Changes: Forum:Lots of info from the HP Exhibition, but no time to write entries. Does anyone want it?

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Forums: Index > The Wizengamot > Lots of info from the HP Exhibition, but no time to write entries. Does anyone want it?

Hi all

I went to the Harry Potter exhibition in Sydney and took extensive notes (photography was not permitted). I have heaps of "little" details, some of which would be useful for new and/or edits to existing pages. For instance, from the quality of Parvati's robe and shoes as compared with Draco's, I would extrapolate that she comes from a fairly wealthy family, while Hermione's robes are actually not all that good quality, which suggest that her high-income professional parents' income may not translate to equivalent wealth when exchanged into Galleons. I also have things like names of Slytherin Quidditch captains from certain years from honour boards, although I note those have already been captured.

However, I'm working full time and studying full time (arguably, I'm a masochist) and don't have time to learn all the wiki norms and write the articles. So - is there an experienced contributor who would like the notes? They're dot point, but they're usable with only a tiny bit of cleaning up on my part.

Deslea

Deslea 11:12, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

Hello, there!

That'd be awesome! No regular contributer at the wiki has gone to the Harry Potter exhibitions (that we know of) and, as such, we've been relying on pictures found online, or website reviews. If you want to give us your notes, you could make a transcription, or upload scans: we'd be greatly appreciated. Again, thank you! -- Seth Cooper owl post! 11:40, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

Excellent! I'm pasting my notes below. Some will not necessarily add anything but I figured it was better to include too much than too little. Enjoy!! Deslea 19:04, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

I've put the transcription of your notes in the archive below for better reference in articles. We'll incorporate some of your tidbits into our articles. Again, much obliged! -- Seth Cooper owl post! 20:39, March 31, 2012 (UTC)

Notes transcription

The following discussion is an archived discussion. Please do not modify it.

So I was in Sydney for a medical appointment, and I had a couple of hours up my sleeve, so I made a return trip — this time with my iPhone in hand, taking down every. damn. detail. The Brits kept a close eye on me, and whispered to one another, but consensus seemed to be that I wasn't breaking any rules, just a little odd. So, two hours of dot points later, I emerged with the following observations.

Portraits

Moving portraits were achieved with monitors in frames, with the surface of the screens distressed with some sort of textured clear paint.

There was a portrait of young Newt Scamander, ancestor to Rolf Scamander, who would eventually marry Luna Lovegood. (This is the same portrait already showing on the Newt Scamander page).

There was an intriguing, gorgeous moving portrait of a couple, the man pushing the woman on a swing, at night in a graveyard. I so want to know, or write, a backstory for that.

There is a portrait of a rather smart-looking, relatively young wizard (maybe in his 30s?) in period dress (Victorian era?) labelled Tobias Misslethorpe, Founder, Witch Weekly.

See Hogwarts for information about Hogwarts' portraits of real people who have been appropriated into the HP world.

Magazines

The Quibbler has amazingly good quality paper with silver embossing. It seems a bit at odds with the home-printing-press setup of the Lovegoods. Perhaps they are quietly very well off?

There is a Quidditch magazine called Seeker Weekly - see Fun and Games below.

Clothes, and What They Say About Their Wearers

Ginny's uniform, including the skirt, is surprisingly worn, given that she is the only girl in the family and therefore could not have hand-me-downs from her brothers. Also, one of the twins' uniforms is fatter than the other (and than the twins, or any of the Weasleys themselves). This suggests that the Weasleys had additional sources of hand-me-down uniforms outside the family. This could be from friends or extended family, or perhaps Hogwarts has a uniform pool.

Although Hermione's Muggle clothes - casual and formal - are good quality, her uniform is not, with surprisingly faded red cotton lining. This suggests that perhaps her parents' good income in the Muggle world does not convert to equivalent wealth in Galleons.

Hermione's casual clothes seem to regularly include a belts, suggesting this is one of her stylistic preferences (or possibly Emma Watson's, depending on whether she had any input).

Harry's casual Muggle clothes from about third or fourth year on are very good quality, compared with his Dudley hand-me-downs from earlier years. This suggests he has begun to convert his Galleons from his parents' vault into Muggle pounds and is now buying his own clothes.

A great deal of attention has been paid to Ron's hand-me-downs, with faded red cotton lining and roughened edges.

Parvati's robes and shoes are better quality even than Draco's, with heavy red satin-like lining, suggesting that she comes from a wealthy family.

Slughorn wears a dated but smart three-piece suit with a light robe.

Snape's work clothes are clearly tailor-made for him, well-made and cared for. They seem consciously made in a classic style that is not quite like anything worn by anyone else, and not likely to date either. One imagines that he had maybe two or three of them made when he started as a teacher and has used them ever since. (He would, of course, be teaching seniors who were First Years when he himself was a senior, so his image would have been particularly important when starting out). The colour is a deep purple, not the blue-black they always seemed to me on screen. The outfit consists of trousers, a knee-length tunic buttoned right the way down with a horizontal seam at the waist, and a light cloak that appears to be stitched in place on the shoulders. Naturally, Severus - especially when starting out - would not want even the slightest sign of awkwardness. The whole thing seems very engineered to serve its purpose.

