I realised there’s a few things I’ve missed out, so I’m gonna do it in a few blogs.
I haven’t written about the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Half Term, or done my usual waffley weekly blog.
So, firstly…
On Wednesday 30th May, me, my sister, her friend Alice and my friend/future sister in law, Hannah, went to London and did the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, the Making of Harry Potter thingy.
It sounds so cliché, but it was magical.
It was such a good day for a few reasons, firstly, I hadn’t seen Hannah for a couple of months so seeing her was probably the best thing, we had a nice catch up and just had fun being together and playing I spy/taking stupid pictures on the coach, and as we usually do when we see each other, eat an unhealthy/unnecessary amount of food.

The journey there was pretty lengthy, and we were both absolutely knackered by the time we’d arrived in London as we were all up at like 6.
Our day started by me and my sister getting a bus to town, then a coach to London, then we had to walk to Victoria train station, then we had to get the underground to Euston, then walk around and get lost some more, then get the overground to Watford, then the shuttle bus to the studios.
But we arrived, our tour was at 2:40 and it was amazing.
Everything you expected to be there was, everything was so beautiful. It’s something that is only worth doing if you are someone that, of course - loves everything to do with Harry Potter, or someone that would appreciate all the effort put in to make everything as beautiful as it was. So much time and effort was put in to making everything and I literally had goosebumps nearly the whole time.
I really have so much respect for the cast and crew, and how passionate they were about everything to do with it. Like, every single potions bottle had a hand written label, and there were over 500 potions bottles. Every book that the inside was shown on the films was hand written. Every Daily Prophet that appeared was hand written, as were all the letters that people received. Every Death Eater mask was made with such detail that to look at they looked similar, but unless you really looked at them each detail is unique. Every wand was designed to fit each character, and the character that J.K. Rowling had written was kept in mind, and each wand was beautiful.
There were 2 things that were my favourite and that completely blew me away. One being a fairly small cabinet that had the Golden Snitch, the Philosopher’s Stone, the Time-Turner, the Rememberall, Reeta Skeeta’s Notebook and Quill, Slughorn’s Hour Glass, and Sirius Black’s Azkaban Prison Number.
I stared at the snitch for at least 20 minutes before Alice came over and found me because we’d all lost each other. But it was so beautifully made and I don’t know what it was but seeing all those things was amazing, I loved that cabinet.
The second thing was a massive model of Hogwarts. It was the model that was built and was used for some shots of the outside of the castle in the last film. I didn’t expect it to be there at all, and I cried. I was looking at models and artwork that were before it, because I love art that was also a really good bit for me, so I took my time, the other 3 had gone on ahead. Hannah came back down a few minute later and said ‘Sarah, I think you should come in here’. I didn’t think anything of it, I expected a Dragon or something because I’d told her to get me if there was anything like that, I walked through the doorway and there it was, Hogwarts. Part of me was really upset, because I’m never going to be able to go to Hogwarts, and when I read a book I’m there, but it upset me that it’s just not real, but the other part of me was so happy, and it was one of the best feelings ever, I still now can’t remember the last time I’d truly felt that rush of happiness.
After this, there was just one more room, filled with wands,hundreds and hundreds of boxes of wands, with characters names, actors names, all again with handwritten labels, and that was it… It was over. We had a quick run around the gift shop, (where I went from nearly spending £56 to spending 90p because I couldn’t deal with having no money til August) and then we had to catch the shuttle bus back, then the over ground then the underground then the coach then a lift from Dan. Me and Hannah worked out we travelled around 9 and a half hours that day…
But it was worth it.
It was a brilliant day.
That Wednesday was the Wednesday before half term, I didn’t really need to go in to school at all that week because I’d finished by exams, but I did anyway, because I had nothing better to do to occupy my mind.
