Skip to content

MuggleNet

  • Site
    • Amazon Storefront
    • Bookshop
    • Contact Us & FAQ
    • History
    • Meet the Team
    • Our Commitment
    • Patreon
    • Press
    • Special Projects
    • Volunteer with Us!
    • Year in Review
  • MuggleNet Family
    • Accio Politics
    • Alohomora!
    • Beyond the Veil
    • Book Trolley
    • Fan Fiction
    • Potterversity
    • SpeakBeasty
  • Harry Potter
    • Book Quotes
    • Book Series
    • Coloring Books
    • Exhibition
    • Film Companions
    • Film Series
    • Hogwarts Library
    • James & Sirius Prequel
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • Fantastic Beasts
    • Book
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Film Quotes
    • Film Series
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • The Quibbler
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Bathilda’s Notebook
    • Beyond the Veil
    • The Department of MYTHteries
    • The Dirigible Plum
    • The Three Broomsticks
    • The Wizard’s Voice
    • April Fools’
    • The Quibbler Vault
  • The Daily Prophet
    • Editorials
    • Event Reports
    • Features
    • Interviews
    • Giveaways
    • Listicles
    • Merchandise Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Television Reviews
    • Theater Reviews
    • Wizolympics
  • Muggle World
    • Charity
    • J.K. Rowling
    • Quidditch
    • Studio Tour
    • Theatrical Play
    • Theme Parks
    • Wizarding World Digital
  • Fans & Fun
    • Crazy Caption Contest
    • Fan Art
    • Fandom
    • Flash Games and Trivia
    • Fun Lists
    • GNOMEs
    • Potter DIY
    • Potter Weddings
    • #PotterItForward
    • Rosmerta’s Recipes
    • Song Parodies
    • Wizard Rock
MuggleNet
  • Site
    • Amazon Storefront
    • Bookshop
    • Contact Us & FAQ
    • History
    • Meet the Team
    • Our Commitment
    • Patreon
    • Press
    • Special Projects
    • Volunteer with Us!
    • Year in Review
  • MuggleNet Family
    • Accio Politics
    • Alohomora!
    • Beyond the Veil
    • Book Trolley
    • Fan Fiction
    • Potterversity
    • SpeakBeasty
  • Harry Potter
    • Book Quotes
    • Book Series
    • Coloring Books
    • Exhibition
    • Film Companions
    • Film Series
    • Hogwarts Library
    • James & Sirius Prequel
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • Fantastic Beasts
    • Book
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Film Quotes
    • Film Series
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • The Quibbler
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Bathilda’s Notebook
    • Beyond the Veil
    • The Department of MYTHteries
    • The Dirigible Plum
    • The Three Broomsticks
    • The Wizard’s Voice
    • April Fools’
    • The Quibbler Vault
  • The Daily Prophet
    • Editorials
    • Event Reports
    • Features
    • Interviews
    • Giveaways
    • Listicles
    • Merchandise Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Television Reviews
    • Theater Reviews
    • Wizolympics
  • Muggle World
    • Charity
    • J.K. Rowling
    • Quidditch
    • Studio Tour
    • Theatrical Play
    • Theme Parks
    • Wizarding World Digital
  • Fans & Fun
    • Crazy Caption Contest
    • Fan Art
    • Fandom
    • Flash Games and Trivia
    • Fun Lists
    • GNOMEs
    • Potter DIY
    • Potter Weddings
    • #PotterItForward
    • Rosmerta’s Recipes
    • Song Parodies
    • Wizard Rock
  • Event Reports / Studio Tour / The Daily Prophet / The Quibbler
  • 0

8 Festive Things Spotted at Hogwarts in the Snow

by Martin Wickens · Published November 14, 2015 · Updated February 17, 2018

From November 13 to January 31 the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter decorates its wonderful sets and props with snow, tinsel, and all things festive. This time around, the Studio team outdid themselves with all-new Christmas puddings, lit fireplaces, and even the Goblet of Fire. Here are eight festive things that we spotted at the Studio Tour this year!

1. Christmas trees

The Studio Tour featured a huge Christmas tree in the front lobby, which was covered in fake snow and shining blue lights. Like in the books, eight trees lined the Great Hall. They were decorated in festive tinsel and baubles, as well as little witches that rode broomsticks around the star.