Lockhart's clothes, not surprisingly, are way over the top, with a trouser, waistcoat, long coat, robe, and cravat. There is an oddity at work here - his shirt is one type of fabric but his sleeves, coming out of his coat, are another, suggesting either a custom-made shirt in two fabrics, or perhaps a dress shirt and an undershirt. (In certain pictures - not the exhibition - Lucius also seems to have this two-fabric mix, suggesting this might be a style for wizards of a certain age and means).

Lupin just wears a light robe over the top of a basic, well-worn two-piece suit in a textured tweedy fabric. One imagines that it's the only suit the virtually-unemployable Remus owns.

Fudge's suit is a bit different to everyone else's. Everyone else seems to use a cloak in a very light fabric that complements the suit beneath. Fudge, however, wears a cloak in pinstripe suiting fabric, along with matching trousers and long-line jacket. His waistcoat is a different complementing fabric to the suit, again unlike others, and unlike others of his socio-economic demographic, he wears a tie. (By comparison, Slughorn wears a bow tie, and Lockhart wears a cravat. Meanwhile, lower-income characters Lupin and Arthur Weasley wear regular ties). His shoes are really good quality.

Hooch's robes are extremely smart, suggesting that she comes from wealth. Her robes and suit have velvet hand-stitched appliquéd detailing, and her broom twigs are tinted purple to match.

Buckbeak's would-be executioner wears very tattered clothes and shows signs of scavenging food (eg little bones sticking out of his bag), suggesting that, as in many places in the Muggle world, being an executioner makes one a social outcast. His axe has leather ties around it and runes stamped into the steel. There is no sign of a wand, so perhaps he is a Squib.

Xenophilius Lovegood's clothes suggest hidden wealth. His shoes from Bill and Fleur's wedding are very fine hand-made, hand-stitched, dyed leather, and his outfit has hand-embroidered velvet detailing.

In line with his socio-economic standing, Hagrid's clothes are very patched and appear handmade (makes sense - he wouldn't be able to buy any in his size). The ones we saw were the larger ones worn by the stand-in, not the normal-sized ones worn by Robbie Coltrane, and the buttons appeared to be sawn-off slices from a tree branch.

Quirrell's clothes suggest modest wealth, which fits with his ability to travel. He wears a lined cloak, unlike the light cloaks worn by most, with a contrasting undercoat with a silver clasp, and a waistcoat.

Draco's robe is good quality, with two embroidered two-button fasteners (ie, a fastener with a real button on one side and a matching button-for-show on the other), but not as exceptionally good quality as Parvati's. The lining is reasonable but not lavish.

Tom Riddle's uniform is a shirt and tie, a gray knit school sweater/jumper with two green (Slytherin) stripes at the neck, a two-piece gray suit, and a cloak. The gray suit seems quite coordinated and was presumably an integral part of the uniform in the 1940s.

Despite appearing dark and heavy in the films (at least to me!), Voldemort's cloak is actually a very light green fabric, quite gauzy and delicate.

Costumes were shown for Dumbledore both during the Richard Harris era and the Michael Gabon era. There were interesting differences. Both were lavishly detailed, but while RH's Dumbledore wore heavy fabrics and textures (kind of like curtains and carpets), MG's Dumbledore wore much lighter and more delicate ones.

Contrary to fanon, Lucius' Chamber of Secrets outfit features absolutely no green. Instead, it is in black and a deep red. It consists of pinstripe trousers (red pinstripe), an undershirt with the topaz snake brooch which is available as a replica from the Noble Collection, a dress shirt which is rather Oriental in cut and style (red detailing), and a stole which is deep red or purple with snake clasps. He also wears a wand harness. This consists of a kind of belt that sits at the hips, with an o-ring connector. From the o-ring, on one side an additional strip comes off on an angle, then back up again to the side to make a triangle. From the bottom point of the triangle, a little long pocket descends, just the right size and shape for a wand.

Bellatrix also has a wand harness, but hers hangs off in a triangle from her corset rather than an o-ring and belt.

In addition to everyday robes, I saw what appeared to be Death Eater dress robes (two of them). The most noteworthy part was a deep purple or black cape like an old-fashioned nurse's cape, but coming to stop about the elbows. It was of very good quality and distinctive fabric. There was also a dark fur stole.

Cedric Diggory's school robes were a bit worn, suggesting he may not have come from a particularly well-off family. However, his dress robes for the Yule Ball were extremely smart. It isn't clear whether his family scratched together the money or he had a benefactor or sponsor during the Triwizard Tournament.

Like Cedric, Harry's dress robes are very good quality, and identical in style, with diagonal/bias panels on the sleeves and collar. Another interesting point is that most of the Yule Ball outfits - Harry, Cedric, Cho, and Hermione, as well as McGonagall - have strong diagonal lines. Ron's does not, thus highlighting the difference of his awful, dated, hand-me-down dress robes.

