Like many people her age, my daughter Laura was a Harry Potter super-fan in her tween and early-teen years. She had quite a collection of Harry Potter memorabilia. It’s time for another Clutter Tale.
About Clutter Tales
Clutter Tales is a series where we tell the stories of our lives through our clutter. During my decluttering journey, I found a lot of things that took me back to a different place and time. Instead of casually discarding them, I decided to honour them by telling their story. I’ve written Clutter Tales about a high school shorthand textbook, an old airline ticket, a travel diary from my trip to France at age 18, notes from a visit to a fortune teller, and more!
Along with my own reflections, this series has featured posts by some of my favourite bloggers. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!
Now, on to today’s Clutter Tale…
Harry Potter memories
Like many people her age, my daughter Laura was a Harry Potter super-fan in her tween and early-teen years. Along with all the books, she had quite a collection of Harry Potter memorabilia that unfortunately won’t be making the trip to Australia with her.
Sorting through Laura’s Harry Potter collection brought back happy memories of our trip to England in 2014. Laura was 14 years old and the trip was well-timed because it came at the height of her Harry Potter fan-girl stage.
A trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station were must-dos. On arrival, though, an extra-special surprise awaited.
The cupboard under the stairs
When we arrived in England we spent a few days visiting my childhood bestie at her home in Yorkshire.
Laura was delighted to discover that, like many English homes, my friend’s house had a cupboard under the stairs just like the one Harry slept in. She excitedly asked if she might be allowed to sleep there. Initially not believing she was serious, my friend and I looked at each other and shook our heads. When Laura insisted, we shrugged and said, “Why not!”
So we cleared a space for Laura and her pillows, blankets, and owl stuffy. And like her beloved hero, Laura spent the night in the cupboard under the stairs.
The Making of Harry Potter studio tour
At the end of our time in England, we spent five days in London. We visited The Making of Harry Potter at the Warner Bros studio. I’m not much of a Harry Potter fan, but I loved the tour and highly recommend it. Laura was in her glory sipping ginger beer and seeing all the famous sights from the movies.
Before leaving London, we had to visit Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station. Our train to Paris left from St. Pancras Station so we made a detour to nearby King’s Cross. There was a big line and we had a train to catch, so I don’t have pictures of the girls on the platform.
It’s time to say good-bye to Harry
In the end, Laura decided to keep her books and let everything else go. I posted the pop vinyls on the Buy Nothing group on Facebook and they were claimed by a young lady who was so excited to receive them. I ended up bagging up all of the Harry Potter memorabilia we had and giving it to her.
It’s always nice when things we no longer need can make someone else happy.
I hope you enjoyed this installment of Clutter Tales. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!
Do you have a collection of movie or other memorabilia? Drop me a comment below and tell me your stories.
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Aww this is such a lovely memory to look back on! I am also a Harry Potter superfan, but haven’t managed to go to the studio tour yet.
Oh, if you’re a fan you would love the tour Caroline. My daughters loved it. It’s really well done. Even my sister, who knew nothing about the books, thought it was great.
So cool! We’ve seen the movies, but we’re not really super fans. Now, The Lord of the Rings, well, that’s a different story. I bet working on this post stirred up all kinds of emotions, Michelle.
Yes, this whole exercise of going through Laura’s stuff has been very emotional. It has given me lots of material for future clutter tales! 😂
Yes, great stories ahead, then.
Aww, Michelle! Delaney was a fan, too, but didn’t collect anything, memorabilia-wise. Some of her friends did and it was astounding to see all the “merchandise”. Oh, the marketing! Thanks for this sweet bit of reminiscing! 😊💝😊
Yes, I think the merch sales add up to more than the books and movies combined. It was quite the impressive franchise.
Indeed! 😉❤️😉
While I wasn’t a super-fan, I read the first four Harry Potter’s better 1998-2000 and have such fond memories of just devouring the books. I love that the memorabilia went to a good home. It’s so much easier to part with possessions seeing how much joy they bring their new owner.
Yes, that’s why I love the Buy Nothing group. People often tell you their stories and what their plans are for the things. The young lady that picked up the Harry Potter stuff told me she had a bunch of stuff that was stolen and was so appreciative of the things I gave her.
That’s amazing! I’ve been the recipient of similar free stuff to replace things loss and it’s truly an amazing feeling.
That photo of Laura sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs is just magical, Michelle. A simple act of ingenuity and probably not overly labour intensive resulted in memories that will be treasured forever and passed down to the generations!
I hope you’re all doing well transitioning with this big move! 🙏
Thanks, Ab. It really was a great moment. Definitely a highlight of the trip for Laura and something my friend and I will remember forever.
I’m getting settled back into my routine now the girls have both gone home. The biggest challenge is the time zone differences. Luckily, I’m an early morning person so I usually end up messaging the girls before Laura goes to bed and Colleen goes to work in the mornning.