Majority of Harry Potter was written in Edinburgh
Have you ever wanted to explore the magical roots of the beloved Harry Potter and his school friends? I know I have always loved the books since I grew up reading them. I was a similar age to Harry when the first book was released in 1997 and reading the series became a family event as time went on. Every year the new book release would occur sometime around my birthday – July 31st, the same as Harry’s. We would spend the summer months on a houseboat on Lake Powell without cell service or electricity when the generator was off. When the new book was released we would take the ski boat into town, dock, drive to the Walmart, and finally obtain the new edition. Quickly we learned we would need at least two copies as my father would somehow always have a copy hidden wherever he was last reading as he would try to read ahead and spoil the ending. It became a yearly tradition that was highly anticipated every year.
After comparing many different Harry Potter tours available in Edinburgh I decided on The Potter Trail. It was one of the best reviewed tours and it is free to sign up. This allows everyone no matter their finances an option to explore the magical side of Edinburgh. They do ask at the end for you to donate what you think the tour is worth if financially possible. Overall the tour was fantastic, very informative, and I highly recommend it.
Two things to do prior to the beginning of the tour:
One – sort yourself into a house, either what you think you are or what the quiz tells you.
Two – bring an object that can be used as a magic wand.
Throughout the tour questions are asked regarding the books and the myths surrounding them. If answered correctly you can earn points for your house, which will then be calculated at the end and you may win. As always everything is more fun in life if made into a competition with literally no stakes in winning.
Earlier in the morning we spent some time finding the perfect wands. We spared no expense.
The tour begins at Greyfriars Kirkyard Cemetery which showcases a few names that may seem very familiar as they are inspiration behind some important characters in the novels. A famous grave for the cemetery is Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier dog who guarded his owners grave for 14 years before passing away and has become a legend in Scotland. Right outside of the cemetery is a fountain and statue of Greyfriars Bobby. His nose has become shiny from passersby rubbing it for good luck. After my visit I heard that the rubbing is causing the statue to deteriorate. So please if you see the good boy, say hello from a safe distance instead.
As you venture into the cemetery, keep a close eye on those muggles surrounding you while scanning the gravestones for clues. The Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour namesake may be hard to miss from a Margaret Louisa Scrymgeour Wedderburn. The Potters are listed on a headstone near the entrance to the cemetery. Not one but two professors’ names can be found while meandering through the cemetery. Mrs. Elizabeth Moodie may be a long lost relative of famous auror and professor Alastaor “Mad Eye” Moody. Revered for being one of the worst poets ever in the English language is William Topaz McGonagall. It is quite ironic to name Professor Minerva McGonagall after such a well known horrendous poet as she is a brilliant witch in charge of guiding the next generation of Magic.
Below is a short poem by McGonagall:
“On yonder hill, there stood a cow.
It must have moved,
It’s not there now.”
Originally McGonagall was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery and later received a memorial stone in 1999 after the Harry Potter books were published. At least his poems are now getting more recognition and readings from correlation with the franchise than he would have obtained.
The gravestone that has the most notoriety is Thomas Riddell’s. The name in the English version of the novels is Tom Marvolo Riddle, which the last name is spelled differently in order to achieve the anagram of “I am Lord Voldemort.” An interesting fact I learned is that in each new language they have to change his name in order to keep the meaning. In French, “Je suis Voldemort” is made from Tom Elvis Jedusor, in Italian “Son io Lord Voldemort” from Tom Orvoloson Riddle, in Spanish “Soy Lord Voldemort” from Tom Sorvolo Ryddle. For some reason Elvis just seems a lot less menacing than Marvolo.
The caretakers have added a walkway up to the gravestone due to the large volume of people visiting the site causing additional wear and tear. Our guide had to give an explanation that this is not in fact the actual grave of the fictional character as people tend to leave all sorts of memorabilia like letters, glitter, flowers. This is a new level of fandom unknown to me, and sadly the caretakers have to clean it all up at the end of every day.
Through the cemetery back gate you get a good view of George Heriot’s School. While I say school, realistically it looks like a large gothic castle with four distinct towers. The students are sorted into four different houses with red, blue, green, and yellow as house colors. Anything starting to sound oddly familiar? Is it real life Hogwarts? Unfortunately I am a mere muggle and am unable to enter the grounds so we will never know.
After leaving the cemetery the tour continued through Edinburgh. We finally got a chance to use our new wands to help change the traffic lights to use the pedestrian crosswalks. Our guide, Roisin, had the timing down perfectly. Once we cast a magical spell, the lights immediately changed like magic every single time. So our wands were worth every penny. My favorite quote of the day was “You are all on a Harry Potter tour, you are all nerds, you are not too cool for magic.”
We passed by the site of the original cafe where the first book was written. It was previously owned by J.K. Rowling’s brother-in-law, but is currently a Chinese restaurant. The other cafe J.K. Rowling wrote at, The Elephant House, is currently closed due to a fire in August 2021 but has plans to reopen. The only option currently available to visit where the last chapters of Harry Potter were penned is the J.K. Rowling Suite at the Balmoral Hotel, but it will set you back a few thousand dollars on the cheapest of nights. That’s a bit out of our price range at the current moment until we win the lottery.
Every Potterhead dreams of looking up at brightly colored shops and whimsical store displays as their feet steer them over the cobblestones of a real life Diagon Alley. I share this dream, so we have sought out all the rumored inspirations for the book location. In an earlier trip we visited The Shambles, a small cobblestone street in York. Although J.K. Rowling has denied any connection, the medieval buildings with varying windows overhanging the street are undeniably magical – but there’s still something missing.
Nothing has come as close to Diagon Alley in my mind as Victoria Street in Edinburgh. As you stroll down the street, you can vision walking down the actual magical alley as you pass by a bright bookstore (Flourish and Blotts), clothing store showing all sorts of hats and scarves (Madam Malkin’s Robes for all Occasions), food shops and even a magical Harry Potter store. If you start hankering for a snack I recommend Oink, the bright pink pulled pork shop that offers delicious hot sandwiches. Do not let the line deter you, it moves quite quickly.
Previous Victoria Street shops include Robert Cresser’s brush stop and a bright red joke shop called Aha Ha Ha selling practical jokes and magic tricks. Both have closed, but could be seen as inspiration for Diagon Alley for Weasleys’ Wizards Wheezes, The Broom Shop, and Quality Quidditch Supplies.
Our guide let us know about the National Museum of Scotland prior to the end of the tour. Admission is free so there is no excuse to not explore it even for a few hours. Upon entering we were both overwhelmed with the four expansive floors. We decided to visit because the Lewis Chess Pieces are rumored to be the inspiration behind the Wizard’s Chess set in the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Kingdom of Scots, 900 – late 1600s, on the first floor houses The Lewis Chess pieces. The Lewis Chess pieces are made from walrus ivory and were found on Isle of Lewis, Scotland. There were 93 gaming pieces found including four chess sets and other game pieces for table which is similar to backgammon. They are estimated to be made in the 12th or 13th century in Norway, and originally went on display in 1831.
After finding the chess pieces we began to explore the massive museum. I was lured by the natural world section which showcased different dinosaurs and Max by the airplanes. Somehow any museum we find always has an airplane for him. Overall the city has so much to offer; we barely scratched the surface.