McGonagall's clothes for the Yule Ball consist of a blouse (or possibly an underdress, I suppose), and an all in one robe in two green textured fabrics, joined by two gold buttons.

The Invisible Cloak is made of an interesting fine, lightweight velour fabric in a distressed pattern of orange deepening into brown, with equally light black lining.

Sirius wears quite fine clothing that has obviously been tailor-made for him, with an interesting double-collar velvet coat, but it's a bit the worse for wear. It raises the question of where it came from. It could be his from back when he lived at Grimmauld Place - but then it shouldn't be worn. It could be his from his days living with the Potters, with whatever clothes he managed to take with him when he left - but then, how would he have gotten it?

One of Tonks' outfits from OOTP was shown. It's quite an amazing set: A short black dress with a weird trim that kind of separates into a jacket but is integrated to about the bustline, random brass studs all over the jacket section and at the neck, a transparent blouse underneath with black and purple diagonal lines, a black and brass-studded choker, and a fabulous knee-length deep pink jacket/coat with a deep horizontal ridged texture. Oh, and old Doc Martins. (The blouse is seen again as part of other outfits in the series).

James Potter's wand has spider webs etched into it. No, I don't get it either.

Hogwarts Details

Harry's acceptance letter includes Dumbledore's qualifications at the bottom. These are Albus Dumbledore D.Wiz., X.J.(sorc), S. of Mag. Q. I presume D.Wiz is a Doctorate in Wizardly, and if the Muggle convention of descending qualification is used, then X.J.(sorc) would be Masters/Licentiate level, and S. of Mag.Q. would be Bachelors/Baccalaureate.

Ron's bed has a lovingly handmade patchwork blanket of coloured knitted squares, presumably by Molly.

Ron's bedside table is covered with Chudley Cannons paraphernalia and a Honeyduke's sack. He also has a Chudley Cannons shirt that appears to be autographed by the whole team.

Ron has a Cliff's Notes style booklet - a fold-out revision aid called Cram It! How To Soar On Your O.W.L.S., with sections for each subject. It notes on the cover that the possible grades are Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, Dreadful, and Troll.

Lockhart's books include Year with the Yeti, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Magical Me, Break with a Banshee (in both a one book and a two book box set), and the box set of three, Wanderings (book 1), Holidays (book 2), and Voyages (book 3). The box set of three had parts of his name written up top of the spine so that when viewed side by side, they made up his full name.

The Jack In The Box boggart is just amazing in its detail - pastel rose-pink and blue nursery colour scheme, tassels, Elizabethan ruff, and layered lace cuffs.

The gramophone record Lupin played during the boggart sequence is called Wizard Waltz, produced by Spell-O-Fonix.

Lupin's textbook was The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble.

Each of Professor Sprout's mandrakes gives a different cry.

Trelawny's textbook is Unfogging The Future by Cassandra Vanlaisky.

An honour board lists the following Slytherin Quidditch captains, in order. Note that there is only a new captain every four years, suggesting that perhaps a third year was elected every four years, and stayed until they left school. They are: 1940: Winky Crockett, 1944: Neil Lament, 1948: Andrew Snowy Owl, 1952: Jo King, 1956: Rufus Winickus, 1960: Jody Jacknife, 1964: Stuart Craggy, 1968: Steve Laughalot, 1972: Emma Vanity, 1976: Jacinda Talkalot. If Winky, like the elf, is a girl, then girls and boys are equally represented. Winky would have been the Slytherin house captain during Tom Riddle's later years and during the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets.

Umbridge's desk appears to be rosewood and even the spine of her quill is pink. The nib is a lovely detailed silver piece.

There was amazing detail on the chess pieces from Philosopher's Stone but the flying key looked very amateurish.

Educational Decree number 24 from Umbridge's era requires owls to be tagged in order to comply with owl post, and number 47 requires students to consent to their post being inspected for illegal contraband.

The Goblet of Fire casket has heaps of tiny characters and runes. Some look Chinese.

There are several fascinating portraits based on Tudor portraits. These include:

