HAMEDY: Mischief managed

I tried to apparate to Hogwarts again yesterday and failed miserably. Not only does the broom in my flat kitchen not clean well, it doesn’t get me anywhere! I was disappointed to say the least.

When the final “Harry Potter” film came out in July, like many Millennials, I felt a part of me die knowing that it really was over.  Childhood: gone. The movie might as well have been the horcrux of my childhood.

I thought I could let it go – you know, look back on it fondly like an ex-boyfriend or an old stuffed animal that is just there for comfort and maybe revisit it when I need a good cry.

I moved on – to “Hunger Games,” naturally, and reality. But there was no escape – studying abroad in London meant returning to the emotional rollercoaster known as true Potter love.

“Harry Potter” has been my go-to for as long as I can remember. Whenever I’m upset, I watch clips of the films on YouTube. Whenever I’m bored at home over break, I read a chapter or two or the entire book. It’s always there for me – on the shelf, in DVD and book form.

In London, it’s not just limited to my shelf. It is at King’s Cross at the classic Platform 9 3/4 (anti-climactic, by the way). It’s at Oxford – where the dining hall is what inspired the Great Hall. It’s even around when I travel – in Edinburgh, I saw the real Tom Riddle’s gravestone, not to mention the prep school J.K. based Hogwarts off of.

On Wednesday, Harry Potter wasn’t just around me – it consumed me. I avoided apparating this time and instead took a bus to the recently opened Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour. Alone. While I’m sad I didn’t get to share the fan girl moments with anyone else, I think I needed to fly solo (See what I did there?).

I almost didn’t make it – I got lost among the muggles in the streets of London (a Nimbus 2000 or even some flu powder would have been really handy). Finally, two minutes before bus departure time, I hopped on the knight bus (not really, but I wish).

On the two-and-a-half hour trek there, I tried to entertain myself by thinking about who would actually be cool enough to be a witch or wizard. In the end, I decided only one guy who resembled Professor Flitwick and myself (obviously) would be sent acceptance letters to Hogwarts – everyone else was too much of a muggle. Some kids had potential – they were just too young to get it.

Just a disclaimer: The bus ride was at 8 a.m. Early. Don’t scrutinize my judgment – I was tired, bored, alone and already getting emotional.

Finally, when we arrived, I joined in the mob of about 60 or so people and shoved my way inside. Don’t worry – I didn’t push any 8-year-old boys in dress robes or anything (although, I did beat a kid to volunteering to open the doors to Hogwarts later in the tour).

Upon entering the first room of the tour, we were greeted with screens that played a little montage of how it all began. Before I could leave a pool of tears on the carpet, we moved on to our next stop: the glorious Great Hall.  Spoiler alert: The ceiling of a studio set isn’t enchanted. But I still gawked at the tables where everyone sat and of course where everything from sortings to duels occurred.

After we left the Great Hall, I clicked on my audio guide and listened to Tom Felton/Draco Malfoy’s sultry voice telling me everything and anything about my surroundings.  It truly was a sight to see – from the sorting hat perched in Dumbledore’s office to Number 4 Privet Drive, I saw every set, detail, prop and costume used in all the films. I even hopped on a broom and flew over London and Hogwarts (well, the Green Screen behind me turned it into London).  I blissfully drank butterbeer in the rain and sported my Gryffindor colors with pride.  I was just soaking in the atmosphere, and it felt like I was there when it all began and ended. Amazing what a studio tour can do.

I’m not going to disclose how much money I spent at the studio.  But I don’t regret any pound I spent. A studio tour may seem like it takes away from the magic that is “Harry Potter” – but really, it just adds to it. After all, when else can you gather with groups of people of all ages to celebrate something so great?

Consider my Mischief Managed for now. Thanks, J.K.

Saba Hamedy is a College of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences junior, Fall 2011 editor-in-chief of The Daily Free Press and now a weekly columnist. She can be reached at sbhamedy@bu.edu.