“Back to Hogwarts” News: MinaLima Prints, a Re-Imagined Sorting Ceremony and Magic at King’s Cross Attract Muggle Attention!

Sep 04, 2019

Posted by: Dawn Johnson

Books, Events, Fan Events, Fandom, Fans, Films, Fun, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, J.K. Rowling, MinaLima, Movies, News, Potter News, Scholastic, Wizard Rock

Any good witch or wizard knows the best day of the year is actually Sept. 1, the day one goes “back to Hogwarts,” either in spirit or as a student. And there was definitely magic in the air on Sunday, as large, festive crowds gathered draped in robes and house scarves, excitement buzzing through them like an electric current. Now it seems the participants’ lack of restraint attracted Muggle attention worldwide and made the news!

It’s not surprising really. If you happened upon a stray copy of the Daily Prophet, left behind by an overly-excited wizard, you would have seen an advertisement for new prints from MinaLima, released in celebration of “Back to Hogwarts.”

A beautifully rendered map of the Hogwarts grounds, which the Muggle papers are insisting does not exist, much to their confusion and consternation, is now available for purchase here.

The premium print, “embellished with gold foil, comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, is numbered, embossed and signed by Miraphora and Eduardo printed on Hahnemühle fine art paper.” It is priced at £349. The standard print is “numbered, embossed, signature-stamped and printed on Hahnemühle fine art paper” and is available for £179.

Also advertised is a print picturing The Boy Who Lived with a lap full of treats from the trolley as he and best friend Ron Weasley meet Hermione Granger, and current Minister for Magic, for the first time. Titled “Are You Sure That’s a Real Spell?,” the print captures the delightful, fateful moment the three embarked on their lifelong friendship, though a bit rocky at the start, they now admit. It’s a must-have keepsake for students of wizarding history and fans of the famous trio.

Muggle papers have concluded it is a promotional ploy for an upcoming fantasy series in the vein of Philip Pullman or C.S. Lewis. The premium version is £99, while the standard print is only £39, available for purchase here.

It was easy enough to dismiss the unusual papers, but the crowds assembling at King’s Cross and elsewhere were more difficult to ignore. Vernon Dursley and the like were properly flummoxed and annoyed. Reports surfaced that long lines began forming in Paris on Sunday…

And reports of missing persons reached an all-time high when bystanders complained that an unknown number of individuals disappeared somewhere between Platforms 9 and 10 at the London station.

Journalists also reported that some of the groups broke out into strange fits of song and dance before their disappearances and finally billed the entire event as a flash mob, for lack of anything better to suggest.

A few investigative reporters, unsatisfied with the explanations of their professional peers, wrote insistent accounts detailing whispers of  a strange new Sorting Ceremony soon to be revealed to the “wizarding world.”

These reports appeared in the back of most Muggle papers, sandwiched between the obituaries and the “want ads.” For those “in the know,” however, Sept. 1 was a day of celebration and a welcome invitation to relive the story of Harry Potter and return to the world of magic again.

How about you, Potter fans? How did you go “Back to Hogwarts?” Did you host a party or find yourself pleasantly tucked into the corner of a train car?

However you returned, remember, Hogwarts will always welcome you back. And the Muggles will always be none the wiser.





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