The iconic portrait of Anne Boleyn, playing on her conviction for witchcraft. It states "Anno 1507" (1507 is one of her disputed birth years) and "Aetatis XX" (aged twenty), suggesting it was painted in 1527. However, it could also mean it was painted in the year 1507 when the subject was twenty. I couldn't get close enough to be sure, but the iconic B necklace appears instead to be a H. It is not clear what the H would stand for.
There is a portrait that appears to be based on the so-called sieve portrait of Anne Boleyn's daughter Elizabeth I (where she holds a sieve to represent her perpetual virginity). However, she wears a witch's hat and holds a chain with a tiny skull. The Hogwarts crest is visible in the corner and there is potion-making paraphernalia behind her. It may be extrapolated that her extraordinary success and longevity as a monarch was due to charms and/or potions. It is marked Aetatis XXXV (age 35), which is about the age she is shown in the sieve portrait.
There is a painting of an Elizabethan wizard child with an owl and a wand. It is clearly based on a 1574 portrait of James VI of Scotland, who later also became Elizabeth's successor, James I of England. James was a fascinatingly conflicted man, who on one hand apparently had many male lovers but on the other hand was at least initially besotted with his wife. He also became fixated on witchcraft, wrote treatises about it, and personally presided over the torture of accused witches. Arguably, in the Harry Potter world, he might have been acting out his own conflicts. However, there is a logic flaw here, as well - while Elizabeth presumably inherited her magic from her mother, James was related to her by her father.
There is another portrait that might be based on the so-called rainbow portrait of Elizabeth I, but could also be Queen Anne. Or it might just be an elegant Stuart-Hanover lady (the defining feature is the hat with the feather, which didn't come in until quite late in Elizabeth's reign). It's not quite as clearly derivative as the others. However, if it is Queen Anne, there is still a link back to her magical predecessors: Anne succeeded in something James had always wanted to do, which was to officially consolidate the English and Scottish crowns into a single United Kingdom. In most other respects Anne was spectacularly unlucky - she had seventeen children, more than half of them stillborn, and only one who survived infancy.

Fun and Games

For the Quidditch World Cup, there were binoculars with trims in Bulgaria and Ireland's colours. These appear to be what we would consider official merchandise, with a "manufactured" finish and versions for each team. There was also a clumsily hand-painted pair of binoculars (different style) in Bulgaria's colours, probably belonging to a fan who was too young and/or poor to buy the official version.

According to a cover of Seeker Weekly, the eligible countries for the World Cup were Australia, Peru, Argentina, France, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Japan, Uganda, Portugal, India, Bulgaria, USA, Luxembourg, and England.

Here's a behind the scenes titbit: The Nimbuses were apparently made with carved/moulded particle board making up the bulk of the broom, with long thin round pieces of wood glued around it, for the very sleek brooms we saw during the Quidditch matches. (The black equivalents on the Slytherin Nimbuses seem to have used glossy plastic in place of the wood).

There is an amazingly detailed board game called Snitch-Snatcher. It has cardboard stands and tiny characters to sit in them, a board representing the Quidditch pitch, players on little sticks like fondue sticks, large coloured dice, and gold tokens.

Bad Guys and their Bad Bad Details

The Angel of Death statue used to restrain Harry in Little Hangleton is an extraordinary piece, lovely in a weird and macabre sort of way, but bizarre for any cemetery and certainly for what is presumably a Muggle one. The Angel is a skeleton with a scythe, who guards what appears to be an above-ground vault (presumably the Riddle vault). The vault is not unlike Dumbledore's one in Deathly Hallows.

Bella's dagger has a green painted handle, which I don't recall from the film.

The bone death eater masks from Little Hangleton have gold on them. The one I could get close to has a layer of gold on the brow and the nose, with stamped on runes.

Both Alecto's and Amycus' wanted posters - seemingly from the First War - identify them as "suspected" Death Eaters, with a 1000 galleon reward for "information leading to their arrest." I presume they're from the First War because of the "suspected" status.

Fenrir Greyback is labelled a "savage werewolf, convicted murderer, suspected Death Eater." It's interesting to note that his werewolf status comes before convicted murderer. It seems to allude to the stigma suffered by werewolves. Again, there is a 1000 galleon reward.

Bella's poster names her as a "known Death Eater, convicted murderer, fugitive from Azkaban." This must therefore be a Second War poster. Again, 1000 galleon reward. However, it raises the question of who she was convicted of murdering - I'm sure she killed before her imprisonment, but I thought she was convicted over the Longbottoms.

Harry's Undesirable Number 1 poster, from the period when Voldemort controlled the ministry, has "10,000 galleons on his head," a far greater sum and far less discreet language than that used in relation to the Carrows, Greyback, and Bellatrix.

There is a First War poster of "Simple Security Guidelines." To paraphrase, these are (1) don't leave the house alone, (2) don't travel at night, (3) review security and ensure all members of the household know protective charms (as well as Side-A-Long apparition in the case of underage family in the home), (4) have security questions pre-arranged in case of attempted impersonation by Polyjuice position, (5) contact the Ministry if a friend, neighbour, or family member behaves strangely as they may be Imperiused, (6) do not enter a house with the Dark Mark above it, and (7) advise the Ministry of any sightings of Inferi.

First War signage refers more than once to "an organisation calling itself the Death Eaters." This seems to be the usual catchphrase.

