National Geographic Traveller India – July 2019

SCOTLAND

JULY 2019 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA 85

PHOTO COURTESY:

POTTER TRAIL

(STREET),

LATYPOVA DIANA/SHUTTERSTOCK

(WAND)

FACING PAGE:

FLAB/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE

(COVER),

KIND IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK

(HAT),

VIK CG/SHUTTERSTOCK

(MAGIC ICONS),

KIND IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK

(LETTER)

R

ossio lumos,” says our guide,

Will, pointing his wand at the

traffic light, and sure enough,

it changes from red to green.

It is a variation of the spell I am familiar

with from the books, but, hey, it works.

“Just a bit of magic in the Muggle

world,” Will smiles and walks ahead,

while we follow him dutifully across the

street. It’s mid-June and the first sunny

day of our Scottish summer trip. My

husband and I are in Edinburgh and

we have just joined some 40-odd people

for a Potter Trail (a walking tour of the

same name) through the city. Will is

appropriately decked out in a Hogwarts

robe and carries a wand. With his round

framed glasses and boyish looks the

resemblance to Harry Potter/Daniel

Radcliffe is uncanny, only the lightning

scar is missing. I see a few young cloak-

SCOTLAND

clad witches and wizards wearing their

house colours in our motley group. I’m

surprised to see so many Hufflepuffs;

I’m a proud Gryffindor myself.

GRAVE MATTERS

For any Potterhead, Edinburgh is a

Mecca of magic. It is in a café here

that J.K. Rowling started penning the

biggest pop culture phenomenon of our

times. Being a Potterhead myself, the

Harry Potter trail was naturally on my

agenda when we visited the city last

year. We arrive at the meeting point in

front of the Greyfriar's Bobby statue

in the city centre to find several people

milling about already. Will arrives

promptly at noon and we set off towards

Greyfriars Kirkyard, a graveyard

surrounding Greyfriars Kirk (church)

where burials have been taking place

The Potter Trail

takes you atop the

terrace of Victoria

Street which inspired

Diagon Alley.

Edinburgh