SnitchSeeker was on hand for the midnight opening of Harry Potter: The Exhibition in Edmonton, Canada this Friday evening. Exclusive photos of James and Oliver Phelps, as well as the exhibit, taken by correspondent Caitlin who was on hand at the ceremony in TELUS World of Science Edmonton for SnitchSeeker can be seen here.

The Harry Potter Exhibition is the closest us muggles will get to receiving our Hogwarts Letter. The Telus World of Science has set it up so that it’s like going through a day at Hogwarts. Each little set up is complete with wands, costumes, and other personal artifacts. The sets have backgrounds that fit perfectly with them and they all have music to fit the atmosphere of that location. They also made sure that there are audio tours as well. TWOS did an amazing job at bringing our beloved magical world to life.

When you first arrive at the Harry Potter Exhibition you will be queued up outside the Gift Shoppe. When you reach the entrance to the exhibit your first task is to try on the Sorting Hat. Sit on the stool in front of a replicated Great Hall window and be sorted into your destined House. Once you’ve been sorted you will move through the doors into the preview room.

The screens in this blackened room play an adrenaline rushing review of all 8 movies. As this ends, a black screen to your left raises and you are greeted by the Hogwarts Express room. Complete with dark lighting, forest backdrops, piles of trunks, cages, and steam coming from the engine, a conductor holding a lamp hurries you on your way so you are not late for the feast. As you head to the first archway you pass a wanted sign for Sirius Black. Make sure you look up or you will miss seeing Hogwarts in the backdrop!

From here you reach the Grand Staircase set up. This brick wall has moving portraits, including the Fat Lady’s scene from The Prisoner of Azkaban where she breaks the goblet.

The sets after this include most of the main loved characters costumes and artifacts. Here we see items from Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Included in these items are of course some of their costumes, their wands, Neville’s dancing shoes, his Mimblus Mimbletonia, Hermione’s beaded bag, Chudley Cannons Paraphernalia, an empty box of love potion filled cauldron cakes from Romilda Vane, the photo album of Harry’s parents and more. If you have an audio tour, there are plenty of fun facts here, including great facts on the lovely cactus of Neville’s. In case you do not, this cactus was actually an animatronic filled with hot slime. It would wiggle, expand and randomly shoot this slime everywhere. It took over several tries to get the cactus to cooperate with the scene, and in the process for Matthew Lewis suffered several burns and boils. The bunk beds, drapes, and tapestries from these sets are also straight from the movie sets. They saved them just in time before that set was pulled down. Thank goodness!

Following the dormitories is set ups of the classrooms. Here you will find Divination (make sure to look for the Grimm cup), Professor Umbridge’s office (complete with Harry’s “I must not tell lies” parchment), Potions class (check out the pickled spiders and lizards), Professor Lupin’s Defence against the Dark Arts (hope you’re not scared of Jack in the Box, or Boggarts), Gilderoy Lockhart’s set up (which is of course, all about him. Don’t miss the quiz from his first class), and Herbology. All of these classroom set ups have more props, costumes, and textbooks including the Half Blood Prince textbook and Lockhart’s textbooks. In Herbology you have the chance to pull a mandrake out his pot. These mandrakes are life sized, properly weighted, and squeal at the top of their lungs when removed. Luckily they go back in easier than in the movies/books.

Next on your journey through this delightful exhibition is the Quidditch area. Walk through the beautiful tent entrance to see a case on your left with lots of Quidditch props. Both the Nimbus 2000 and Nimbus 2001 are present, along with the Quidditch crate and the snitch used in the first few movies. Quidditch World Cup paraphernalia, Daily Prophet cut outs of the match, and omnioculars are also in this case. To your left is an interactive game where you can throw life sized, properly weighted, realistic Quaffles through the three Quidditch hoops! Would you pass the Chaser tryouts? There are also the Quidditch robes of Moran (Irish Team), Krum (Bulgarian Team), Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, and Madam Hooch.

Right outside of a life sized Hagrid’s hut in his garden is the animatronic Buckbeak. Although he does not move in this exhibition he looks as though he could. Beside him is Macnair’s outfit and axe. Inside Hagrid’s hut is the gigantic costume he wore, the big armchair (which you can take pictures sitting in) and the table and chair. On top of this table is a rattling dragon egg. And on the fire is a steaming cauldron.

From here you enter the darker part of the exhibit, the Forbidden Forest. Complete with creepy music, a nose tingling earthy smell, and moss covered trees, here you will find some animatronics so lifelike you almost expect them to start running at you. This is where the centaur is with a face so lifelike you keep expecting it to blink, Aragog king of the Acromantula, the head of the Hungarian Horntail, and a baby Thestral. This part is one of the most amazing of them all, as these creatures all watch you walk through it. You might want to look over your shoulder to see if they are following you.

The next room is the darkest room of them all. On your immediate left are four wanted posters for Amycus Carrow, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, and Alecto Carrow. To your right is the Angel of Death statue from the Goblet of Fire graveyard scene. One of the best parts of this room is the death eater robes and masks. You can really capture the details of every mask. The craftsmanship is absolutely outstanding. There are masks from the Goblet of Fire and on. You will also find Bellatrix Lestrange’s robes here. Beside these, are Voldemort’s robes, rippling in the wind, with Nagini at his side, and the Dark Mark in the sky behind him. If you listen carefully you will hear Voldemort speaking to you. There is also Azkaban Prison uniforms, Kreacher’s model, and a dementor floating on the wall. As you exit this room you’ll see a couple more costumes from the Chamber of Secrets and a display box with all of the inanimate horcruxes, including the shell used to scoop out the locket.

The second last room in the exhibit is the entrance to the great hall. House banners line the one wall, and the other wall has 8 different decrees from Umbridge. Make sure you read the fine print on these! They’re actually quite amusing. At the end of this entrance is Godric Gryffindor’s sword, and Neville, Hermione, Ron and Harry’s final battling sequence costumes with a fiery Hogwarts backdrop and rubble around their feet.

Que the Great Hall, the final stop on this exhibition. The left side of this hall is decked out yule ball decorations and costumes. You can also get an up close look at the magnificent Triwizard Tournament Cup. At the end of the Great Hall is a replica size window of the Great Hall window, floating candles, and many more costumes. You will also find Dobby peeking out from behind Dumbledore’s robes. In the middle of the hall are more glass cases stuffed with the most decadent looking cakes and treats from Honeydukes. There are many other props to look at in this hall so make sure you look at everything and don’t miss a thing! Some of them are tiny and may go missed if you don’t look close enough (like the Resurrection Stone that you can see the Deathly Hallows symbol in).

As you leave this amazingly well put together exhibition (from frames molded from the frames on set, to atmospheric music and backdrops), you enter the gift shop stuffed full of wands, Hogwarts House Apparel, treats, Marauders Maps, and lots of other little goodies. These are just as amazing to look at as the tour itself.

All in all, this Exhibition is incredible. It is almost like receiving your Hogwarts letter or being on set with all of your favorite characters. If you live in the area and can make it out, it is an opportunity of a lifetime that you will never forget. I cannot wait to do another Harry Potter Movie Marathon and know that I saw so many of the props in person. Especially knowing the amount of detail they put into every little costume piece, from all the snakes worked into Lucius’s costume, to the way they may the sword of Godric Gryffindor. This is one chance that should not be missed.

Pensieve Seeker

__________________
Hufflepuff: The House of the Nice, but Clueless