A Day In Seattle

Today we took a day trip to Seattle, and I'm so glad we did. A couple of months ago I heard about a Harry Potter exhibit taking place up there. I did some research and discovered that this exhibit had been touring the states and that this would be there last stop in the US. So, we decided it would be worth the trip and we purchased tickets. We also got to have lunch with John Herman and Rachelle LaRose and a couple of Rachelle's friends which was really nice.

Pictures weren't allowed, these are just images I found through google...

This was one of my favorite displays I think. This is from the Prisoner of Azkaban and their clothes were dirtied and you could see how tiny they were at this time.

They had an "herbology" section where you could pull up mandrakes from the pot and they would scream like in the movie

This was really awesome too- harry and ron's beds, Ron's is on the right and I guess that patchwork blanket is in most of the films.

Now on to what we thought of the exhibit. We both really enjoyed it. We both would have loved to hear more back story as to how the props and costumes were made and WHO made them (I'm sort of shocked that artists were never mentioned). However, the exhibit wasn't really suppose to be about backstory, or I mean it wasn't presented that way. It was more about recreating the experience for you. For example: everyone that worked there had English accents; upon entering you are first corralled around the sorting hat where they take volunteers to come up and be sorted into a house. The kids who did this were cute. The most unfortunate part was that pictures weren't allowed. The whole time I was just itching to break the rules. They didn't even have a poster at the end or anything for you to pose with as proof that you had been. The one lonely sign we found was the one by the bathrooms. Anyway, aside from those little issues the experience was pretty cool. To be able to see so many (MANY MANY) props up close was amazing. You certainly don't get to see so much detail through the TV. I think one of the things I found most interesting was to see all the different wands. Each wand is gorgeous, so ornate and so different- and they all suit the characters perfectly...

Some of the random things that we saw today off the top of my head (For those of you harry potter lovers out there who will know what these are):

Bellatrix Lestrange's dagger that she kills Dobby with in the latest movie, the Quibbler, the monster book of monsters, the pen, chair and desk that harry uses during detention in Umbridge's office, harry's glasses, the murader's map (WHICH WAS AWESOME), Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001, Harry's wand, Bellatrix's wand, Voldemort's wand, (well, pretty much everyone's wand), Buckbeak, Life size chess pieces from I think the first movie, Rita Skeeter's books and quill, all sorts of treats from the hogwarts express trolly, a display board from the common room, Hagrid's umbrella, the boggart wardrobe, The dresses and dress robes worn to the Yule Ball (gorgeous!), and much much more. Quite a fun day! Below is a video of the exhibit by the TVGuide channel.



Now, I'm off to bed, dream sweet harry potter dreams everyone. :)