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page, such as the current discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 :Hello, there!
 :That'd be awesome! No regular contributer at the wiki has gone to the ''Harry Potter'' exhibitions (that we know of) and, as such, we've been relying on pictures found online, or website reviews. If you want to give us your notes, you could make a transcription, or [[Special:Upload|upload]] scans: we'd be greatly appreciated. Again, thank you! -- <small><span style="border:2px solid #333333;">[[User:Seth Cooper|<font style="color:#333333;">&nbsp;'''Seth Cooper'''&nbsp;</font>]][[User talk:Seth Cooper|<font style="background:#333333;color:white;">&nbsp;'''owl&nbsp;post!'''</font>]]</span></small> 11:40, March 31, 2012 (UTC)
+::Excellent! I'm pasting my notes below. Some will not necessarily add anything but I figured it was better to include too much than too little. Enjoy!! [[User:Deslea|Deslea]] 19:04, March 31, 2012 (UTC)
+:::I've put the transcription of your notes in the archive below for better reference in articles. We'll incorporate some of your tidbits into our articles. Again, much obliged! -- <small><span style="border:2px solid #333333;">[[User:Seth Cooper|<font style="color:#333333;">&nbsp;'''Seth Cooper'''&nbsp;</font>]][[User talk:Seth Cooper|<font style="background:#333333;color:white;">&nbsp;'''owl&nbsp;post!'''</font>]]</span></small> 20:39, March 31, 2012 (UTC)
+==Notes transcription==
+{{archive
+|result=
+|sig=
+|discussion=
+''So I was in Sydney for a medical appointment, and I had a couple of hours up my sleeve, so I made a return trip — this time with my iPhone in hand, taking down every. damn. detail. The Brits kept a close eye on me, and whispered to one another, but consensus seemed to be that I wasn't breaking any rules, just a little odd. So, two hours of dot points later, I emerged with the following observations.''
+:'''Portraits'''
+:*Moving portraits were achieved with monitors in frames, with the surface of the screens distressed with some sort of textured clear paint.</span>
+:*There was a [http://images.wikia.com/harrypotter/images/8/87/NewtScamander2.jpg portrait] of young Newt Scamander, ancestor to Rolf Scamander, who would eventually marry Luna Lovegood. (This is the same portrait already showing on the Newt Scamander page).
+:*There was an intriguing, gorgeous moving portrait of a couple, the man pushing the woman on a swing, at night in a graveyard. I ''so'' want to know, or write, a backstory for that.
+:*There is a portrait of a rather smart-looking, relatively young wizard (maybe in his 30s?) in period dress (Victorian era?) labelled Tobias Misslethorpe, Founder, Witch Weekly.
+:*See ''Hogwarts'' for information about Hogwarts' portraits of real people who have been appropriated into the HP world.
+:'''Magazines'''
+:*''The Quibbler'' has amazingly good quality paper with silver embossing. It seems a bit at odds with the home-printing-press setup of the Lovegoods. Perhaps they are quietly very well off?
+:*There is a Quidditch magazine called ''Seeker Weekly'' - see Fun and Games below.
+:'''Clothes, and What They Say About Their Wearers'''
+:*Ginny's uniform, including the skirt, is surprisingly worn, given that she is the only girl in the family and therefore could not have hand-me-downs from her brothers. Also, one of the twins' uniforms is fatter than the other (and than the twins, or any of the Weasleys themselves). This suggests that the Weasleys had additional sources of hand-me-down uniforms outside the family. This could be from friends or extended family, or perhaps Hogwarts has a uniform pool.
+:*Although Hermione's Muggle clothes - casual and formal - are good quality, her uniform is not, with surprisingly faded red cotton lining. This suggests that perhaps her parents' good income in the Muggle world does not convert to equivalent wealth in Galleons.
+:*Hermione's casual clothes seem to regularly include a belts, suggesting this is one of her stylistic preferences (or possibly Emma Watson's, depending on whether she had any input).
+:*Harry's casual Muggle clothes from about third or fourth year on are very good quality, compared with his Dudley hand-me-downs from earlier years. This suggests he has begun to convert his Galleons from his parents' vault into Muggle pounds and is now buying his own clothes.
+:*A great deal of attention has been paid to Ron's hand-me-downs, with faded red cotton lining and roughened edges.
+:*Parvati's robes and shoes are better quality even than Draco's, with heavy red satin-like lining, suggesting that she comes from a wealthy family.
+:*Slughorn wears a dated but smart three-piece suit with a light robe.
+:*Snape's work clothes are clearly tailor-made for him, well-made and cared for. They seem consciously made in a classic style that is not quite like anything worn by anyone else, and not likely to date either. One imagines that he had maybe two or three of them made when he started as a teacher and has used them ever since. (He would, of course, be teaching seniors who were First Years when he himself was a senior, so his image would have been particularly important when starting out). The colour is a deep purple, not the blue-black they always seemed to me on screen. The outfit consists of trousers, a knee-length tunic buttoned right the way down with a horizontal seam at the waist, and a light cloak that appears to be stitched in place on the shoulders. Naturally, Severus - especially when starting out - would not want even the slightest sign of awkwardness. The whole thing seems very engineered to serve its purpose.
