Oxford to Hogwarts

I've been missing Oxford a great deal lately.
It's been interesting having now read Harry Potter and wept through watched the first two movies to recall all the HP connections to that trip.
I couldn't appreciate them then, but that's ok.  I still have their memory,
now mingled with my own reading experience.

 All that to say... I was particularly struck the other day when I saw this pin:

The funny bit is that I was at that premiere.  Well, not "at it" as in attending it.  But my very first night in London, the group I was with sort of ran right into it on the way to - get this - the Palace! 

[Trafalgar Square - thousands of Potterheads...and me]

We could hear the cheers from several London-blocks away.

I had never come across or been a part of a crowd this big

[and wouldn't be again until the Seahawks Superbowl parade].

[Bellatrix, Hermione, and Harry]

[They had these jumbotrons they were projecting the arrivals onto - so big, so so insane!]

And then we were off to Westminster, Parliament, and the Palace:

[Buckingham at night]

  The Harry Potter connections continued in Oxford,

the most notable being the "sorting stairs."

The scene in the first HP film where the Harry and the other first years

are greeted by Professor McGonagall before entering the dining hall and being sorted

was filmed at Christ Church College.

We made a visit... and ran into young Harry:

But seriously, it's such a majestic location. 

Hogwarts definitely has it's "Oxbridge" roots and I love HP all the more for it!

So... fun memories blended with new reading/viewing experiences.