The Life of Kane- Bricks: 4842- Hogwarts Castle

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and ever since the Harry Potter sets came out in 2001, I wanted a Hogwarts Castle. So, I'm happy I was able to snag this final version of the full castle before The Lego Group retired it. There are ten different minifigures included and the castle is composed of four sections that can be joined together in variety of ways. See below for several alternate pictures.

The rooms/areas in the castle are: Vanishing Cabinet, Library, Astronomy Tower, Owlery, Slytherin Common Room, Statue, Gryffindor Common Room, The Great Hall, Dumbledore's Office with moving staircase on the lower level, and Sorting Hat.

This set comes with Lord Voldemort, Argus Filch, Professor Flitwick, Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Professor Snape, and two Dementors. Three of the figures have double-sided heads, and nearly everyone that should have a wand comes with one.

Moldy Voldy sure looks creepy here, but I'm sure Harry and the crew will prevail! Always in basic black robes, the true character of this figure is in his facial printing.

The two Dementors come with clear bases, which is quite useful if you want to stand them to the side or make them fly around with your hand. I'm impressed with the cloth covering as it is made of a much softer material then capes are, which helps give these baddies a more flowing and ghost-like appearance.

True to their nature, they have no eyes but an open mouth ready to perform the Kiss. The body of the Dementors is a general skeletal frame and I think they look scarier without their tattered robes (as they should).

Argues Filch sure looks grumpy. I love the wrinkled detail on his suit. He comes with a key, a clever lantern, and his tan tabby pet cat Mrs. Norris. I'm very impressed with the print detail on her face and use her as Lego Kane's personal pet.

Since Professor Flitwick is a very short man, his legs are of the mini-variety. Uses like this make me very happy The Lego Group came up with mini-legs. He comes with a brown wand to demonstrate proper "swish and flick" movements.

Lovely Professor Snape is wearing a basic black suit (to match his black hair, black cape, and black wand) and a facial expression that is perfect for him.

Dumbledore has a reversible head (one side with glasses, one without) and a beard piece. His light blue outfit is trimmed with silver designs that continue on the back of his torso. See below for alternate views.

The only wizard/witch without a wand, Professor McGonagall is wearing a dark green dress and comes with matching cape and witches hat.

Hermione Granger is another reversible head figure. As pictured, she is smiling on one side and looks rather peeved on the other. As a student, she is dressed in typical Hogwarts garb, representing Gryffindor with a gold/maroon house emblem on her jumper and house colours on her tie.

Lastly, Mr. Harry Potter is wearing the same school clothes as Hermione and also has a reversible head, though his alternate expression is one of anger. We also get the Invisibility Cloak, which has a shiny translucent appearance and while cumbersome, does fit over a minifig. See below for Harry under the cloak.

The sections of the castle can be somewhat hinged together in any order with the use of these wall pieces.

This first section contains the Vanishing Cabinet, Library, and the Astronomy Tower. See below for exterior and additional interior pictures. Note that the many brown and black windows can be pushed open from the bottom, but usually not very far as something is usually blocking it from the inside.

The vanishing cabinet is large but fairly sleek with silver round studs. It's not attached to the wall, so it can be taken out and played with separately. With the doors closed, it can indeed hide a figure from view.

The Library consists of three brown books in a locked case. The locks are grey handcuffs that are connected to either side of the wall and the case. If you put one of the keys into the holes in the case and turn, the top bit of the handcuff comes off and so "unlocked". Kind of odd, but functional for a small space and I like the way the doors of the case slide open to either side. See below for pictures of the unlocking in action.

On the top, we have a small Astronomy Tower complete with light grey rat. It's a simple and open area, but the telescope has interesting mechanisms. It can rotate left and right, as well as up and down on the hinge connecting the telescope to the building. In addition, the lever piece on the end can move up and down.

The exterior of this section is certainly the most castley and makes great use of the brick detail stickers. Here we have four levels: Slytherin Common Room, Statue, Gryffindor Common Room, and Owlery.