On the Friday, it was Char’s birthday. So on the Saturday a few of us went round. This explains the title of this blog. Me and Char drank maybe a little too much, and I have a video of us singing ‘Somebody I Used To Know’ by Gotye, very loudly and very badly, but it was such a good night, it was nice to properly spend time with her like that because I hadn’t for a while, I think she really enjoyed herself too, meaning she had a good birthday which was what she deserved, it was so nice to see her making the most of it and really enjoying herself. She really deserves to be happy.
On the Sunday - with a large headache, I went to the croft to see Johari, this time they were a 3 piece, because Trash had to work, they were really disappointed with their set, but I still think they played well, they tried so hard and should be proud of all their effort.
I had a really good day/ night on the Monday, in the day I went out with Char and George and got the pictures of Dawn’s wedding printed off, I found it quite hard because I couldn’t believe that it was only 2 weeks before that it had happened… But I’m glad I got them printed, in the evening my mum’s friend Sean came round, and we had a really good laugh, I realised that day that 80% of the time, after having a conversation with me, people walk away confused… I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing…
Tuesday was a busy day and expensive day… First thing, I went to the mall and changed a dress that was to small because usually I forget, but I really like this dress although I was really annoyed with myself because I don’t need new clothes. I then went home and got ready to go out and see my friend Leigh play at the Fleece. I knew Leigh was talented, but I never realised how amazing he actually is, I was really proud of him after and couldn’t believe I’d never realised before how good he was. After this I went to my Gran’s - as usual on a Tuesday, and as usual had a really nice time. In the evening I went from my Gran’s to the Croft to see Johari. I had a really nice night, it was nice spending it with Trash and Turner because they’re always nice to be with anyway, but there were a few things bringing me down and I hadn’t realised it. That gig was definitely one of their best gigs, it was so fun, and they played really well.
Wednesday was another long day, after getting home Tuesday night, staying up talking to my mum for hours and also being very excited because she agreed to buy me a Blink 182 ticket for my birthday, I was up at 8 because I had my niece staying as a part of her birthday present. She arrived at 9, and then we had a chat for a little bit planned what we were going to do, and then packed out stuff and I took her swimming, after that we went home, had lunch and unfortunately had to go buy some flowers for Dawn’s funeral. After this we went home and she was feeling quite ill so she just crashed out and watched telly for a bit. We planned then to go to the cinema and watch Top Cat. Top Cat was before Shelbie’s time - which makes be feel really old. So I enjoyed it a bit more than I should. After this we went home and started playing Monopoly, we had a break for dinner and carried on playing the same game for about another 4 hours… I don’t know how she managed to make it last that long. Around 10:15pm, I remembered Shelbie is only 9 and her bedtime is nearly 3 hours earlier than that, so we got ready for bed and got into bed, I had another really nice talk with her and then slept like a baby… I was knackered.
Thursday morning, I was awake at 6, because children wake up stupidly early - which I forgot… We were downstairs by half 6, and by 7 I was dozing off again. We didn’t really do anything in the morning and Shelbie went home at around 12. For the rest of the day I read Harry Potter and had an unintentional 3 hour nap.
Friday was Dawn’s funeral, it was the weirdest funeral ever, and I felt horrible. after I went home, I went to the orthodontist, then met Char and Hannah at the Old School Rooms, and they bought me lunch. They really cheered me up that day, they took my mind off of everything for while and made me realise that not everything is bad.
On Saturday, it was the Rugby Dinner, so I got to see Pip, I hadn’t seen Pip for weeks, so it was nice seeing her, and I never really talk to Hannah, so it was nice spending time with her. We were served alot of food, and had a really good night, it was really funny, I hadn’t laughed so much in a while and everything felt like it was finally starting to look up.
Sunday, I didn’t do anything, I don’t think… I just spent the day dreading going back to school, I didn’t know why, but I just really didn’t want to go.
I had a really good half term, it was nice to be so busy, and catch up with so many people, I realised that week that those were all some of the reasons I just have to carry on, I’ve managed to get back in to reading and actually enjoying it, playing Guitar and not seeing it as effort and sleeping properly, so I’d started to feel so much better, and I have so many people to thank for getting me back to normality.



