Off the British Path

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09. The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley
Location: Leadenhall Market
Just across London Bridge you’ll find Leadenhall Market, an ornate Victorian emporium of all things fruit, veg and meat. It’s a second home to Diagon Alley, with exterior shots of the market appearing in The Philosopher’s Stone. Hagrid and Harry enter the fantastical thoroughfare via Glass House Opticians, which you can still find at 42 Bull’s Head Passage. You can even buy a broomstick at Leadenhall, although it probably won’t be a Nimbus 2000. From Leadenhall, Potter completists will want to head up to Lincoln’s Inn Fields to find the home of Sirius Black, 12 Grimauld Place, which is not as unplottable as all that.

(via heartstring-hum)

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13. Hogwarts Library
Location: Bodleian Library, Oxford
Just a short cobbled stroll away across Radcliffe Square is Oxford University’s ancient book depository, the Bodleian, which you’ll recognise as the place where Harry and co. get down to the serious business of swotting for their N.E.W.T.s., Hogwarts Library. Next door is the Divinity School, a medieval edifice that doubled up as Hogwarts’ sanatorium in the first four movies. Its Gothic ceiling boasts enough beasts and creatures to make even Hagrid leap from his skin. It’s open to the public all year round. Dress code: Scholars’ gowns rather than invisibility cloaks. Sub fusc optional.

(Source: heartstring-hum)

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14. Hogwarts/Godric’s Hollow
Location: Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
Often used for telly costume dramas, the Abbey at Lacock, just down the road from Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, appeared in The Philosopher’s Stone and The Half-Blood Prince. Not only are Quirinus Quirrel’s classroom and Severus Snape’s laboratory found here, but the cloisters - dating all the way back to 1232 - were stalked by Argus Filch and his scrawny cat, Mrs. Norris. The neighbouring village of Lacock was the inspiration for Godric’s Hollow and was used for filming The Half-Blood Prince, although for The Deathly Hallows production shifted to Lavenham in Suffolk (presumably it was easier for Nagini to get to).

(Source: heartstring-hum)

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17. Hogwarts School - Mrs. McGonagall’s Office
Location: Durham Cathedral
Next stop is Minerva McGonagall’s (Maggie Smith) classroom, located in the depths of Durham Cathedral’s Chapter House. Dating back to Norman times, the cathedral was a suitably ancient surrogate for Harry’s 9th century secondary school, with cast, crew, owls and baboons descending on it for The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets. The Chapter House itself isn’t open to the public, so unless you can Animagus yourself in, the Cathedral cloisters are the next best thing. It was here that Harry took Hedwig the owl for a spin.

(Source: heartstring-hum)