Harry Potter Walking Tour

This evening I went on a Harry Potter walking tour. I liked it. Instead of going to certain parts of city where they filmed some of the movies this tour visited sites that inspired parts of the stories. Of course, now as I read the desctiption of the walk on the walking tour's website - The Original London Walks - I understand the walk even more. This is what it says:

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THE REAL WORLD OF HARRY POTTER
Wizards, Werewolves & Vampires
Nothing like a night-time stroll to give you ideas

Let's put the cat amongst the pixies: Harry Potter isn't just kids' stuff. There are very real tales - and real locales - behind the stories of Harry and friends. Those tales, those locales inform this walk. Was there really an invisibility cloak? What's the truth behind the Philosophers' Stone? What place inspired Diagon Alley? Where was the legend of Dracula born? Where in a famous movie did a werewolf go on a rampage? There's good gripping London stuff behind a lot of the Harry Potter goings on - everything from characters' names to the origin of monsters. We'll solve a mystery or two: e.g., where is the entrance to The Ministry of Magic and can we get in? In short, this walk is a serious study of a subject more fantastical than fiction. And, yes, there's even some magic.

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Yes, there was magic. There was a lot of swishing of a wand that would send out sparks. It was a little corny, but the guide was so into it that it was cute. So onto the walk. Yes, we did learn about the the idea of the invisibility cloak. There was a man, whose name and profession I have now forgotten, that thought that he had an invisibility cloak that was covered in symbols and such. However, it was all in his head and people really saw him when he was wearing it. He did ask a friend once "Why then does no one talk to me?" Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

We then learned about Nicholas Flamel. Flamel was a real man. He was a French alchemist and a bookseller. He dreamt of a book one night and then the next day a man comes into his shop with the very book. It was The Book of Abraham the Jew, and it was written in an ancient form of Hebrew, which Flamel did not know. Later in life, Flamel met a man who could translate the text, but the man died before he could finish. Left with only the translated bits, Flamel took it upon himself to use what he had so far to finish the translation. And what did this book talk about? The secret of the Philosophers' Stone, which not only brings you enternal life but the ability to make metal into gold. Through Flamel's experiences he became rich and used the money to build hospitals, churches, and housing for the poor.

Now the question is whether or not Flamel gained eternal life. Well, on his death he was supposedly buried his wife and the tomb was sealed. However, over the years people claimed to have seen him and his wife alive around the world. So people began to actually buy stocks in whether or not Flamel was alive. After awhile, the police were tired of the idea of such a silly notion of such a stock and the only way they could prove that the Flamel and his wife were dead was to open the tomb. And when they finally did they found - nothing. It was empty. And what happened to The Book Abraham the Jew? No one knows.

We then walked over to Trafalger Square and found the call box that is the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, which is across the way from the entrance of the National Portrait Gallery. No, we didn't try to get in.

We then walked up the street a little and then to a street that leads to Leicester Sqaure. There we saw the hardly noticed door that goes to a very exclusive gentlemens club. It was in here that writer Bram Stoker met a man who came from the region around the area of Transylvania. Through stories from this foreigner, Stoker learned about a man named Vlad the Impaler and his horrid method of putting people, while they are still alive, onto stakes. He was a man that did not like his borders crossed and his peace distrubed. Stoker was inspired and took Vlad's surname of Dracula and decided to turn him into a vampire, and the story of the Dracula the vampire was born.

At the end of our walk we headed up Charing Cross to a little alley, the only one on this street, that must be the inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. There are a lot of little bookshops and antiquities shops, one of which does sell stuffed owls. It was really cool.

Oh, because it was mentioned in the walk description above, the location for the werewolf in the movie American Werewolf in London is at Picadilly Circus.

Over all the walk was fun. I liked learning about little known facts behind the stories such as the story of Dracula and so on. If anyone is interested in the walk, it is normally done on Sunday. But be wary, there will be a lot of kids who especially love the call box that leads to the Ministry of Magic. We were told by the guide that every single kid wants to try to get in it. Sounds very cute.