Muggles
via nytimes.com
Many adult Muggles will, no doubt, think as I did before visiting “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,” which opens at Discovery Times Square on Tuesday. I mistakenly assumed that the real point of this 14,000-square-foot display of movie sets, costumes and props would come at the end, where Potterphiles can line up to purchase $44.99 replicas of Albus Dumbledore’s magic wand or $49.99 replicas of Gryffindor’s school tie, as they prepare, perhaps, to go in style to see the saga’s final film this summer. But why shouldn’t wizardry also have its commercial side? Didn’t the entrepreneurial Weasley twins know how to market a good magical gimmick? The gift shop’s offerings — presented in the slightly ramshackle style of Diagon Alley, where all the young wizards of J. K. Rowling’s entrancing novels do their shopping — may come in handy when faced with masters of the Dark Arts, even in the real world. And, sure, the magic wand is just a replica, a toy — you don’t expect one of elder wood with a core made from the tail hair of a Thestral for just $44.99, do you? What about those wands in the exhibition, then? Are they the real thing? Well, yes, it turns out. As authentic as the encased animatronic bird, Fawkes, the phoenix. And Harry’s glasses. And Hagrid’s dragon egg, which shakes the table in his hut. And the quaffles that visitors can toss in the quidditch gallery. And The Daily Prophet that features “Protective Spells for You and Your Family.” And the copy of “Advanced Potion-Making” meticulously annotated by Severus Snape. And the metallic Death Eater masks and horrifying Dementor whose ghastly cloak quivers in the breeze.
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