LONDON -
It came to life on the big screen but the world of Harry Potter is even more magical in England.
"People just love Harry Potter, the adventure, the story, everything about it," said Graham Woodhouse who leads Harry Potter tours in London for Black Cab Heritage Tours.
"We do probably half a dozen tours a week spread out by all our guides. It is very, very popular. I've had French, American, German, Australian, Italian, Japanese all book the Harry Potter tours," said Woodhouse.
For $250, guests climb into the back of Woodhouse's cab for a trip around London. Several times along the journey, Woodhouse stops the cab and brings out a small DVD player to show the clip of the movies.
"They tend to think it's all computer graphic and it's been done on sets. But, when they can come physically stand on the spot Hagrid and Harry walked or where Hermione or Ron have acted, they find it so amazing that it actually exists. These are places were they can go and visit," said Woodhouse.
It is like walking in the footsteps of the boy wizard. Many of the movie scenes were filmed in the Olympic host city. Filmmakers of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" used the Lambeth Bridge for the popular scene when the Knight Bus squeezed between two other buses.
"(Harry) gets picked up by the triple decker night bus which is a bus for witches and wizards - a ghost bus - and in the scene you actually see the bus come along the embankment here, turn left onto the bridge, and in the film, the bridge is a one way street, with the vehicles coming the opposite way," said Woodhouse. "All of a sudden, two London double decker buses are coming the other way toward them. The driver pulls down on a lever, and the bus squeezes tight and goes through the other buses," said Woodhouse.
On our tour, we stopped along the river Thames where Woodhouse described a scene from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
"The scene is (Harry) flying over the river on his broomstick with the rest of the brotherhood. You'll see them come along the river, under the bridges, past the Palace of Westminster. It's a night scene. Nearly collide with one of the ferry boats on the river and they are flying past the Palace of Westminster," said Woodhouse.
Our tour also included a stop at the Millennium Bridge in London used for a scene from "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince."
"This bridge in the film was completely destroyed by the death eaters. They spiraled around it. It starts to oscillate and explode. And you see it quite graphically in the film. But you can see the bridge is still there and that was more Hollywood magic," said Woodhouse.
The area outside the Chez Michele florist shop near Leadenhall Market which was used for the Leaky Cauldron scene.
One of the most interesting film locations was used in the Ministry of Magic scene.
"Harry has been summoned to the Ministry of Magic because he'd been a naughty boy. The Ministry of Magic has a hidden entrance. In the Order of the Phoenix, believe it or not, it's right there," said Woodhouse as he points to the area where the telephone was located in the film.
But perhaps the most popular scene on the Harry Potter tour is Platform 9 ¾ located at King's Cross train station.
"We've had our photo taken trying to go through the wall. But, I couldn't do it. I obviously don't have the magic like Harry," said one Potter fan. "When you see it in the film, it's all magical. But, when you see it in London, it's amazing to bring it together."
The Harry Potter tour in London is popular with children and adults.
"I've had people in their 40's, 50's and 60's come on a Harry Potter tour. It just appeals to them and grabbed a spark inside," said Woodhouse.
There is more movie magic two hours from London in the city of Gloucester. If you walk inside the 11th century Gloucester cathedral, you will instantly recognize the hall from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were filmed here," said Canon Celia Thompson.
Film crews spent weeks in the building shooting a variety of locations.
"This corner was used for the writing in blood the Chamber of Secrets," said Thompson.
Moviemakers put down a false floor in the area and pumped water in to create a memorable scene.
"Then in the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Warner Brothers engaged about 200 of the King's School pupils as extras. They had a shot of them all walking along here on the first day of terms and they were all chattering excitedly," said Thompson.
"In the stain glass windows, there are lots of halos because they commemorate Jesus and some of the saints, some of the disciples. They had to get rid of all those halos so put pieces of colored plastic to blend into the background so it wasn't religious at all," said Thompson.
"The actual time that Gloucester Cathedral cloisters were shown in the films is really minimal. It's only about ten minutes," said Thompson.
For fans of Harry Potter, who know every scene in great detail, seeing where the movies were made rekindles the magic.
Graham Woodhouse leads Harry Potter tours in London for Black Cab Heritage Tours.
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