The Boy Who Lived comes to Leicester Square with the unveiling of a new Harry Potter statue.
We could all use a little more magic in our lives, couldn’t we? Thankfully, the team behind Leicester Square’s charming film statue trail – which is free to visit, by the way – think much along the same lines, and have added a new statue to the club. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s a very exciting one! Joining the likes of Paddington, Bugs Bunny, and more at Scenes in the Square is a brand spanking new, utterly magical, Harry Potter statue.
As Scenes in the Square celebrates London’s film history, a Harry Potter statue was a natural inclusion, given that it stands for one of the biggest film franchises to emerge from these shores. It also happens to be located a stone’s throw away from the site of the UK premiere of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the film which would ultimately spark a lifelong love affair with Hogwarts and the wizarding world.
The boy wizard is depicted in the middle of a game of Quidditch, which seems a darn sight more relaxing than hunting down innumerable Horcruxes with a murderous sorcerer on your tail, in my opinion. As with the remainder of the statues, this one evokes a specific moment from film; namely, the first time Harry Potter takes his Nimbus 2000 for a spin around the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch and took us all from maybe wanting to be witches and wizards to definitely wanting to be witches and wizards. (Just as a quick note: unlike the Hogwarts portraits, the statue won’t be moving and talking to you, I’m afraid!)
Or will it? There’s a little audiovisual magic involved, as the trail’s audio tour will bring this iconic scene to life, so perhaps it’ll be just like talking to a moving portrait… You can also go ahead and bet your bottom Sickle that it’ll quickly become a magnet for Instagrammers – and it’s another excellent stop on the Harry Potter tour of London, for sure! The statue is now in place in Leicester Square, and whether you take your broom, Apparate, or hop on the Northern Line, you can bet it will be well worth seeing.