Harry Potter and the Studio Tour

Thursday 28th June 2012. Two days after my 17th birthday (as I'm sure you all knew!) and I'm off on a school trip for Media students such as myself. Where is this trip to? None other than the Warner Bros. Harry Potter studio tour. Only one word was in my head for the whole day: Squee! Yes, as an amateur film-maker it is fascinating to see these magnificent sets, with the incredible attention to detail, and imagine cameras and film crews and actors and directors producing eight amazing films in the very space you are standing in. But also, overwhelmingly, it is just an amazing experience as a geeky Harry Potter fan to see the sets, objects and costumes from a world I have completely fallen in love with (not to mention tasting a drink from that world - if you ever have the chance to try butterbeer, then do! It's delicious!). It's that same obsessive Harry Potter fan part of me that I am having to physically stop screaming out in delight when we're told that, as a school trip, we will receive a lesson/talk on costume design and characterisation where we would get to see costumes that weren't on the tour! Costumes the general public didn't get to see! I saw Harry's costume from the very first film (not his robes, which were on display in the Great Hall - the shirt, t-shirt and trousers he wore on the train), Cedric Diggory's robes (which, for some reason, the girls were very eager to touch... and wear...) and Voldemort's robes! All of this, along with the rest of the frankly stunning tour, had the Harry Potter fan side of me bursting with joy! Which leads me on nicely to the other part of me that was left completely in awe - the writer. Yes, the film-maker in me was amazed and transfixed by the breathtaking work that had gone into making the Harry Potter films, and the Potterhead in me was just overjoyed to be walking through the world of one of my favourite works of fiction, but both of those things fed into the sense of wonder and hope that I felt as a writer. When I say hope, I should point out, I don't mean some ridiculous hope of anything I write being quite as big or wide-reaching as the Harry Potter series - success stories like that are... well, on that scale, probably completely unique! But the fact that one story, told in seven books (and, yes, eight films, as I feel I should point out after going on a tour of the film studios), could be so powerful, be transformed so incredibly into a big-screen masterpiece that did so well, could touch and dominate all forms of media and reach such a vast fanbase (there were visitors to the studio from California on the day I went!) is enough to fill anyone who loves writing with hope for fiction and story-telling. The fact that one simple yet genius idea, from the mind of the truly inspirational and amazing JK Rowling, could inspire and enchant so many and truly change lives is fantastic. The fact that so many people can fall so utterly in love with a world of magic and wonder is a true testament to the power of the pen (or, indeed, of the quill). Harry Potter stands on high as a monument, proudly proclaiming to the world the power of fiction - the power of a story made up by one person. For me, at least, it does so better than any other work of fiction. With no other story am I quite as entranced by the world an author has created. With no other story do I feel quite as invited or welcomed into the magical realm of the writer's imagination. The beautiful blend of innocence and darkness, magic and realism, evil and love has enthralled so many so strongly. And it is for that reason that, as I walked around the studios, I saw so many people of all ages smiling and cheerful and seeming so utterly, wonderfully child-like. Children, after all, are the ones with the right idea - big imaginations and living life for fun. Grown-ups are the boring ones, who seem to have forgotten those essential values somewhere along the way. The Harry Potter series is one of those things that restores that brilliant child-like mindset within us, which has the ability to improve people and make all parts of the world a better place. Fiction is that powerful and that important. It's not just a case of making up stories to provide a bit of fun or a form of escapism - it has an impact on us. Fiction can shape us, help us, change our perspectives and improve our lives. Stories aren't just stories - they're realities of their own, shaping ours and presiding over it. In fact, the power stories can have makes these realities of fiction far greater than our own reality and in many ways far more important. I feel that the greatest purpose of our reality is to inspire fiction. It is this incredible power and status that fiction possesses that makes those of us who still love and value the realms of imagination want to use the Cruciatus curse on any muggle who ever dares to utter those dreaded four words: "It's only a story." Only a story? Blasphemy! And with this, I shall return to one last tale of my visit to the world of Harry Potter. It was just after the first half of the tour, where I had been taking as many pictures as possible of the many sets, props and other bits on display (something I ALWAYS do on this sort of day out). We had just been to the outside area of the studios, where I had the pleasure of trying butterbeer and where Privet Drive and the Knight Bus could be found, amongst many other items. All of these I also got a fair few snaps of. Then came the second half of the tour and within a few minutes... the beep of death. The moment we all fear. The camera died. The battery had decided that was quite enough working for the day and went kaput on me. Diagon Alley - a few pictures on my phone, but nothing else. The wonderful pieces of concept art and paper models of Hogwarts - no pics! I had stopped being bothered by this rather quickly and just enjoyed being submerged in a world of magic. I was, after all, walking down Diagon Alley, looking into Ollivander's and Weasley's Wizard Wizard Wheezes! It was after looking at the small paper models of various building and the Durmstrang ship that one of my Media teachers emerged from around a corner up ahead, grinning broadly. "If you think that's a model," he said, "wait until you see this!" I was intrigued to say the least. I walked slowly, a little anxiously, around the corner and was confronted by an enormous, beautifully detailed, unbelievably intricate model of Hogwarts. It was breathtaking - the "miniature" (in inverted commas because there was really nothing miniature about it!) used for exterior shots of Hogwarts in the films. I had honestly never been so much in awe in my life, which may sound odd to you if you're thinking "It's just a model castle...", but I can tell you - not knowing it was going to be there, and then taking in the sheer size and detail and beauty of it... Wow! And my camera was dead. And when my camera dies, it dies. I took it out of pocket in some pointless hope, hating myself for not bringing the spare battery, flipped open the shutter and... two bars. Staring right back at me were two glorious bars of battery power! I managed to take a good few pictures of this incredible model of the greatest school I've both never attended and yet been going to since I was a very young child. And I don't care what anyone says about the camera battery being able to recharge itself slightly, or any sort of scientific or logical explanation - as far as I'm concerned, that camera was revived in a moment of magic. And that is the only explanation I'll ever want or need. Until the day I die, I shall allow myself to believe that as I stood, facing the most magical place on Earth, a place that has inspired me so much and in so many ways, I experienced one small work of magic.