finding Harry Potter

"Small wonder that spell means both a story told, and a formula of power over living men." ~J.R.R. Tolkien

It's always kind of sad at the end of each Harry Potter book, another year at Hogwarts has passed, Harry must go back to his miserable Muggle life. He misses his friends and longs for the magic of the wizardry world where he truly fits in. This is how I feel. I am very fond of London and it's magical energy. I've been working on this blog every day since I've been home and it's been hard to bring closure to this experience. I have a ton of more research to share, but there's just too much...

I must put the Nimbus away for now until London will have me again. Thanks to this experience, my future has never been more uncertain. My nightly Nimbus ride took me places beyond own imagination. The moments I cherish the most were so beautiful, beyond pictures and words and blogs. My adventures in the London Underground showed me parallel universes with just three minutes between each portal. I loved going down the rabbit hole only to emerge and try to make sense of the mad world around me. Here is where the Knight Bus comes to a screeching halt and I get off, and try to move on with my life. I'll never forget all the friends I made and people who have touched my life forever in a very cosmic way.

I'd like to thank FindHogwarts.com for guidance and inspiration in my search for Harry Potter in London.

I have photo albums for the rest of the trip, links are below. I recommend clicking Slideshow in the top, right corner of each album. Check out my pictures please for highlights from the rest of my time in London including:

Skateboard park in Waterloo

Wicked the Musical

Girls night out

Haunted London

Coco Before Chanel movie @ the Barbican

Tower of London &
Underground Heroes exhibit

Housmans Radical Bookstore &
my birthday pictures

The Coal Hole pub

Beatles Magical Mystery Tour &
Hyde Park Speakers Corner &
Hard Rock Cafe London museum vault &
the London Eye

Dali Universe &
Arcadia the play

Sherlock Holmes Museum &
Bunhill Fields cemetery &
Hamleys toy store &
Troubador

Stonehenge &
Bath

Highgate Cemetery &
second visit to British Museum

The Globe Theater &
high tea at Fortnum & Mason

Links for Paris and Amsterdam photo albums:

Hard Rock Cafe Paris
Pere La Chaise Cemetery Paris &
Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Place de la Tour Eiffel &
The Louvre
Amsterdam canal ride
Bibliotheek Amsterdam
Van Gogh Museum
Brussels & Amsterdam

I still haven't made a dent in writing about all the Harry Potter stuff I saw and researched. I highly recommend The London that Inspired Harry Potter Tour by londonwalks.com. Check my photo album of this excellent Harry Potter tour in London. These London Walks are a really excellent, cheap way to see and learn all about London.

THE LONDON THAT INSPIRED HARRY POTTER

"Nothing like a night-time stroll to give you ideas"

Let's put the cat amongst the pixies: Harry Potter isn't just kids' stuff. There are very real tales - and real locales - behind the stories of Harry and friends. Those tales, those locales inform this walk. Was there really an invisibility cloak? What's the truth behind the Philosophers' Stone? What place inspired Diagon Alley? Where was the legend of Dracula born? Where in a famous movie did a werewolf go on a rampage? There's good gripping London stuff behind a lot of the Harry Potter goings on - everything from characters' names to the origin of monsters. We'll solve a mystery or two: e.g., where is the entrance to The Ministry of Magic and can we get in? In short, this walk is a serious study of a subject more fantastical than fiction. And, yes, there's even some magic. As one walker put it, "dead brilliant."


Harry Potter in Latin
Bath, England