The Slytherin Common room has several features. In the back, there is a stickered green flat tile with the Slytherin crest. On either wall are green snakes and a small torch in the center of the room. Finally, there is a small green table with two black chairs. The chairs can swivel, though not very far as they are blocked by the wall behind them. On the table is a clear chalice and a Quibbler newspaper tile with the headlines "Harry Potter Speaks out at Last" with a picture of our Lego hero and "Nargles in the Mistletoe". Delightfully, this is a printed and not stickered tile. There is a lot of open space in the room, but not much standing room due to the snakes protruding from the wall.

The second floor is home to a Lego statue that rotates to reveal a compartment with a black book (apparently Tom Riddle's diary). We also have a friendly black spider.

The Gryffindor Common Room is another detail packed area. The back wall is a fireplace decorated with a stickered tile of the Gryffindor crest. The fire looks typical and small with translucent orange fire bits. However, push in a bit in the front of the castle, and the fire with a tile of Sirius' face extends out. A nice feature, but the castle looks a little odd from the front when the mechanism is put back in, partly because the colour of the bit poking out is brown, and the rest of the castle exterior is mostly dark grey, greenish, and sand.

Like the other common room, we have a small table (brown), two chairs (red), and a clear glass. Since these chairs are a little further into the room, they can swivel a bit better. The special printed tile on the table is the Marauder's Map, which has some very small words, but they appear to be gibberish. The room is also home to Harry's black broomstick.

The owlery contains two perches, owl pellets, and three highly detailed owls. The owl droppings are a funny detail, and another one of those Lego things that I couldn't figure out until I thought about it for a minute. Each owl is a different colour (white, brown, and dark grey) with different intricate feather and eye markings.

The next section is the Great Hall. The front is mostly a wall of paneless brown windows, but a beautiful arrangement of translucent orange and blue bricks form stained glass windows on either side of this section. The half roof is hinged on and can stay open at any angle. Hanging from the ceiling are stickered banners with the Slytherin and Gryffindor house crests and a spinning candle chandelier between them.

The back teacher seating area has two larger brown chair constructions and a podium with two torches. The general seating area of the Hall features two tables and four benches. In total for the tables, we get six golden chalices, a large gold plate containing red and green cherries and a croissant, a full cooked bird with two removable drumsticks, and a large decorated cake. As is typical, in our extras we get some extra cherries to put in the feast.

The section with Dumbledore's office has the most interesting exterior as there is a door with a torch in the front, and a printed tile with the Hogwarts crest. The prominent feature of the first level is the "moving" staircase, which is a series of wedge shaped pieces that can indeed open and close. Within the room, there is a brown treasure chest containing a red gem (Sorcerer's Stone) and a printed tile showing a dragon and reading "You are far more powerfull than you would ever imagine..." A small shelf construction with two gold chalices and a stickered shield reading "Seeker James Potter" is left of the door. The pillars on either side of the staircase feature stickered portraits.

Dumbledore's office itself has a large chair construction, two shelf units, and a desk. The shelves feature several translucent "bottles" and vials and even a frog. Lift the top on either to reveal a secret compartment containing either a letter or a Basilisk fang. On the desk is a crystal ball and a working magnifying glass showing a copy of the printed Daily Prophet tile. The headlines warn us of the "Mass Breakout from Azkaban" and "Mayhem at High Security Prison".

The top level is a half level with a display area for the Sorting Hat and Godric Gryffindor's sword. A black bat perches on one of the outside studs.

Description:

Four castle sections including the rooms Vanishing Cabinet, Library, Astronomy Tower, Owlery, Slytherin Common Room, Statue, Gryffindor Common Room, The Great Hall, Dumbledore's Office with moving staircase on the lower level, and Sorting Hat
Ten different minifigures including Lord Voldemort, Argus Filch, Professor Flitwick, Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Professor Snape, and two Dementors
Several animals including Filch's cat, three different owls, a spider, a rat, snakes, a frog, and a bat
Food for the Great Hall including chalices, cooked bird, huge cake, and cherries
Special pieces and tiles like Hogwarts, Slytherin, and Gryffindor crests, Marauder's Map, Quibbler, Daily Prophet, Sorting Hat, Gryffindor's sword, Harry's broomstick, and a Basilisk fang.

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