+:*Lockhart's clothes, not surprisingly, are way over the top, with a trouser, waistcoat, long coat, robe, and cravat. There is an oddity at work here - his shirt is one type of fabric but his sleeves, coming out of his coat, are another, suggesting either a custom-made shirt in two fabrics, or perhaps a dress shirt and an undershirt. (In certain pictures - not the exhibition - Lucius also seems to have this two-fabric mix, suggesting this might be a style for wizards of a certain age and means).
+:*Lupin just wears a light robe over the top of a basic, well-worn two-piece suit in a textured tweedy fabric. One imagines that it's the only suit the virtually-unemployable Remus owns.
+:*Fudge's suit is a bit different to everyone else's. Everyone else seems to use a cloak in a very light fabric that complements the suit beneath. Fudge, however, wears a cloak in pinstripe suiting fabric, along with matching trousers and long-line jacket. His waistcoat is a different complementing fabric to the suit, again unlike others, and unlike others of his socio-economic demographic, he wears a tie. (By comparison, Slughorn wears a bow tie, and Lockhart wears a cravat. Meanwhile, lower-income characters Lupin and Arthur Weasley wear regular ties). His shoes are really good quality.
+:*Hooch's robes are extremely smart, suggesting that she comes from wealth. Her robes and suit have velvet hand-stitched appliquéd detailing, and her broom twigs are tinted purple to match.
+:*Buckbeak's would-be executioner wears very tattered clothes and shows signs of scavenging food (eg little bones sticking out of his bag), suggesting that, as in many places in the Muggle world, being an executioner makes one a social outcast. His axe has leather ties around it and runes stamped into the steel. There is no sign of a wand, so perhaps he is a Squib.
+:*Xenophilius Lovegood's clothes suggest hidden wealth. His shoes from Bill and Fleur's wedding are very fine hand-made, hand-stitched, dyed leather, and his outfit has hand-embroidered velvet detailing.
+:*In line with his socio-economic standing, Hagrid's clothes are very patched and appear handmade (makes sense - he wouldn't be able to buy any in his size). The ones we saw were the larger ones worn by the stand-in, not the normal-sized ones worn by Robbie Coltrane, and the buttons appeared to be sawn-off slices from a tree branch.
+:*Quirrell's clothes suggest modest wealth, which fits with his ability to travel. He wears a lined cloak, unlike the light cloaks worn by most, with a contrasting undercoat with a silver clasp, and a waistcoat.
+:*Draco's robe is good quality, with two embroidered two-button fasteners (ie, a fastener with a real button on one side and a matching button-for-show on the other), but not as exceptionally good quality as Parvati's. The lining is reasonable but not lavish.
+:*Tom Riddle's uniform is a shirt and tie, a gray knit school sweater/jumper with two green (Slytherin) stripes at the neck, a two-piece gray suit, and a cloak. The gray suit seems quite coordinated and was presumably an integral part of the uniform in the 1940s.
+:*Despite appearing dark and heavy in the films (at least to me!), Voldemort's cloak is actually a very light green fabric, quite gauzy and delicate.
+:*Costumes were shown for Dumbledore both during the Richard Harris era and the Michael Gabon era. There were interesting differences. Both were lavishly detailed, but while RH's Dumbledore wore heavy fabrics and textures (kind of like curtains and carpets), MG's Dumbledore wore much lighter and more delicate ones.
+:*Contrary to fanon, Lucius' Chamber of Secrets outfit features absolutely no green. Instead, it is in black and a deep red. It consists of pinstripe trousers (red pinstripe), an undershirt with the topaz snake brooch which is available as a replica from the Noble Collection, a dress shirt which is rather Oriental in cut and style (red detailing), and a stole which is deep red or purple with snake clasps. He also wears a wand harness. This consists of a kind of belt that sits at the hips, with an o-ring connector. From the o-ring, on one side an additional strip comes off on an angle, then back up again to the side to make a triangle. From the bottom point of the triangle, a little long pocket descends, just the right size and shape for a wand.
+:*Bellatrix also has a wand harness, but hers hangs off in a triangle from her corset rather than an o-ring and belt.
+:*In addition to everyday robes, I saw what appeared to be Death Eater dress robes (two of them). The most noteworthy part was a deep purple or black cape like an old-fashioned nurse's cape, but coming to stop about the elbows. It was of very good quality and distinctive fabric. There was also a dark fur stole.
+:*Cedric Diggory's school robes were a bit worn, suggesting he may not have come from a particularly well-off family. However, his dress robes for the Yule Ball were extremely smart. It isn't clear whether his family scratched together the money or he had a benefactor or sponsor during the Triwizard Tournament.
+:*Like Cedric, Harry's dress robes are very good quality, and identical in style, with diagonal/bias panels on the sleeves and collar. Another interesting point is that most of the Yule Ball outfits - Harry, Cedric, Cho, and Hermione, as well as McGonagall - have strong diagonal lines. Ron's does not, thus highlighting the difference of his awful, dated, hand-me-down dress robes.
