Harry Potter: The Exhibition

I hereby warn you that this will be a very dorky blog entry. Also, none of these photos are mine. Thank you, Google Images search.

Last week I went with three friends to see the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square. We grew up loving Harry Potter, and still do, so we were very excited to see the exhibit filled with props, costumes, and full set pieces from the movies. We almost didn't see it because when I went to the box office two weeks in advance to get our tickets (which are printed a specific date and time slot), the person sold me four tickets to the Pompeii exhibit, also at Discovery Times Square, instead of Harry Potter. And I didn't discover this until the night before. So there I was with four non-refundable, non-exchangeable, final sale, pretty expensive tickets to the Pompeii exhibit. I went to the box office before work the morning of the day our tickets were for, prepared to be turned away or laughed at or at best, given tickets for another day, since it was spring break week after all, and there were already swarms of tourists in midtown at 9am. But after all that stressing and worrying, when I got to the ticket window and explained what had happened, the guy said , "So you want to go to Harry Potter instead? Same time?" and printed four new tickets.  It was miraculous.

So I returned  to Times Square after work and met up with my three equally Harry Potter-obsessed friends to wait in the long snakey line (of ticket-holders!) to get in But the exhibit was worth all the trouble. In addition to spacing crowds out with timed entrances, they take you in groups of 20 or so to a sorting room, where there's an actor in Hogwarts robes with what must be the actual Sorting Hat from the first movie. He "sorts" three kids from the group into different Hogwarts houses, and leads everyone into the next room, where the exhibit begins.

Thus begins the exhibit of props, costumes, set pieces, recreated rooms, and more. Aside from it being really cool to see clothes that the actors wore, and clearly recognizable props, the exhibit was fascinating for the incredible attention to detail that went into absolutely everything. Harry's potions book from Half-Blood Prince, for instance, that is supposed to have handwritten notes about the instructions, really has those handwritten notes that are really about the potion. Professors' costumes were aged to look decades old. The bulletin board from the Gryffindor common room had hand-drawn posters advertising used spell textbooks, tutoring lessons in potions and broom-riding, and more. There were models of the animals and creatures that were computer-animated. 

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I really loved seeing the costumes from the Yule Ball (Goblet of Fire) and each character's wand. I also loved the detail of the jewelry pieces. And the Marauder's Map (pictured above) was so cool! You couldn't even see all of it in the display case. I can't imagine how long it must have taken someone to draw that out.


I did get sucked in just a little in the giftshop. No, I didn't buy a $30 wand, but I did buy a heat-activated Marauder's Map mug. The map appears on the side of the mug only when you add a hot beverage. It's made my morning coffee an even MORE exciting experience!


While attempting to find pictures of the mug transitioning from black to mapped (because I'm too lazy to do that myself), I found this short youtube video that someone filmed of their mug transitioning. It's silly, but it does show exactly how cool the mug is, so if you find yourself with an extra 42 seconds, take a look.

Read the New York Times review of the exhibit here and then go see it for yourself!