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If it seems your Hogwarts acceptance letter got lost in the mail (many, many years ago), don’t dispose of your wand just yet. A new traveling exhibit is letting Denver Muggles experience the magic of the wizarding world firsthand.
Created by Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences, immersive storytelling company Imagine, and Eventim Live, Harry Potter: The Exhibition invites guests to cast spells, brew deadly potions, and take a behind-the-scenes tour of Hogwarts throughout nearly two dozen different galleries. Each is adorned with authentic props (think: a Basilisk fang) and original costumes (Gilderoy Lockhart’s blue wool dress robes, for example) from all eight Harry Potter films, plus the trio of Fantastic Beasts movies and the Tony Award–winning Broadway production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Denver is the seventh U.S. city and one of nearly 20 global destinations (Paris, Sydney, São Paulo, and Abu Dhabi among them) to host the exhibition. The tour began in 2022 and has spellbound approximately 5 million guests so far.
“Early on in our search for cities, we knew we wanted to come to Denver, but we were waiting to find a location that fit our unique needs and could support us,” says Tom Zaller, president & CEO of Imagine. “This is an experience that was created first and foremost for fans, and we want it to be perfect for them.”
What was once an old Ace Hardware building off of South Broadway in Baker is now home to the Ministry of Magic, the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid’s hut and numerous other iconic locations. Just like Harry, you’ll start your journey into the magical world by pushing a luggage cart through a brick wall at Platform 9 ¾ (or at least snapping a photo of yourself in the process). Toward the end, you’ll come face-to-face with the Dark Lord, where you’ll put everything you learned to the test.
Here, nine more reasons you won’t want to miss this interactive homage to the Boy Who Lived before it vanishes on January 3, 2027.
Watch your name appear on the Marauder’s Map.
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Fred and George Weasley bequeath unto Harry a delightfully deceptive tool: the Marauder’s Map. Characters’ names appear on the weathered parchment, exposing their location within the castle walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (and making the map indispensable for safe sneaking). On your first stop in the exhibition, you’ll find your own name on the magical map, along with those of Severus Snape, Luna Lovegood, and others.
Get sorted into your Hogwarts house.
After walking down the portrait hallway—yep, the subjects’ eyes will blink and dart from side to side—make your way toward the Sorting Hat, which is the very one that appeared in the first film. Since it would be sacrilegious to touch such a treasured topper, you’ll use the power of technology to choose between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. (Heresy, we know…but just go with it!)
Step up to one of the interactive screens, position your face underneath a digital replica of the hat, and “try it on” for yourself. Once you’ve pledged allegiance to a Hogwarts house of your choosing, appreciate the imitation stained-glass iterations of each house crest (bespoke to the Denver exhibition) and check out props like the ruby cabochon-hilted sword of Gryffindor and Draco Malfoy’s signature black designer suit.
Earn your wand.
In the wands gallery, guests can learn how set designers customized key characters’ wands. Nick Scamander’s ash wood wand, for example, features stylized dings and burn marks to suggest a life filled with magical beast interactions—not all of them friendly. The English oak elder wand has outcroppings to make it recognizable even from a distance. When you’re ready, select a wand of your own from the options on the digital screen. Practice the motion of the Wingardium Leviosa charm to confirm, per Garrick Ollivander’s admonition, that the wand has in fact chosen you.
Brew a love potion, Skele-Gro, or polyjuice.
If you’re exploring this magical exhibit on a first date, you might want to swing by the potions gallery to brew up a little love elixir. Whether you want to regrow the bones in your right arm or transform your appearance into that of someone else, consult the collection of recipes Snape has helpfully left behind. Then brew, or rather click the correct ingredients on the digital interface, to create your draught—though we can’t promise it will be up to the harsh instructor’s punishing standards. Nearby, find the ebony cloak Snape wore throughout the entire franchise, a garment actor Alan Rickman described as having “helped me to understand somebody who lives absolutely alone.”
Make yourself at home in Hagrid’s hut.
To believably present Hagrid’s size on-screen, the production team had to make props including furniture, mugs, and even his pink umbrella twice—one scaled to the half-giant’s size and another to appear huge next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. These direct-from-the-set details and many more are found on signage throughout Hagrid’s wood-floored, stone-walled rooms at the exhibition.
Practice your Patronus.
Do you think bellowing, “Expecto Patronum!” would send a misty white stag hurtling out of your wand? Or maybe you’d summon an otter, as Hermione does, or a Jack Russell terrier (that’s Ron’s) to deter the chilling wrath of the Dementors. Find out the shape of your Patronus if you’re brave enough to enter the Forbidden Forest.
Toss a quaffle.
What Harry Potter fan hasn’t dreamed of zipping around on a broomstick and flinging a quaffle through one of the goal hoops? Now’s your chance. Well, minus the broomstick ride. In the room dedicated to Quidditch, you’ll take aim and let fly. A satisfying “ding” sounds when your quaffle hits the target. Then, turn around to ogle the pair of omnioculars Ron used to watch the final match of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as the walnut-size, gold-plated snitch from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Face the Dark Lord.
How do you design a villain so horrifying that people won’t even utter his name? This was the dilemma costume designers faced when developing the aesthetic for Lord Voldemort. “He had to be frightening,” says a quote from costume designer Jany Temime, “but he had to be what people expected, and that was a big challenge.” Inside the He Who Must Not Be Named gallery, guests learn how the team captured the miasma of the Dark Lord and can examine the ragged, silk cloak from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on display near Salazar Slytherin’s locket and the resurrection stone, both from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Nurse a butterbeer.
No trip into the realm of Harry Potter would be complete without tasting the magic, too. So after you’ve debated whether to buy the Gryffindor house scarf or the Slytherin mug, order a butterbeer (while supplies last) and cheers that your choices, far more than your abilities, show what you are—and what you are, no question, is a Potterhead.
5 More Cool Exhibits To Check Out:
- Why Jaume Plensa’s New Exhibition at Denver Botanic Gardens Is a Must-See This Summer
- Meet the Seriously Silly Monsters Invading the Denver Art Museum
- It’s a Yeti’s World at Shiki Dreams
- Black Cube Celebrates a Decade of Unconventional Art Exhibits
- Inside Denver’s Cookie Factory Turned Art Gallery
Harry Potter: The Exhibition is on display through January 3, 2027 at 417 S. Broadway, Denver. Tickets start at $28 for adults, $20 for children under age 12, and are free for kids under age 2.
