Harry Potter (and other stuff, but mostly Harry Potter)

As many of you know, I am a GIANT Potterhead. To go and see where a series that has made my life way better was made and filmed was amazing. I kept thinking to myself, "WOAH J. K. ROWLING PROBABLY STOOD IN THIS SPOT!" or, "EMMA WATSON, RUPERT GRINT, AND DANIEL RADCLIFFE FILMED HERE...RIGHT HERE! THEY WERE HERE!!!!!!". (Sorry, I'll stop fangirling now) I was internally freaking out (in a good way) through most of our trip to Edinburgh and England so far. Here are some pictures and explanations of 'The Harry Potter Trail'.

To be clear, before we start, J. K. Rowling is pronounced jay-kay-rolling. Her full name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling, though she was only born as Joanne Rowling. The K. came in when the publishers told her that readers like middle names. She chose Kathleen because it was her grandmother's name. The publishers also advised her to use only her initials for her name so that male readers would read the book. She later legally changed her name to Joanne Kathleen Rowling in honor of her grandmother. So that's how J. K. Rowling became J. K Rowling.

 So here's the story of how Professor McGonagall and the films of Harry Potter came to be.
J. K. Rowling loved this poet (the one with the grave below) even though he was unofficially named "The Worst Poet". She often wandered the graveyard in her hometown of Edinburgh and had seen his grave many times. She also watched a British movie with Maggie Smith in it, and loved the character Maggie Smith played in the movie. J. K. Rowling decided that she wanted a character like the character  Maggie Smith played in the British movie (strict, but oh so loving). She saw these two things a lot, and decided on Professor McGonagall's name and character. Apparently J. K. Rowling only wanted Maggie Smith to play McGonagall, and if Maggie Smith hadn't accepted the role, we would not have the Harry Potter movies.

 Below is Thomas Riddell's grave, AKA Tom Riddle's grave, AKA Lord Voldemort's grave. J. K. Rowling just changed Mr. Riddell's name around so it would be easier to write.

 This is Victoria's Street, one of the inspirations for Diagon Alley. (non-HP fans might see this play on words...Diagonally. Diagon Alley. Diagonalley. Diagonally) (Also, there is a mirror in the series called the Mirror of Erised. Erised backwards is Desire, and the mirror shows the person's deepest desire.)

 This is inside The Elephant House bathroom. The place claims, "Birthplace of Harry Potter", though true Harry Potter fans know this not to be true. J. K. Rowling wrote lots of books #2, 3, and 4 in this cafe, but NOT #1. The place where most of the Sorcerer's Stone was actually written was in a cafe a few blocks down from Elephant Cafe, called Nicholson's Cafe. The Nicholson's cafe closed down just after the first book was finished.

 This store on Victoria's street inspired Flourish and Blotts, the wizarding book and stationery store.

 I liked these T-shirts in some stores along Victoria's street.

 Different view of Victoria's street.

 Things inside the Harry Potter store on Victoria's street.

This picture is me in front of the building where J. K. Rowling finished the book series. The Balmoral hotel, 5th floor. It contains her writing desk and a marble bust of Hermes, the Greek god of travel, signed by Rowling herself, a vandalism act. The door knocker is a brass owl in her honor. She stayed in this hotel because she wanted to keep work life separate from home life, yet she couldn't sit in cafes to write anymore, as fans would be crowding her and asking all sorts of questions, disturbing her writing.

 This is at the castle where the flying lesson scene and other walking scenes were filmed. The castle is still in use by a Duke that has had the castle in his family for 700 years.

 The Durham Castle (different from the one above) is where the courtyard of Hogwarts is. I really enjoyed walking around the courtyard because it felt like I was a student at Hogwarts.

 I got this shirt at the Harry Potter store on Victoria's street

Something unrelated to Harry Potter is the National Museum of Scotland. We went there after our Harry Potter tour. Inside there was this giant hall in which a duo of a fiddler and a guitarist played. I absolutely loved their music and I listened for about 45 minutes. If you'd like to listen, watch the videos on this link: https://goo.gl/photos/EaaTwX1cCcoS2J5A6