity School, you can generally do so by paying a small admission fee on the day of your visit. If you want to visit both the Divinity School and Duke Humphrey's Library, you must book a tour. Tours visiting Duke Humphrey's Library do not venture past the librarian's desk and, therefore, offer just a very small glimpse of the parts of the library seen in the films. Tours can booked online two weeks in advance via Bodleian Library's official website. Tours can also be booked in person on the day of your visit, but there might be a queue, especially on weekends, and tours can sell out. Admission fee for a 30-minute tour of Bodleian Library's Divinity School and Duke Humphrey's Library: 6 pounds. |
| Courtyard where Professor Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret
(aka: New College cloisters) The courtyard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: |
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| The courtyard in 2018: |
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| If you go: Before your trip, be sure to check New College's official website's list of closures to make sure that the cloisters are scheduled to be open during your visit. Admission fee for New College: 5 pounds. |
| The staircase where the
first year students meet Professor McGonagall (aka: Christ Church College Great Hall staircase) The staircase in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: |
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| The staircase in 2018: |
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| In case you're curious, here's a view of what is outside the door that the young actors entered from: |
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| The top of the staircase
where the first year students meet Professor McGonagall
(aka: Christ Church College Great Hall staircase) The top of the staircase in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: |
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| The top of the staircase in 2018:
(The entrance to Christ Church College's Great Hall can be seen on the right through the doorway.) |
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| The staircase where Harry
reunites with Ron and Hermione at the end of the first film (aka: Christ Church College Great Hall staircase) The staircase in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: |
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| The staircase in 2018: |
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| The corridor where Hermione
shows Harry that his father was a Quidditch player
(aka: Christ Church College cloisters) The cloisters in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: |
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| The cloisters in 2018: |
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| In case you're curious, here's what is outside the open doorway at the very end of the corridor: |
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| If you go: Before your trip, be
sure to check Christ Church College's official website's
list of closures to make sure that the college is scheduled
to be open during your visit.
Admission fee for Christ Church College: 8-10 pounds (depends on month). |
I did this in 2018 in Oxford, United Kingdom. ~ Jen (California, USA) |
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jen is also known as J.W. Lynne, a best selling author of twelve novels. Check out her books on Amazon: THE UNKNOWN: Eight kids learn the shocking reason why they were kidnapped. ABOVE THE SKY: A girl lives in a world where touching her soulmate is forbidden. WHAT HE DIDN'T TELL ME: A traumatized girl meets a boy with a horrible secret. IF I TELL: A teen wonders if her father is a serial killer. THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE: A teen is locked in a bunker to take a simulated trip to the moon. WILD ANIMAL SCHOOL: A girl falls in love with a boy at an exotic animal ranch. KID DOCS: An experimental program turns kids into doctors. **Not sure which book to choose? Visit our book recommendation page!** **Jen's books are available on Kindle Unlimited.** Besides reading books and dreaming up stories to write, Jen's favorite activities are singing along to musical theater soundtracks and hiking in California's beautiful parks. |
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You might also enjoy Jen's other popular posts ... An Overnight Stay at Hogwarts Harry Potter filming locations in London Top Ten Things to do in Oxford |