If you are a fan of the wizarding world of Quidditch and potions classes, you’ll want to check out the Museum of Science and Industry’s newest offering: Harry Potter: The Exhibition. The gallery, which opened Thursday to the general public, is the exhibit’s first stop on a five-year journey.
“The Harry Potter stories have sparked the imagination of kids and adults alike with their incredible creativity,” said Museum president and CEO David Mosena in a press release. “As the premiere venue and the only Midwest location on the exhibition’s US tour, we are thrilled to be able to offer guests the first chance to experience the magical world of Harry Potter in a new, unique way.” Chicago landed the premiere because of its prominence as a city and the track record of the museum, which has been home to several notable exhibits with similar themes, including Titanic, CSI: The Experience, and a Star Wars exhibition.
The entire exhibit is actually located outside the museum building in a 10,000-square-foot tent-like structure. Before walking through to the displays, guests are invited by a cheerful docent in a floor-length robe to don the Sorting Hat to determine which house they belong in. These attendants, sporting Gryffindor scarves and affected British accents, are present throughout the exhibit talking in magical jargon to the Muggles walking through.
After a short display of scenes from the movies, visitors encounter a replica of the Hogwarts Express, the train located just past platform 9 and 3/4. This is just one of several setting recreations in the exhibit. Fans find themselves staring at food in the Great Hall, looking through Harry’s belongings in the dormitory he shares with Ron Weasley and standing in Hagrid’s cabin (and trying to sit in his massive chair).
The layout is logical — by and large, each major character or aspect of the wizarding world is given a display. Walking through the hallways, which are littered with animated paintings, we see the costumes of everyone from Harry to Professor Trelawney to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. Hagrid’s outfit, in particular, is notable — we finally get to understand just how big the lovable groundskeeper is. The exhibit is home to 25 sets of robes and 16 wands used in the series. Many of the characters are shown with esoteric props associated with them in the films — indeed, the attention to detail is perhaps the gallery’s most impressive aspect. The exhibit houses over 200 artifacts from the films. Guests can read Daily Prophet articles seen but not sifted through onscreen, look at the list of Dumbledore’s Army members hastily scrawled on a piece of parchment and roll their eyes at Ron’s hideous (but signed) Chudley Cannons T-shirt.
If you’re a Potter fan, chances are you will have a surprising amount of fun at the exhibit — the amount of “oh, yeah!” moments I experienced was rather staggering. Funny moments onscreen come rushing back when you see certain props — a painting of Gilderoy Lockhart painting his self-portrait recalls the incompetent professor’s vanity; the shocking, omnipresent pink of Umbridge’s office brings memories of her ridiculousness. Of course, the classics are all there, as well — the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Triwizard Cup, the Golden Snitch, various broomsticks and Quidditch eclectica, etc.
If you paused when Dumbledore’s Army was mentioned above, your suspicions were correct. The Army doesn’t appear until the sixth book; indeed, props taken directly from the filming of the sixth movie, slated to be released this summer, appear sprinkled throughout the exhibit. It’s a nice treat for fans of the novels, and a wonderful preview of what’s to come.
In order to get access to such exclusive materials, the exhibit’s parent company, Exhibitgroup/Giltspur, had to work very closely with Warner Bros. Anne Rashford, the museum’s Director of Temporary Exhibits, said that “it was a collaboration, because obviously they had just wrapped up filming the sixth film and they’re going to be starting production of the next film this summer. So throughout the run of the tour, which is lasting for five years, props and costumes will be swapped out. Visitors and Potter fans will get a chance to see updated costumes and artifacts as well.”
In addition to relics from the films, the producers of the exhibit included some extremely realistic life-size models of various magical creatures. Visitors will see centaurs, the head of a Hungarian Horntail dragon, Buckbeak the hippogriff, and a menacing Dementor. The last is located in an entire section devoted to the Dark Arts. Those who relish the series’ evildoers can see Death Eaters, the Angel of Death statue, and — perhaps most impressively — two chess pieces from the game of titanic proportions in the first movie.
Even if you only have limited Harry Potter experience, the exhibit should still be worth seeing. “When people see the exhibit, they are so amazed by the attention to detail and the costumes and the beautiful recreations of environments, and they actually become fans,” said Rashfors. “So many people have left saying ‘You know, I haven’t read a Potter book, but I can’t wait to get one now.’ So I think this exhibit turns people into fans and makes them curious to learn more.” If you’ve been rolling your eyes at your friends’ HP obsession, let them drag you here. You may get sucked in yourself.
The museum has extended its hours to 9PM for the Harry Potter exhibit to make it more accessible to student audiences. They encourage purchasing tickets online, since certain days sell out.