2. Flaming Christmas puddings

Although all the food in the Great Hall was fake, including the Christmas puddings, the flames used to light the puddings were real! For the first time this year, you can see up-close how the special effects team used small gas fires to light the Christmas puddings. During filming, gas lines were hidden in the floor and rose up through the tables to provide the fuel for these fascinating little decorations!

Lit Christmas Puddings

3. The Hogwarts model covered in snow

The Hogwarts castle model has been transformed by a team lead by model effects supervisor José Granell. The snow is hand-sprinkled onto the model, and it makes the already fantastic-looking castle look even better. The scale model was first built for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, with a team of 80 model makers working for almost seven months to create the original version. The specialist work was so detailed that it would have taken one person more than 74 years to complete!

4. Snow

There was snow everywhere! You could see snow falling in the windows of the Great Hall and the Burrow, and fake snow actually fell on the Privet Drive and Hogwarts Bridge sets. Snow also covered part of the Diagon Alley set. The snow that covers the sets and models is made from a combination of granulated paper and grains of salt – chosen because it clumps like real snowflakes and catches the light like ice. The snow floating around outside was made of little soapy bubbles propelled into the air by a giant fan.

5. The Burrow

The Burrow set was all dressed up for Christmas. It included pulled crackers and a cake with a snowman ice skating on top. The food in the early films was completely real, but it proved too difficult to store, so in the later films they used artificial food made by the special effects team.

The Burrow Set

Source: Warner Bros Studio Tour

6. The Goblet of Fire

For the first time this year, the Goblet of Fire was lit! It sparkled with blue and red flames, made by shining light into heated water vapor. There were actually two versions of the Goblet made for the The Goblet of Fire. One was made out of a single piece of wood, while a special effects replica was molded in fiberglass.

The Goblet of Fire

7. The Great Hall

The Great Hall was decked out with a feast fit for Christmas. With chicken, potatoes, roast beef, and festive puddings, it’s a shame that all the food was made from powder and resin. There were House-themed crackers and little gifts, as well as wreathes and fiery Christmas puddings. Even the snowmen on the cakes had little Gryffindor and Ravenclaw scarves!

8. The Gryffindor bedroom and Common Room

The Gryffindor bedroom set was decorated with colorful tinsel, and the common room had its very own Christmas tree as well as crackers! Did you know that the bedroom set was built for Sorcerer’s Stone and was never expanded? So in the later films all the cast’s feet dangled off the edge!

You can read more about the Hogwarts in the Snow feature and MuggleNet’s previous review of the feature here.

Thanks once again to the team at the Studio Tour for having us.

What is your favorite part of the Studio Tour? Are you going to see the Hogwarts in the Snow feature? Let us know in the comments below!

Tags: Harry PotterHogwarts in the SnowStudio Tour

More MuggleNet Articles...

  • 0

    A Desperate Plea

    July 12, 2005

     by MuggleNet · Published July 12, 2005 · Last modified February 24, 2020

  • 0

    Warner Bros. Studio Tour previews a year of magical events!

    March 12, 2014

     by Jessica J. · Published March 12, 2014

  • 0

    Ten Reasons Why Voldemort May Still Be More Likeable than Umbridge

    June 17, 2015

     by Alyssa Cokinis · Published June 17, 2015

Follow:

  • Next story The Series’s Most Powerful French Characters
  • Previous story UPDATED: Pre-Order “Harry Potter: The Artifact Vault” Now, Out in 2016

Our Commitment

Patron of the Month, January, Laura H
Become a Patron!

Upcoming Events

January 2021

Wed, Jan 20

Sophie Thompson's birthday

Mafalda Hopkirk (DH1)

Thu, Jan 21

Harry visits the prefects' bathroom with the golden egg and solves the clue

1995

Fri, Jan 22

Sir John Hurt's birthday (RIP)

Garrick Ollivander

More

Quotes

  • “His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, His hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.”

#PotterHistory

  • November 16, 2001 – The first Harry Potter film is released in the United States, opening on a record 3,762 screens in the United States alone. On opening weekend, it grosses $90 million in the United States and £16 million in the United Kingdom, setting records in both countries.

Did You Know

  • The Golden Snitch was invented to replace the Golden Snidget, a golden bird with fully rotational wings that became endangered after they were used as targets in numerous Quidditch matches.

MuggleNet Archive

MuggleNet is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and Bookshop.org, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and bookshop.org.

MuggleNet is an unofficial Harry Potter fansite.
Please email us if you have any questions or concerns.
© 1999–2021 MuggleNet.com. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | COPPA Policy | Terms of Use | Feedback