+:*McGonagall's clothes for the Yule Ball consist of a blouse (or possibly an underdress, I suppose), and an all in one robe in two green textured fabrics, joined by two gold buttons.
+:*The Invisible Cloak is made of an interesting fine, lightweight velour fabric in a distressed pattern of orange deepening into brown, with equally light black lining.
+:*Sirius wears quite fine clothing that has obviously been tailor-made for him, with an interesting double-collar velvet coat, but it's a bit the worse for wear. It raises the question of where it came from. It could be his from back when he lived at Grimmauld Place - but then it shouldn't be worn. It could be his from his days living with the Potters, with whatever clothes he managed to take with him when he left - but then, how would he have gotten it?
+:*One of Tonks' outfits from OOTP was shown. It's quite an amazing set: A short black dress with a weird trim that kind of separates into a jacket but is integrated to about the bustline, random brass studs all over the jacket section and at the neck, a transparent blouse underneath with black and purple diagonal lines, a black and brass-studded choker, and a fabulous knee-length deep pink jacket/coat with a deep horizontal ridged texture. Oh, and old Doc Martins. (The blouse is seen again as part of other outfits in the series).
+:*James Potter's wand has spider webs etched into it. No, I don't get it either.
+:'''Hogwarts Details'''
+:*Harry's acceptance letter includes Dumbledore's qualifications at the bottom. These are Albus Dumbledore D.Wiz., X.J.(sorc), S. of Mag. Q. I presume D.Wiz is a Doctorate in Wizardly, and if the Muggle convention of descending qualification is used, then X.J.(sorc) would be Masters/Licentiate level, and S. of Mag.Q. would be Bachelors/Baccalaureate.
+:*Ron's bed has a lovingly handmade patchwork blanket of coloured knitted squares, presumably by Molly.
+:*Ron's bedside table is covered with Chudley Cannons paraphernalia and a Honeyduke's sack. He also has a Chudley Cannons shirt that appears to be autographed by the whole team.
+:*Ron has a Cliff's Notes style booklet - a fold-out revision aid called ''Cram It! How To Soar On Your O.W.L.S.'', with sections for each subject. It notes on the cover that the possible grades are Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, Dreadful, and Troll.
+:*Lockhart's books include ''Year with the Yeti'', ''Travels with Trolls'', ''Voyages with Vampires'', ''Magical Me'', ''Break with a Banshee'' (in both a one book and a two book box set), and the box set of three, ''Wanderings'' (book 1), ''Holidays'' (book 2), and ''Voyages'' (book 3). The box set of three had parts of his name written up top of the spine so that when viewed side by side, they made up his full name.
+:*The Jack In The Box boggart is just amazing in its detail - pastel rose-pink and blue nursery colour scheme, tassels, Elizabethan ruff, and layered lace cuffs.
+:*The gramophone record Lupin played during the boggart sequence is called Wizard Waltz, produced by Spell-O-Fonix.
+:*Lupin's textbook was ''The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection'' by Quentin Trimble.
+:*Each of Professor Sprout's mandrakes gives a different cry.
+:*Trelawny's textbook is ''Unfogging The Future'' by Cassandra Vanlaisky.
+:*An honour board lists the following Slytherin Quidditch captains, in order. Note that there is only a new captain every four years, suggesting that perhaps a third year was elected every four years, and stayed until they left school. They are: 1940: Winky Crockett, 1944: Neil Lament, 1948: Andrew Snowy Owl, 1952: Jo King, 1956: Rufus Winickus, 1960: Jody Jacknife, 1964: Stuart Craggy, 1968: Steve Laughalot, 1972: Emma Vanity, 1976: Jacinda Talkalot. If Winky, like the elf, is a girl, then girls and boys are equally represented. Winky would have been the Slytherin house captain during Tom Riddle's later years and during the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets.
+:*Umbridge's desk appears to be rosewood and even the spine of her quill is pink. The nib is a lovely detailed silver piece.
+:*There was amazing detail on the chess pieces from Philosopher's Stone but the flying key looked very amateurish.
+:*Educational Decree number 24 from Umbridge's era requires owls to be tagged in order to comply with owl post, and number 47 requires students to consent to their post being inspected for illegal contraband.
+:*The Goblet of Fire casket has heaps of tiny characters and runes. Some look Chinese.
+:*There are several fascinating portraits based on Tudor portraits. These include:
+::*The iconic portrait of Anne Boleyn, playing on her conviction for witchcraft. It states "Anno 1507" (1507 is one of her disputed birth years) and "Aetatis XX" (aged twenty), suggesting it was painted in 1527. However, it could also mean it was painted in the year 1507 when the subject was twenty. I couldn't get close enough to be sure, but the iconic B necklace appears instead to be a H. It is not clear what the H would stand for.
+::*There is a portrait that appears to be based on the so-called sieve portrait of Anne Boleyn's daughter Elizabeth I (where she holds a sieve to represent her perpetual virginity). However, she wears a witch's hat and holds a chain with a tiny skull. The Hogwarts crest is visible in the corner and there is potion-making paraphernalia behind her. It may be extrapolated that her extraordinary success and longevity as a monarch was due to charms and/or potions. It is marked Aetatis XXXV (age 35), which is about the age she is shown in the sieve portrait.
