Hop onboard the Hogwarts Express

SINGAPORE: Relive the magical world of the Boy Who Lived in the Asian premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition in Singapore.

The 200 items and costumes on display are fresh from the movies, which have taken a decade to make.

For the first time, fans can see villain Voldermort’s six Horcruxes including Nagini the serpent.

And there’s something fans didn’t get to see in the movies — the gathering of all three Deathly Hallows.

Eddie Newquist, executive vice president, CCO, Global Experience Specialists, said: "There were eight films in the film series, they were all shot at the Leavesden Studios, so they had collected and saved almost everything, so it’s a real labour of love, and we’re fans as well, to go through all of those elements and to try to pick things that we thought would interest fans the most.

From the Forbidden Forest to the Grand Hall, organisers have tried to make the settings as close to the film set as possible.

Identical twins James and Oliver Phelps, who played pranksters Fred and George Weasley in the movies were in Singapore for the opening of the exhibition to relive the magic.

James Phelps said: "I guess very close. To be honest, pardon the cliche, but it’s like walking through a memory lane when we walked down here because we remember things, and when we see props, we don’t necessarily think of the part in the story, we think of what we did whilst filming. Like seeing our wands and everything. It’s quite funny now how they’re all behind guarded glass and everything, whereas I broke three of them by trying to be, you know with the drumstick, when you flick it around, trying to do that and dropping it a few times.

Oliver Phelps said: "I went on the — is it the, I can’t remember the name, underground railway — the MRT. And I first walked in and couldn’t believe how clean the thing was, compared to other places’ subway, it was just spotless. And there were two girls sitting opposite me, and they were like (confused?), like obviously couldn’t quite, well, thinking is he or isn’t he? And I started speaking to my friend in English and you just see the penny drop and they’re like talking amongst themselves. So far, it still astounds me that we can get to the other side of the world and get our response from people.

Harry Potter: The Exhibition will be enchanting visitors at the ArtScience Museum until 30 September.

— CNA/ck