Hogsmeade

The miniature version of Hogsmeade had over 20 shop windows filled with tiny window dressing.

Hogsmeade was 42 x 24 x 8 ft high at a scale of 1:16.

The full-sized version of Hogsmeade built for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was based on the miniature version created for previous films.

In all film adaptations to date, Hogsmeade has been shown as a small snowy roof-topped array of shops. Whether the weather is always like this at Hogsmeade is unknown; while on-screen visits to Hogsmeade have usually been shown as taking place in winter, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban shows Hogwarts students departing to pay it a visit in autumn. The village, however, is not seen.

There is a recreation of Hogsmeade Village at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.

In the film adaptation for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the set is actually the Diagon Alley set used in the first two films redesigned to look like Hogsmeade. Likewise, Honeydukes is the set of Ollivanders in the first film and Flourish and Blotts in the second.

Here are a list of shops and buildings in Hogsmeade:

Deverish & Banges

Dogweed and Deathcap

Dominic Maestro's

Gladrags Wizardwear

Hairdressing salon

Hogsmeade Post Office

Hogsmeade Station

Honeydukes

Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop (what Harry refers to as 'the haunt of happy couples')

Potage's Cauldron Shop

Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop

The Shrieking Shack

Spintwitches

The Hog's Head

The Magic Neep

The Three Broomsticks Inn

Tomes and Scrolls

Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment

Wizarding Wireless Network Headquarters

Zonko's Joke Shop

Costumes

Over 25,000 items of clothing have been used on Harry Potter.

Over 600 school uniforms have been created for Harry Potter.

The scenes with the largest number of cast and extras to dress have been the battle scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with 400 Death Eaters and Snatchers and the Great Hall scenes with 400 children and teachers present.

Animal Actors

The largest amount of animals on set on any given day was 60 animals for a scene in Professor McGonagall's classroom.

Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, once got a fruit bat stuck in his beard during a scene in Hagrid's hut.

The largest animal to be brought on set was a hippo.

The smallest animal to be brought on set was a centipede.

After filming 40 kittens to go on moving plates in Umbridge's office, the kittens went on to be domestic pets, with their new owners unaware of their famous origins.

There have been 250 animals used across the Harry Potter film series (not including insects).

Hospital Wing

The Hospital Wing started its life in Chamber of Secrets as the fountain end of the girls' bathroom.

It was then revamped into the hospital wing and revamped again for Prisoner of Azkaban, which involved lifting the 45-ton set and rotating the set 90 degrees.

The backing seen through the windows is scenically painted with cutouts of other parts of the school.

Looking down to the far end you will see a 2/3rd scale miniature of the Clock tower.

The inspiration for the hospital wing came from the Oxford School of Divinity.

In the actual school layout, the corridor leading up to the clock tower is in fact a bridge to the clocktower.

It took 12 weeks to build.

The bedside cabinets were originally made for a WWII film called In Love & War.

Makeup

A dentist was on standby for many of the young crowd scenes to replace teeth which wobbled and fell out – to prevent continuity issues involving teeth.

Harry's infamous scar has been put on by makeup approximately 5,800 times. This is not only on Daniel Radcliffe, who has had the scar applied approximately 2,000 times, but also on his doubles and stunt doubles, all of whom wear the scar.

Robbie Coltrane once got a mini-fan caught in his Hagrid beard and had to have it cut out.

190 liters of shampoo and conditioner were used on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

55 liters of hair tint/hair dye was used on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Approximately 2,182 liters of shampoo and conditioner have been used across all the films, enough to fill 28 bathtubs.

Disney Pixar's 'Brave'

Disney and Pixar are coming out with a movie, Brave, in 2012. But wait ... this is a Harry Potter app, right? What's Brave doing here? Well, here are some nice facts about it:

Kelly Macdonald, who has the lead, voices Princess Merida. Kelly Macdonald also plays Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady in Deathly Hallows: Part 2.


Emma Thompson, who voice Princess Merida's mother, Queen Elinor, also plays Professor Sybil Trelawney.

Robbie Coltrane, who we know as the lovable Rubeus Hagrid, will voice Lord Dingwall.

Julie Walters, a.k.a. Molly Weasley, voices the Wise Woman.

And if that wasn't enough, the score for Brave will be composed by Patrick Doyle, who had also done Goblet of Fire.