+::*There is a painting of an Elizabethan wizard child with an owl and a wand. It is clearly based on a 1574 portrait of James VI of Scotland, who later also became Elizabeth's successor, James I of England. James was a fascinatingly conflicted man, who on one hand apparently had many male lovers but on the other hand was at least initially besotted with his wife. He also became fixated on witchcraft, wrote treatises about it, and personally presided over the torture of accused witches. Arguably, in the Harry Potter world, he might have been acting out his own conflicts. However, there is a logic flaw here, as well - while Elizabeth presumably inherited her magic from her mother, James was related to her by her father.
+::*There is another portrait that ''might'' be based on the so-called rainbow portrait of Elizabeth I, but could also be Queen Anne. Or it might just be an elegant Stuart-Hanover lady (the defining feature is the hat with the feather, which didn't come in until quite late in Elizabeth's reign). It's not quite as clearly derivative as the others. However, if it is Queen Anne, there is still a link back to her magical predecessors: Anne succeeded in something James had always wanted to do, which was to officially consolidate the English and Scottish crowns into a single United Kingdom. In most other respects Anne was spectacularly unlucky - she had seventeen children, more than half of them stillborn, and only one who survived infancy.
+:'''Fun and Games'''
+:*For the Quidditch World Cup, there were binoculars with trims in Bulgaria and Ireland's colours. These appear to be what we would consider official merchandise, with a "manufactured" finish and versions for each team. There was also a clumsily hand-painted pair of binoculars (different style) in Bulgaria's colours, probably belonging to a fan who was too young and/or poor to buy the official version.
+:*According to a cover of ''Seeker Weekly'', the eligible countries for the World Cup were Australia, Peru, Argentina, France, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Japan, Uganda, Portugal, India, Bulgaria, USA, Luxembourg, and England.
+:*Here's a behind the scenes titbit: The Nimbuses were apparently made with carved/moulded particle board making up the bulk of the broom, with long thin round pieces of wood glued around it, for the very sleek brooms we saw during the Quidditch matches. (The black equivalents on the Slytherin Nimbuses seem to have used glossy plastic in place of the wood).
+:*There is an amazingly detailed board game called Snitch-Snatcher. It has cardboard stands and tiny characters to sit in them, a board representing the Quidditch pitch, players on little sticks like fondue sticks, large coloured dice, and gold tokens.
+:'''Bad Guys and their Bad Bad Details'''
+:*The Angel of Death statue used to restrain Harry in Little Hangleton is an extraordinary piece, lovely in a weird and macabre sort of way, but bizarre for any cemetery and certainly for what is presumably a Muggle one. The Angel is a skeleton with a scythe, who guards what appears to be an above-ground vault (presumably the Riddle vault). The vault is not unlike Dumbledore's one in ''Deathly Hallows''.
+:*Bella's dagger has a green painted handle, which I don't recall from the film.
+:*The bone death eater masks from Little Hangleton have gold on them. The one I could get close to has a layer of gold on the brow and the nose, with stamped on runes.
+:*Both Alecto's and Amycus' wanted posters - seemingly from the First War - identify them as "suspected" Death Eaters, with a 1000 galleon reward for "information leading to their arrest." I presume they're from the First War because of the "suspected" status.
+:*Fenrir Greyback is labelled a "savage werewolf, convicted murderer, suspected Death Eater." It's interesting to note that his werewolf status comes before convicted murderer. It seems to allude to the stigma suffered by werewolves. Again, there is a 1000 galleon reward.
+:*Bella's poster names her as a "known Death Eater, convicted murderer, fugitive from Azkaban." This must therefore be a Second War poster. Again, 1000 galleon reward. However, it raises the question of who she was convicted of murdering - I'm sure she killed before her imprisonment, but I thought she was convicted over the Longbottoms.
+:*Harry's Undesirable Number 1 poster, from the period when Voldemort controlled the ministry, has "10,000 galleons on his head," a far greater sum and far less discreet language than that used in relation to the Carrows, Greyback, and Bellatrix.
+:*There is a First War poster of "Simple Security Guidelines." To paraphrase, these are (1) don't leave the house alone, (2) don't travel at night, (3) review security and ensure all members of the household know protective charms (as well as Side-A-Long apparition in the case of underage family in the home), (4) have security questions pre-arranged in case of attempted impersonation by Polyjuice position, (5) contact the Ministry if a friend, neighbour, or family member behaves strangely as they may be Imperiused, (6) do not enter a house with the Dark Mark above it, and (7) advise the Ministry of any sightings of Inferi.
+:*First War signage refers more than once to "an organisation calling itself the Death Eaters." This seems to be the usual catchphrase.
+}}