Expecto patronum! Excellento perfectnum

Why hello there lovely people. It has been an exceptionally busy week since we last caught up. I've been helping to build a house (and monitoring my biceps growth too, but Dave says that they don't just sprout out like Popeye's, which was disappointing to know. Then again, I guess I'm checking that they don't blast out of my arms. I'd look totally out of proportion- like a pigeon). I've also been tree climbing and packing up the house that Dave and I share into lots of boxes. In doing so, I am quickly realising how much stuff we don't need. But most excitingly of all, earlier this week I went to the Warner Brother's Studio Tour of Harry Potter.

Now, I'm not going to lie- I am big Harry fan. Actually, I'm a big J K Rowling fan, because without her there would be no Harry to be a fan of. I love the wizarding world, free from the shackles of such modern day necessities like computers, telephones and online banking. I love the idea of magic being within our reach, but the fact we have no idea of it being there. I guess I just love the fact that in the world J K Rowling has created, you can suspend reality for a few hours and become part of something that is very real.

That is exactly what I did the moment I walked through the entrance to the Great Hall. I had crossed the invisible barrier and entered a world of magic where I stayed for the rest of the evening.

In a departure from my usual blogs, I'm going to stop talking now and simply share some of the magic with you.



Ready to buy my wand from the one and only Ollivanders. Obviously I look out of place as I'm in my muggle attire, but I managed to make it into Diagon Alley, so I'm taking that as a sign that there's some magic in me somewhere.

Pretending to be a very unconvincing Hagrid on a rescue mission but failing miserably due to sitting on the motorbike looking too much like a girl. Dave on the other hand makes a superbly uncanny Harry- minus the glasses, the scar, the short hair, the rucksack and a snowy owl. Behind us is the infamous Knight bus and Harry's muggle home at number 4 Privet Drive at the very back.

This is me in my spiritual home! I loved school and learning and was always that person in the middle of an exam who stuck their hand up because they'd run out of paper. Yes, I am a geek- always have been and probably always will be, but I'm proud of that fact. If I could have one of these exam papers I definitely would! It's so much better than just an exam book- (examiner's of the muggle world take note).

 

Stood on the bridge that features in the films, in front of Harry's parents home With hindsight, I realise that I'm looking much too jolly outside the home that has witnessed murder!

 

A picture that no camera could possibly do justice to. This is a scaled model of the real Hogwarts and it is MA-HOO-SS-IVE. You can't help but drop your mouth and start catching flies in amazement.

I thought about adding more pictures, but decided against it. If you decide to go and pay a visit yourself to this magical wonderland, you don't want to know all the secrets before you've even set foot through the door. Near the entrance was a wonderful quote by J K Rowling. Today, it is with her very wise words that I decide to end this blog: "no story lives unless someone wants to listen."

Mildred Potter x
(Harry's unknown cousin seven times removed)