Sirius's Parents

Both of Sirius Black's parents, Orion Black and Walburga Black, were related. Their great-grandparents, Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Flint-Black, were the same.

Michael Jackson and Harry Potter

Michael Jackson was said to be a fan of Harry Potter. He also wanted to do a Harry Potter musical, but J.K. Rowling rejected the idea.

This is what she had said on Oprah:
'Michael Jackson wanted to do a musical. I said no to a lot of things. For me, I love the films, I love the books, and there's elements that I love around it... like the theme park. But I only wanted to do it because I knew it would be incredible.'

10 Magical Years of Harry Potter

Both the HP books and films were released in the span of exactly 10 years. Books 1-7 came out in 1997-2007 and the films 1-8 have the ten years of 2001-2011.

Toujours Pur

The Black family motto 'Toujours Pur' means Always Pure or Still Pure in Latin, because of their obsession in the pure-blood mania.

Dumbledore's Age

Dumbledore was born in the summer (either July or August) of 1881. He had died at the age of 115 in June of 1997.

James Potter: Chaser or Seeker?

In the the Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone film they mention that James Potter I is a Seeker, J. K. Rowling has said in an interview that he was a Chaser. However, in Book Five, Order of the Phoenix, "Snape's Worst Memory", Harry sees his father playing around (or showing off, rather) with a Snitch. Though, this matter can be explained, just as how Ginny was not only a Chaser, but a substitute Seeker.

Hermione Jean Granger

Happy birthday, Hermione! Today, September 19, is her birthday. Born in 1979, he turns 32.

In 2004, J. K. Rowling had said in an interview that Hermione's middle name Jane. This was later changed to Jean in Deathly Hallows, 2007. The modification was done probably due to the fact that Dolores Umbridge also had the middle name of Jane.

On a related note, Jo's daughter, Mackenzie Rowling-Murray, also has Jean as her middle name.

Dean Thomas

Dean Thomas's name was at first Gary. J.K. Rowling had also initially had him go with the trio and Neville when they run into Fluffy.

Becoming Ghosts

Only a wizard or witch who is afraid of death can become a ghost.

James Potter I & Adrian Rawlins

James Potter I and Adrian Rawlins, the actor who plays him, are both born on March 27.

On a further note, Rawlins was around 42 years old when he shot his scene for the first movie, exactly double the age in which James had died in, 21.

First Mention of Sirius & His Motorbike

In the first chapter, Hagrid explains to Dumbledore that Sirius Black lent him his motorbike. Only in the Prisoner of Azkaban do we realise that Sirius is an important character, and his motorbike, again is used in Deathly Hallows.

The motorbike used in the films was a white 1959 Triumph 650 T 120 Bonneville.

Plotting the Books

It took five years for J.K. Rowling to plot out the Harry Potter books. She first thought of it in 1990, but remained plotting it out before she had written it. So starting in 1990, it took Jo 17 years to write all the books.

(We'll post a lot of facts about the little things you might've missed in the books.)

Quirrell at the Welcome Feast

During the welcome feast, Harry looks at the professors, and as his eyes travel from Quirrell to his turban to Snape, Harry's scar starts to burn. It first seems that his scar hurts because of Snape, not actually Voldemort, who had been, in fact, in Quirrell's turban.

Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

The inscription on the Mirror of Erised reads: 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'. Backwards, it reads 'I show not your face but your heart's desire'.

Magical Quill

A magical quill detects the birth of every magical child and records it in a book and Professor McGonagall sends an owl to each child when he or she turns eleven.

This is the same quill people had to find to gain early access to Pottermore.

Sorting Hat

The famous Sorting Hat, sorter of the students at Hogwarts, had belonged to Godric Gryffindor.

The Rumour of Rowena Ravenclaw's Dream

It is rumoured that on the W.O.M.B.A.T. test, Rowena Ravenclaw had a dream that a warty hog was leading her to a lake and that's how Hogwarts got its name. J.K. Rowling has said in an interview that Hogwarts is a multi-faith school.

The Hogwarts Set

Hogwarts was 60 x 50 x 30 ft high on a scale of 1:24.

The original version took about seven months to create with 40 people working on it!

The miniature has been updated over the years due to story requirements. Each of these updates have taken approximately 3-4 months with about 20 model makers.

