Besotted with Harry

It’s no secret that I have been a major Harry Potter fan since Year One, twenty, count ’em – twenty years ago.

So it was only right and just that we (Don graciously agreed to accompany me) took a trip to the Warner Brothers Studios, where the films were made, a short train and shuttle bus ride from central London.

I will make no attempt to educate or convert those not conversant with these masterpieces of magical realism. If you know what you are seeing, your tongue is hanging out with awe. If not, well, I have only pity for your having missed one of the epic dramas of our times. Just imagine the wonders we saw, starting with the Great Hall.

All the props, costumes and set pieces are original, and, while I may have been the oldest person there today, I was hardly the least enthusiastic. The fans went wild!

Every detail was so lovingly crafted, packed with wit and wonder. Imagine being in Dumbledore’s office!

And then seeing the Gryffindor Common Room, the locked door to Gringott’s and the Chamber of Secrets, the Weasleys’ home, the Ministry of Magic…the mind boggles.

Evil lurks all around, wherever the Death Eaters are gathered, and certainly in the dark corners of Diagon Alley.

It was a thrill to see Harry’s cupboard in the loathsome Dursley house, and to imagine the thrill of boarding the Hogwart’s Express for the first time.

Oh, the stories that came to life here. What magic! What conflicts! What morality!

And what a gift shop!!!!