The Sets
The Sets
Explore and immerse yourself in the magical and iconic sets of the Great Hall, Diagon Alley, the forbidden forest, and Platform 9 ¾, during your Harry Potter studio tour.
Great Hall
The Great Hall was erected for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2000 and was used as a key set for the rest of the movies in the Harry Potter franchise. The Great Hall served as the backdrop to some of the film series’ most memorable events, including the Yule Ball and the Battle of Hogwarts.
The stunning Great Hall features costumes from each Hogwarts house, as well as two huge tables set for dinner; at the top of the room is the instructors’ table, where the Hogwarts Professors sat. Professor Dumbledore’s lectern and the House Points Counter, among other stunning handcrafted items and props made for the Harry Potter film series, may be found in the Great Hall.
Fun fact – The House Points Counter is rumored to have caused a nationwide shortage of Indian glass beads when it was first built, even though it is rarely seen on screen.
Diagon Alley
The Diagon Alley set constantly changed throughout the Harry Potter series. Though, the street’s initial design included rich elements from the Harry Potter books with influence from streets described in Charles Dickens’ works. Since its construction, walls have shifted, shop fronts have moved and entire buildings have been carefully tweaked, to make them look slightly leaning, to create the street that is seen in the films. For Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, several of the Diagon Alley set pieces were re-dressed for usage in the village of Hogsmeade.
Gringotts Bank, Flourish and Blotts, and Mr. Mulpepper’s Apothecary are all located in Diagon Alley, as is the famous Harry Potter London shop for wands, Ollivanders.
Fun fact – During filming, the wand shop had over 17,000 individually labeled wand boxes.
Forbidden Forest
The Forbidden Forest in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was shot on location as well as in the studio. For Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, this was moved entirely to the Studio to house the infamous acromantula spider Aragog’s lair, and it grew throughout the film series. Scenic artists created backdrops that were up to 600 feet long for the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Fun fact – The Harry Potter Studio Tour Forbidden Forest contains 19 trees, each with a diameter of over 12 feet.
Platform 9 ¾
In the movies, hundreds of students were taken from Platform 9 ¾ in King’s Cross station, London to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland by the Hogwarts Express. Most of the scenes on Platform 9 ¾ were shot on location at King’s Cross Station in London, however for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, a section of the station platform was reconstructed on a stage at Leavesden, complete with track and the train.
The external views of the train were created using actual trains and passenger carriages on sites across the United Kingdom, while all the sequences that take place inside the train were created using a built-in set of interior carriage sets. The green screen background in the windows was changed with moving backdrops and special effects such as hopping Chocolate Frogs and flying Dementors by visual effects teams working on the movies.
Fun fact – The Hogwarts Express served as the backdrop for the series’ very first shot in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, as well as the series’ very last scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, ten years later.