Students Per Year

In an interview with J. K. Rowling, she said there are about one-thousand students attending Hogwarts at any given time. This is supported by the fact, that when Harry sees his father doing his OWL (in the Pensieve in Snape's office), there are over 150 students. Secondly, during a Quidditch match, everybody was supporting Gryffindor except around 200 Slytherins supporting their own. 

However, if each year had the same number of students as Harry's, with five boys and five girls in each dorm, there would only be two-hundred and eighty students. This means that there are usually at least 70 students per House per year.

The explanation? J. K. Rowling has mentioned that she is horrible at maths.

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

J. K. Rowling said she wanted a humorous motto for Hogwarts (Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, meaning 'never tickle a sleeping dragon' in Latin), since so many schools have less pragmatic ones such as "Reach for the stars".

Hogwarts

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a British boarding school for magic which is located in Scotland. The precise location can never be uncovered because the school is hidden by the most powerful spells possible, and is Unplottable. Spells protecting the castle include anti-Apparition and Muggle-repelling charms, which make the castle appear as an old ruin with a sign that says 'Danger, Keep Out.'

Most electronic devices do not work on Hogwarts grounds.

Translating 'Hogwarts'

Most translations keep the name 'Hogwarts', transcribing it if necessary (for example Arabic هوغوورتس = Hūghwūrts, Russian Хогвартс = Khogvarts, Japanese ホグワーツ = Hoguwātsu, Bengali হগওয়ার্টস = Hogowarts, Greek Χόγκουαρτς = Hóguarts), but some translate or otherwise adapt it (French Poudlard (lard = "bacon"), Latvian Cūkkārpas shortened from cūka = "pig" + kārpas = "warts", Dutch Zweinstein modified from zwijnsteen = "pig rock", Norwegian Bokmål Galtvort (Nynorsk keeps "Hogwarts"), Finnish Tylypahka (pahka = "wart"), Hungarian Roxfort, Slovenian Bradavičarka (bradavič = "warts")). The Ancient Greek translation of the school is "Ὑογοήτου Παιδευτήριον τὸ τῆς Γοητείας καὶ Μαγείας", loosely translating to "Hogwizard's School of Wizardry and Magic", Ὑογοήτου replacing "Hogwarts" and derived from the ancient Greek words ὑo- (hog) and γοητής (wizard).

Leavesden Studios

Warner Brothers bought the Leavesden Film Studios for £100 million, and they are to open a studio tour, The Making of Harry Potter, in Spring of 2012.

On March 21, 2010, while filming the Battle of Hogwarts for Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the Hogwarts set caught on fire.

When you look at the satellite view of Leavesden Studios on Google Maps, you can see ten houses along a road, five on each side. This set was created as Privet Drive.

Leavesden Studios was originally built as an aerodrome in 1940. Many airplanes were built there at the tail end of World War II.

As it is an old aerodrome, none of the stages are soundproofed.

The 200 acre Studio houses over ½ million square feet of covered production space and nine giant stages in excess of 145,000 sq. ft. The runway is 3000 feet long.

Apart from the Potter series, movies filmed here include Sleepy Hollow, Golden Eye, Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace and Mortal Kombat Annihilation.*

*Others not included are: Die Another Day, The Dark Knight, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and Inception.

Read more about the film studio here.

[Source: Hollywood Reporter, Wikipedia; Images: Google Maps, Wizarding Life, Wikipedia]

The Steam Engine

The steam engine's real name is the Olton Hall and it was built in April, 1937.

It is designated "Hall" class steam locomotive no. 5972.

Max Speed – chimney first: 65mph, tender first 45mph

It can pull a maximum of 27,275 pounds behind it.

The engine is 13 feet and 5/8 inches high and is 8 feet, 11 inches wide.

The carriages date back to the 1950s.

Number of carriages - four (although could be increased if needed)

The 78-ton, four-carriage train was brought in from Carnforth, Cumbria

In railway speak, the actual name of the engine in Harry Potter is the 'Hogwarts Castle'. The 'Hogwarts Express' is the name of the service route that takes students from Platform 9¾ to the school.

[Source: Hollywood Reporter; Image: Harry Potter Wikia]

First Year at Hogwarts

Exactly 20 years ago, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and their fellow year mates, took a ride on the Hogwarts Express and arrived at Hogwarts for the first time.

40 years ago, Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew experienced the same, as they left Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters at 11:00 sharp, eventually taking their boat ride to Hogwarts Castle to get sorted and eat at the Great Hall.