My Miniature Hogwarts

My little sister is obsessed with Harry Potter.

I mean obsessed.

She'd never given the franchise much thought, but with the advent of 'DracoTok' last year, she became hooked, and she's spoken of little else ever since. For Christmas, I wanted to give her something special, so I decided to make her a miniature Hogwarts.

And, not to toot my own horn, but I'm really proud of how it turned out.

Here's what I started with:

And here's the finished product:

Isn't she a beaut?

Here's a room-by-room breakdown of my miniature castle.

Slytherin Common Room

Like me, my sister is a proud member of Slytherin House. This dungeon common room features a floor-length portrait of Salazar Slytherin, a stunning green window, and green banners. The candles glow in the dark (green!), and a chocolate frog and Draco Malfoy's wand sit on the fireside table.

Umbridge's Office

This room is, of course, decked out in pink. We have the cat plates adorning pink brick walls, a pink carpet and rug, and a pink chair. On Umbridge's desk are pages of bloody "I must not tell lies" lines, copies of The Daily Prophet, and a framed photo of Cornelius Fudge.

Prefects' Bathroom

This is my favorite room. It features the bubbly tub, colorful taps, golden egg, and stained glass mermaid window from Goblet of Fire.

Great Hall

This room didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, but it does capture the comfort and festivities of our first night at Hogwarts. And it's got Richard Harris (aka the real Dumbledore) in the middle, so it makes me happy.

I may still add on to the side walls, but my favorite feature of this room is the ceiling, which has been enchanted to look like the night sky (I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.).

Mirror of Erised

This room serves as a nod to the franchise's first film and features the Mirror of Erised showing Draco Malfoy (my sister's greatest desire). It also includes a broomstick, a wand, Neville's Remembrall, and the photo album Hagrid gave to Harry at the end of Sorcerer's Stone, with tiny pictures of Harry's friends and family inside.

Room of Requirement

I split this room into two parts.

In one room, we have the space in which Dumbledore's Army gathered to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts from Harry. This room looks cool with a sort-of optical illusion background and Harry's stag Patronus.

Adorning the arch is Mr. Weasley's flying car.

In the other, we have Malfoy's Vanishing Cabinet with his green apple inside. The walls are from an illustration of the Room of Requirement, and the warlock bust from Half-Blood Prince is featured with Ravenclaw's diadem on its head.

(And Hedwig!)

Fat Lady

I really wish I'd made this portrait able to open up to a glimpse of the Gryffindor common room beyond. Ah well, next time, I guess. Each photo was individually cut out and attached to a tiny piece of cardboard to give it a raised look.

Divination Classroom

Another one of my favorites, Trelawney's classroom is straight out of the third movie, with red curtains draped along the walls, crystal balls, and Scabbers the rat (aka Peter Pettigrew). As an added touch, Hermione's ball can be found down the stairs in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, from when she knocked it over as she stormed out of class in Prisoner of Azkaban.

(Also, baby Norberta.)

Fluffy

Hagrid's three-headed dog standing on a trap door. The room just below features the challenges Harry, Ron, and Hermione encountered in their efforts to stop Snape from getting the Sorcerer's Stone.

Sorcerer's Stone Challenges

I love this one. Here, we have the chess board, the potion challenge from the books, and a colorful illustration of the winged keys. The ceiling of this room is Devil's Snare, which was a particularly nice touch, if I do say so myself. I especially love the flames and the chess pieces.

Dumbledore's Office

This cozy office features Fawkes, the Elder Wand, Tom Riddle's diary, and the Sorting Hat.

High Inquisitor Hallway

Here, we have the wall of Educational Decrees and the High Inquisitor running out of the Great Hall (which is the next room over) and away from the Weasley twins' fireworks.

Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom

I had a blast putting this one together. It's got the sink with the basilisk's "great big yellow eyes," Myrtle's toilet, a cauldron full of Polyjuice Potion, a "wet" floor (water paint), and Myrtle herself.

As an added touch, a trail of spiders leads from this room's window on the outside of the castle, ending in one of those giant arachnids who tried to kill Harry and Ron in Chamber of Secrets.

"Turn to page 394."

Based on the scene in Prisoner of Azkaban, this room features the werewolf lesson Snape gave to Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class in Harry's third year, with the textbook open, of course, to page 394.

All of the windows are print-outs from the real Hogwarts castle, as is the brick. The front door opens to an image of Tom Felton saying, "'Sup, baby. Wanna smush?"

Somehow it just worked out that one side of the castle had those long windows we see in the Great Hall, and those, too, are print-outs from the movies.

I had intended to keep count of my expenses, but at some point I lost track. Suffice it to say, this was not a cheap project.

But I was able to get creative with things. The beads I bought for the bathtub bubbles were also used to make Draco's apple, the crystal balls, and Neville's Remembrall. I made use of a lot of things that I found around the house, like cereal boxes, cotton balls, and lug nuts.

I'd never made one of these miniature houses before, but if I could make a career out of it, I would. This was an incredibly fun, relaxing venture. I loved planning each room and finding ways to incorporate aspects of both the books and movies. If you're looking for a peaceful quarantine activity to keep you occupied, I highly recommend doing something like this.

If you like my miniature Hogwarts, swish and click the heart! (And if you can afford to tip, a small donation would be very much appreciated, because I knocked over my grandmother's antique lamp while taking these pictures and really need to get my mom an apology gift. 😬)

While you're here, check out some of my other stories! 😊