As the world seems hotter than ever, I thought it would be fun to take a journey into the snow for a “Christmas in July” special. Join me for a photographic journey through “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” as we follow Harry and his friend into the town of Hogsmeade—a wonderful village full of thatched cottages, shops and pubs all looking like a Christmas card!

There are heavy spoilers ahead if you’ve not read the book or seen the movie. These photos were inspired by the LEGO set 76407 The Shrieking Shack & Whomping Willow. But be warned, not everything is as it appears!

The Shrieking Shack

We join Harry when he has just got the Marauder's Map showing the secret passages to and from Hogwarts granting him the ability to get to the wizarding village without special permission. Little did he know that the secret of the enigmatic Marauders was waiting for him at the end of the Hogsmeade snow-covered street...

Securely hidden under his never-failing Invisibility Cloak, Harry enters the picturesque village and comes one step closer to solving the mystery of the Mauraders.

The Shrieking Shack is an abandoned house that really has a dark reputation. It is supposed to be the most severely haunted dwelling in Britain. It stands a little way above the rest of the village, and even in daylight, looks slightly creepy with its boarded-up windows. Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it! Nearly Headless Nick says he’s heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in; all the entrances are sealed shut.

We overhear a conversation between Ron, Hermione and Harry when they meet here after visiting the Honeydukes candy shop and climbing a slope to visit the Shrieking Shack.

Hermione: “It's the most haunted building in Britain. Did I mention that?”
Ron: “Twice.”

Harry, feeling hot from their climb (but enjoying his candy—which appeared like it was floating in midair), was just considering taking off the cloak for a few minutes when they heard voices nearby. Someone was climbing the hill toward the house from the other side of the hill.

Moments later, Draco Malfoy appeared, followed closely by his "bodyguards".

Draco: "Well, well. Look who's here. You two shopping for your new dream home?"

Harry seized the back of Ron’s robes to stop him from leaping on Malfoy in retaliation. “Leave him to me,” Harry whispered into Ron’s ear. The opportunity was too perfect to miss... SPLAT!

“Who did that?!” Malfoy was staring madly around at the deserted landscape.

“Very haunted up here, isn’t it?” said Ron, as if he was commenting on the weather. The Slytherins ran at breakneck speed back down the hill as Harry’s friends had a good laugh.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

On another still night, we revisit the Shrieking Shack…

On the grounds of Hogwarts, Ron lost his rat Scabbers near the Whomping Willow—the rat seemed scared by some invisible menace. Ron caught his rat when a huge black dog suddenly dragged Ron through a tunnel hidden under the Willow leading to the Shrieking Shack.

Harry and Hermione rushed to Ron's rescue. When they arrived inside the dangerous Shrieking Shack, a surprise awaited them.

Ron: "Harry, it's a trap! He's the dog. He's an Animagus!"

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to the elbows of the man standing in the dark of the room. If his two eyes hadn’t been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face that it looked like a skull. It was Sirius Black—the man wanted for murdering so many people and betraying Harry’s parents to their doom.

Hermione: “If you want to kill Harry, you have to kill us too!”
Black: “No. Only one will die tonight.”
Harry: “Then it'll be you!”

A boiling hate erupted in Harry’s chest, leaving no place for fear. Black betrayed his parents! Without knowing what he was doing, he started forward against Black when Professor Lupin came into the room, his wand raised and ready. “Expelliarmus!”

Harry’s wand flew out of his hand.

Hermione: “No! Harry, don’t trust Lupin! He’s been helping Black get into the castle, and he wants you dead too... he’s a werewolf!”

Lupin: “Only one out of three accusations correct, I’m afraid. I won’t deny that I am a werewolf. But I haven’t been Sirius’s friend for quite some time, but I am now. Let me explain.”

Lupin explained how the Shrieking Shack got its name from his screams when he turned into a werewolf during the full moon, how the tunnel was made to help him get there and transform safely away from anyone nearby, and how Sirius in his dog form helped keep him in check.

Lupin: “I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your father, Harry - James Potter. They became Animagi and kept me company as animals.”

Lupin: “Ron, Scabbers isn't a rat. You are holding a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew and he betrayed Harry's parents, not Sirius.”

After a quick tussle and over Ron’s objections, Sirius grasped the rat who began to transform.

Black: “Well, hello, Peter!”
Pettigrew: "I didn't mean to betray them!"

As harry marched Pettigrew up to the castle to take him to the authorities, all of a sudden a cloud shifted in the sky, revealing a full moon. Lupin looked up in fear, transfixed by the moonlight.

His head and body lengthened, he sprouted hair all over his body, his hands curled into clawed paws.

And then he howled.

To find out how the story ends, you’ll just have to go read the book or watch the movie! I love how LEGO lets our imaginations run wild and how sets like 76407 The Shrieking Shack & Whomping Willow let us build and reenact our favorite scenes. I hope you enjoyed this photographic tour of the Wizarding World!

Have you ever reenacted a movie with your LEGO minifigures? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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