Remember, remember the fourth of November: wizardry, witchcraft and wands!
On a misty November morning, 34 excited muggles set out to explore the magic of Harry Potter at the Warner Brothers Studios in Watford. The trip was to explore links between the bewildering world of Hogwarts and the unexpected adventures of a Hobbit named Bilbo, which Year 7 boys have been studying as part of their adventure writing topic in English this term.
A lesson in the world of Harry Potter started our day as we learned about the work behind the scenes to build character, plots and film pitches that would hook an audience, develop plot points and resolve a crisis all within the timeframe of one film. Hagrid’s ginormous, gargantuatuan, voluminous trousers (triple adjective description – important technique Miss!) trousers, were held up and discussed, followed by Hagrid’s prosthetic head that appeared to float and hover above the sea of fascinated students (imagery Sir!). Several other props were explored and analysed as pupils swiftly built their plots and characters to pitch to the film creators.
After the details of how best to develop a character had been delivered and understood, we went off to investigate the studio tour and gather material for descriptive writing. Hagrid’s house proved to be great to analyse – high small windows to see out but not in; cages for injured creatures hanging from the ceiling (small secretive houses where he hid baby fantastic creatures?); a trap door (what secrets lurked beneath his house?). We posed and answered questions to gain a deeper insight into Hagrid’s world and character, and started to think about developing characters and settings for our stories.
Descriptive language, imagery and plot twists were found amongst forbidden forests, regal Buckbeak, Dumbledore’s study, enormous fearsome creatures, and the glamour of the Ministry of Magic. Broomsticks and flying cars began to mix and meld, boil and bubble in the cauldrons of our minds (metaphor Miss?). None of us was prepared for the majestic and devastating new set of Gringotts Bank: whilst firstly over awed by its majesty and opulence we were quickly terrified as the Ukranian Ironbelly swooped in to destroy those who did not heed J K Rowling’s warning:
‘Enter stranger but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.’
Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone
Armed with the age old warning that greed is the root of all evil, our adventure drew to a close, but not before we were reminded that:
The stories that we love best
Do live in us forever,
So whether you come back by
Page or the big screen,
Hogwarts will always be there
To welcome you home.
Imagining, writing and spelling proved to be quite magical!
Composed (mostly) by A Kami Hawkings, E Jones, J Hyde, S Crehan Mills and the rest of Year 7.
